John Parente, of WBLQ, fame was inducted into the Rhode Island Radio & TV Hall of Fame at a ceremony held at the Crowne Plaza in Warwick. Parente, a former executive director of athletics at Johnson & Wales University who has been involved in Rhode Island’s athletic culture for more than six decades, was inducted along with Chris Camp of WPRO Radio News, former WPRI TV morning anchor Danielle North, Doug Palmieri of IHeart Media, Gene Valicenti of WJAR TV/WPRO Radio and Pam Watts of WEAN/ABC 6/RI.
The late Jack White, a longtime investigative reporter for WPRI TV, was posthumously inducted. White, who died in 2005 at age 63, was a beloved and well-respected journalist who won a Pulitzer Prize for his scoop about disgraced former President Richard Nixon. White’s son, Tim White, a WPRI TV reporter, accepted the award on his family’s behalf and thanked the hall of fame and his friends from Channel 12.