Ten minutes before First Coast Connect’s debut in 2009, the show’s first guest hadn’t arrived.
WJCT General Manager Michael Boylan had made a special request of Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver to be on the inaugural hourlong show. It was a way to get the program off with a bang and establish credibility.
Host Melissa Ross frantically called Weaver’s secretary and found out he had forgotten about the show.
Luckily, the Jaguars stadium is across the street from WJCT and Weaver made it in time.
First Coast Connect was off and running.
Ross wasn’t surprised at what happened.
“We were starting from ground zero.” she said. “Nobody knew anything about it. It had no footprint in this market. Nothing.”
Since then, First Coast Connect has become a staple in the area, focusing mostly on local issues, personalities and newsmakers.
The show’s diversity was evident the Monday before the start of the Republican National Convention. Florida Rep. Lake Ray, R-Jacksonville, and Alex Sink, a former Democratic gubernatorial candidate, were on to talk about Donald Trump’s campaign.
Three brothers who started the Pratt Guys outdoor living design business chatted about their success and plans to broaden the company’s reach outside the region.
And local sports guy, Cole Pepper, talked about the weekend’s sports results.
First Coast Connect has received several local awards, but also has earned four Public Radio News Directors Inc. awards for “Best Call-In Program.”
Ross came to the show as a 20-year veteran of the television news business.
“Working in public radio is completely different from commercial media because public media is mission-driven. So the values are different,” she said.
And she believes in those values.
With a degree in journalism from Northwestern University, Ross started her career at a station in her hometown of Dayton, Ohio. She then bounced for several years through different cities in the Midwest.
After five years in Chicago, Ross headed south to Orlando in 2000 for a position with a Fox affiliate.
It was there she resumed a “conversation” with Drew Dixon that they had started when they worked at the Dayton television station years before.
The two were married in 2002 and have two daughters, Natalie, 13, and Kelly, 10.
Once the couple had children, they began looking for a more stable environment rather than doing the journalism hop of consistently changing jobs and locations.
And they found that in Jacksonville. They’ve been here for 14 years and are not looking to leave.
In 2003, Dixon was offered a reporting position with The Florida Times-Union. Eventually, Ross landed a job at First Coast News, where she worked three years.
She then did public relations work for The Dalton Agency and didn’t anticipate returning to the airwaves.
“I had said goodbye to broadcasting,” she said.
But, WJCT invited Ross to apply for the First Coast Connect job. The station saw a need for a local platform in the city and gave her the opportunity to build the program.
She has learned how passionate residents are about making Jacksonville a better community.
“I’ve gotten to know some wonderful people that are doing that kind of work,” she said. “And that’s really gratifying.”
Most days, Ross is in her office by 7 a.m. learning more about her guests, writing scripts and making her schedule.
After the hour-long show ends at 10 a.m., the process begins for the next day. There are staff meetings, many business-related lunches, writing preliminary scripts, recording promos and determining the direction for her next broadcast.
She characterizes the show’s average listeners as intelligent and educated about the issues.
They bring insights to topics that Ross and her guests may not have considered. Sometimes she has to steer them back onto the subject, but for the most part, their input is invaluable.
Ross believes doing her research is a big part of what makes the show work. And she credits Tim Russert, the late host of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” as her inspiration for how she prepares.
Russert would try to learn everything he could about his guests and their ideas.
Then he’d take the opposite side to ask questions that those who disagree with the guest would ask.
Ross tries to follow that model when she’s conducting interviews.
For her, it’s more of a conversation than a confrontation. But she has to be ready to ask the tough questions and push when necessary.
“You owe that to the audience,” she said.
While former guests have included Gov. Rick Scott, Jacksonville mayors and other elected officials, Ross has yet to have either U.S. senator from Florida, Bill Nelson or Marco Rubio, on the show.
She is hoping since it is an election year, she can convince them to join her.
One of Ross’s bucket list shows would be to have two of Jacksonville’s “grand dames” — Betsy Lovett and Helen Lane — on together.
She feels the two represent a bygone era and have done so much for so many in the city. She said Lane has been on the show, while Lovett has joked it’s too early for her.
Ross wasn’t sure if there were special plans for the show’s upcoming seventh anniversary.
“Maybe we’ll get Mr. Weaver to come on again,” she said with a smile, adding, “This time, maybe we’ll get him to bring Delores along to see what they’ve both been up to.”
And maybe he’ll get there a little earlier.