WECT’s 70th Anniversary: Looking back on the 2000s
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - Take a minute to think about how many things you still have around your house that are 70 years old. There’s probably not too many. Things seem to change so quickly, and it’s often out with the old and in with the new, but 70 years later WECT is still here bringing you the news that matters.
At the turn of the century, after surviving the big scare of Y2K, our dependency on computers took off. Google became the dominant search engine, and by 2004 users were submitting 200 million Google searches a day.
Then came high speed internet, which at the time wasn’t accessible to everyone. That prompted a visit to Whiteville from then President Bill Clinton.
“You hear all about the digital divide, some of you got a computer and some don’t, and even if you do maybe you use the internet with your telephone line, maybe you don’t.”
In 2008 Clinton’s wife Hilary and Barack Obama would be back in Whiteville and Wilmington campaigning before the presidential primary.
In 2001 we all watched in horror the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. While network news took over coverage, local stations like WECT worked to find a local connection.
In the years that followed, Buddy Martinette, the command officer of an urban search and rescue team who responded to the Pentagon on 9/11, would become Wilmington’s new fire chief.
“Some of the victims didn’t get out of their chairs,” Martinette said, reflecting on the attack at the Pentagon. “I remember an Army officer in his uniform with a keycard in his hand, sitting in his chair at his desk and didn’t have a chance to leave.”
But the decade would not be defined by tragedy. We saw some big changes at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. In 2002, after two years and 17 million dollars in renovations, the aquarium reopened with a 235,000 gallon, two story tank that has become a focal point for viewing fish, sharks and other sea creatures.
In 2003 we said good-bye to Dawson’s Creek, a popular TV series filmed in Wilmington, and hello to another popular series: One Tree Hill. Producers and actors loved the area.
“To come into a small, secluded place where people in the community are used to this, so no one is going to bother you or be freaked out. Everyone here is cool,” said Bethany Joy Galeotti, an actress on One Tree Hill.
“You can’t go from location to another in L.A. and make those kind of company moves. We make three company moves in one day,” said Joe Davola, executive producer of One Tree Hill.
In 2009 then-Governor Beverly Purdue visited the set of One Tree Hill at EUE/Screen Gem studios to reauthorize the North Carolina film council. Film incentives would go from 15 to 25 percent, bringing more jobs to the state and Wilmington, and helping set a path for future TV and movie productions.
Those weren’t the only changes on TV, especially here at WECT. I joined the news team as a co-anchor on Carolina in the Morning with Bob Townsend in 2006. While my 18 years here is only a small portion of WECT’s 70 years on air, one thing is for certain, our pledge to bring you the news that affects your family will never change.
We’re celebrating 70 years on the air! You can read more in the link below and watch our other stories featuring historical photos and video below.
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