Heavner called by journalism, now a local broadcasting legend

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce honored 12 local business leaders at its inaugural Hall of Fame Nov. 13. The Daily Tar Heel will feature each of its inductees. Jim Heavner was inducted.

For local broadcast legend Jim Heavner, journalism has always been a calling.

“I guess you could say it chose me, in a sense. I was fascinated by the news,” Heavner said. “News looked like a place you wanted to be. It’s a fun way to learn about things and people.”

Heavner is the primary shareholder of Vilcom, the parent company of Chapel Hill’s historic WCHL radio station.

Vilcom also owns other companies including University Directories, The Print Shop, The Tar Heel Sports Network and the Village Advocate.

Heavner was inducted into the inaugural Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce Business Hall of Fame last month, according to a press release from the chamber.

Heavner, now 74, began his career at WCHL in 1961.

He said he first began as a journalist in his school paper, and then moved onto radio as a sports journalist.

He got his first radio job during the summer when he was 15 years old.

“I never had any doubt this was the business I wanted to be in,” he said.“I always wanted to go where the stories were — where the action was. If there was a sports story, I was there. If there was a 5 a.m. fire, I was there.”

In the following years, Heavner started the station’s first news department.

By 1968 Heavner said WCHL was a full-time news station, and covered the highly publicized Chapel Hill mayoral race — Howard Lee versus Roland Giduz in 1969. Lee won and became North Carolina’s first black mayor.

“We covered that election with the same intensity, focus and pride that we would cover any UNC championship ball game,” he said.

In the years to follow, Heavner said WCHL expanded as best it could, while maintaining a close relationship with UNC and the town. Its most recent milestone has been that of maintaining a strong online presence.

“Jim has brought a lot of years and experience to this business and has made a name for Chapel Hill in radio and broadcast,” said Chip Crawford, Vilcom’s chief financial officer, who has worked with Heavner since 2007.

“It has been an honor to work with him.”

He said the University is a good place for students interested in a career in radio to get a taste of broadcast journalism.

”Because J-School is here, WCHL has always been the best training ground for broadcast that you can find in North Carolina,” Heavner said. “The quality far exceeds the small town budget.”

With digital technology and the internet expanding the abilities of journalism, Heavner said contemporary journalism is at a new point.

“It’s a brave, new world for reporters,” he said.

“Technology is dramatically changing how people get their news and the Internet makes everyone a journalist to one degree or another — and you simply can’t trust just anything you read or hear anymore.”

Heavner said he looks forward to a reestablishment of the fourth estate, a term that refers to journalism acting as the fourth branch of government by monitoring the political process.

city@dailytarheel.com