Having a ball telling it all

In addition, the 59-year-old Coletta enjoys his role of being on the team that delivers the news and information thousands of Southern New Englanders want and need as they start their days.

“It’s a younger person’s business, but I’m still having fun with it,” the West Warwick native said in a recent interview, adding that the job of delivering information to Channel 10 viewers is a “big responsibility.” It can make a difference, too, the seemingly ever-smiling Coletta pointed out, whether it’s broadcasting a nugget that helps someone decide what candidate to vote for or a flashback segment that helps someone shake off the doldrums.

Coletta started anchoring the morning news in September 1985, when it was aired from 5 to 7 a.m. To prepare for the show, he had to be at the Channel 10 studio no later than 3 a.m. Since late November, however, WJAR started airing the Sunrise Edition at 4:30, meaning Coletta has to be an even earlier riser.

Besides the news, Coletta is also responsible for the copy and graphics for daily business and flashback segments, local updates during “Today” and the noon news. Work ends around 1 p.m., and then its time to deal with life’s other demands.
Like other members of the sandwich generation, Coletta and his wife of 25 years, Nancy, “have more responsibility than ever,” serving as caregivers for their mothers and their son, John. Another challenge for the Colettas is finding time to spend together as well as a few hours here and there to pursue their own interests. Frank’s include hiking and digging for quahogs.

A graduate of Emerson College in Boston, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism, Coletta broke into the business before finishing college in 1974. From January 1971 to September 1973, he worked as a news anchor, reporter, talk show host, production director and music announcer at WKFD radio in Wickford. He worked full-time at four other radio stations, including one in Lowell, Mass., before landing at Channel 10 in December 1978.

As a WJAR reporter, he worked the court beat for the station in the ‘80s and always tried to cull a story the competition didn’t have. While a general assignment reporter, he covered “a lot of fun stories,” including the one about a business that was turning out appraiser licenses for all applicants, even a house cat named Toby Schaffer.

The Station nightclub fire in West Warwick is one of the most memorable stories Coletta has encountered. The fire on Feb. 20, 2003, claimed the lives of 100 people, resulting in what he called “overwhelming horror” that hung over the region in stark contrast to the cohesiveness and compassion of state and municipal officials that responded to the tragedy.

Coletta earned a New England Emmy nomination for investigative reporting in 1986, and has received many awards, including two from the Associated Press and one from the former United Press International. Viewers have registered their approval of the veteran journalist, voting him the best morning news anchor in “Rhode Island Monthly’s” annual readers’ poll since 1991, and several organizations such as the Central Rhode Island Chamber of Com-merce and Bryant University have honored him for his professional accomplishments and charitable endeavors.

A former part-time newspaper reporter who covered the small town of Millis, Mass., from June 1976 to October 1977 for a publication now called “The MetroWest Daily News,” Coletta places a high value on local news content. The Internet has changed the landscape of journalism since those print media heydays, making Coletta wonder whether more and more consumers will bypass broadcast outlets for online news sites accessed with those “dastardly computers.”


  Editor’s note: Salute to Seniors is a feature aimed at celebrating the many significant contributions and accomplishments of men and women age 50 and beyond. Salute to Seniors is sponsored by the Bankers Life and Casualty Company regional office in Warwick and “Senior Digest.” To nominate someone for a salute, send the person’s name, address, telephone number and reason for nomination to Senior Digest, 36 French Drive, Seekonk, Mass., 02771, or to sdpublisher@g-mail.com. Bankers Life can be reached at (401) 732-5213.