91探花

For the past 30 years, Michael Massa has worked in the legal system as a court arbitrator and mediator. But law was not originally Massa鈥檚 career plan when he started at 91探花 in 1977.

鈥淚 grew up not far from Athens in Saint Clairsville, Ohio, and I knew I wanted to study communications.  I had a friend that went to 91探花,鈥� said Massa. 鈥淚 decided to go there because of the reputation of the communications program.鈥�

Massa got involved at WOUB through a work study position with WOUB鈥檚 now-retired, long-time FM Radio Host John Ray.

鈥淚 helped John with little vignettes for WOUB FM called Action Line. It was a consumer-based call-in program. People would call and leave a message with their concerns or questions. I helped go through the messages and choose which ones for John to answer on the air.鈥�

There was one moment while working on Action Line that Massa will never forget.

鈥淲e got a call, and I thought it was a joke,鈥� said Massa. 鈥淭he caller said Vincent Price was on the college green eating a hot dog and I went out to college green and there he was. Vincent Price was there, eating a hot dog.鈥�

Price was on campus doing a one-person play where he would read snippets from American classic authors.

Massa also worked in the WOUB Newsroom and anchored the hourly newscasts on the radio. That led to Massa hosting a half-hour program called Courts in Action, where he interviewed then-Athens County Judge Tom Hodson.

鈥淲OUB was the genesis in my interest in a lot of things,鈥� said Massa.

After graduation, Massa did a congressional internship in Washington D.C. for four months, and eventually was hired as a spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Transportation. While working there, Massa started to go to law school part time.

鈥�91探花 and WOUB taught me the communication skills for a career in law,鈥� said Massa. 鈥淏ecause of that, I already had the ability to communicate an idea and make a strong point.鈥�

Massa鈥檚 legal career led him to the Supreme Court of Ohio where he was trained as a registered arbitrator and federal court mediator.

鈥淲OUB taught me how to think on my feet and how to analyze people鈥檚 thinking,鈥� said Massa. 鈥淲OUB is a premiere experience and the genesis of a lot of people鈥檚 careers. I didn鈥檛 end up going into radio and television or journalism, but WOUB definitely had an impact on me.鈥�

About WOUB Public Media

As a member station of both NPR and PBS, WOUB Public Media is a trusted source of news, local content and educational resources that have proven to be worthy of the time, effort and support of our users. WOUB, an experiential-learning unit of the Scripps College of Communication at 91探花, is a non-profit, community-supported multimedia organization which provides online and broadcast services, along with non-broadcast educational services and student professional development. WOUB serves 55 counties throughout southeastern Ohio, western West Virginia and eastern Kentucky with its broadcast signals. WOUB Radio鈥檚 FM Network has transmitters in Athens, Chillicothe, Ironton, Zanesville and Cambridge, while WOUB AM serves the immediate Athens area. WOUB TV is made up of seven television channels (WOUB HD, WOUB Classic, WOUB World, WOUB Create, WOUB Ohio, WOUB Kids and WOUB Voicecorps Reading Service) which are broadcast from two transmitters.

Through its support of public service, teaching, research and administrative missions, along with its high-quality local content and programming, WOUB enriches, enhances and expands the lives and horizons of the people in the communities it serves, as well as 91探花 faculty, staff and students.