Indiana Broadcast History Archive

Jack Parker is a longtime television news photographer originally from Dayton, Ohio. With over 45 years of experience, Parker has worked for WTTV and WISH-TV in Indianapolis, covering major stories like the Tony Kiritsis hostage situation in 1977, the rise and fall of Indiana basketball coach Bobby Knight, extreme weather events, including the blizzard of 1978 and the tornado outbreaks in 2002, and many breaking news stories.  

Broadcasting Start 

Parker was born in 1948 and first became interested in broadcasting in high school when he joined Junior Achievement. He was originally drawn to radio after seeing his older brother’s record collection. Through JA, Parker got to be a disc jockey for WQED, a new FM station in Dayton.  

In Parker’s second year at JA, he moved to WLW-D, channel 2 Dayton, where he said he learned the power of deadlines and live production. WLW-D was owned by Crosley Broadcasting of Cincinnati. In the early 1970s, after a change in ownership, the station became WDTN. There, Parker put out a half-hour show every week with guests from different high schools hosting panel discussions on hot topics.  

During Parker’s senior year, he went back to radio, working at WABE in Dayton. While at WABE though, Parker got a call from channel 2 asking if he would be the Teen Coordinator for the once-a-week TV segment “Square Swing Dance Party.” The show played the top 40 songs of the week and invited teens from surrounding high schools to come dance. It was shot in the motel across from the station, and Parker’s job was to take cues through a headset and set people up in the shots. 

After graduating high school in 1966, Parker spent four months in Atlanta, Georgia, taking radio courses. He was then offered a position as the News Director at WMWM radio in Wilmington, Ohio, where he worked for six months before transitioning to WIZE radio in Springfield, Ohio, to work as a Top 40 disc jockey.  

Joining the Army 

After six months in Springfield, Parker enlisted in the Army for three years with the promise that he would get to work on the Armed Forces Radio Network. Initially trained as a personnel specialist, Parker was later sent to an Army broadcast school, where he began formal training in journalism and media production. After he finished school, he spent four months in Fort Jackson before moving to Fort Harrison in Indianapolis. There, he attended a defense information school where he learned how to become a military journalist.  

Parker was later sent overseas to Germany, where he worked in an Army public affairs office. His responsibilities included writing for a weekly newspaper and taking photographs for military publications. After his father passed away, Parker requested a transfer back to the United States and was reassigned to Fort Harrison. He continued working in public affairs until he finished his military service. 

Before leaving the Army, Parker received assistance in securing a part-time weekend internship at WTTV, Channel 4 in Indianapolis. 

WTTV 

WTTV typically operated with only two photographers, which meant Parker was regularly assigned to many of central Indiana's biggest stories. Among the most significant was the 1977 Tony Kiritsis hostage crisis, during which Parker captured some of the event's most memorable footage. His film from the standoff remains an important visual record of the incident and is featured in the Indiana Broadcast History Archive's story, "The Real Dead Man's Wire." After covering the Kiritsis ordeal, Parker went on to document other landmark events, including the Blizzard of 1978 and numerous breaking news stories throughout Indiana.

Despite working at a smaller station, Parker noted that his pay was comparable to photographers at larger Indianapolis stations, giving him little reason to leave WTTV initially. That changed in January 1980, when Parker received a job offer from WISH-TV.

 

WISH-TV 

Parker ultimately decided to move to WISH-TV after learning that WTTV was three years away from getting its first video cameras. By 1980, he said most stations were on their second or third generation of video technology, and Parker wanted to continue growing with the industry. 

One of Parker’s first assignments at WISH-TV was working on the show Nightbeat, a live late-night talk show that aired after the 11:00 p.m. newscast. His role involved shooting and editing news packages for the program. Parker said the fast pace of the show was initially challenging, especially because editors did not yet have time codes on tapes. Instead, he relied on a mechanical counter and manual rewinding to locate soundbites. 

 Fortunately, two years into his time there, WISH-TV started switching over to the first computer digital editing systems, significantly improving editing time. The station was making other technological advancements during Parker’s time there, too. In 1983, Channel 8 acquired its first Betacams, improving its video quality dramatically. Parker was also learning how to use the station’s microwave truck. Eventually, when they got a second truck, it was assigned to Parker. This meant that he was on call 24/7, giving him a lot of breaking news stories.  

Going to IUPUI 

While Parker was at WISH-TV, he decided he wanted to learn how to control microwave and satellite trucks. So he enrolled in Indiana-Purdue University in Indianapolis to study practical electronics in 1984.  

During the two-year course, Parker learned the fundamentals of electronics, signal transmission, and equipment maintenance, skills that allowed him to take on additional technical responsibilities at WISH-TV and remain adaptable as broadcast technology continued to evolve. 

Later Career and Personal Life 

In his final years at WISH-TV, Parker worked in the news control room. He helped expand the space into a sub–master control room capable of recording and monitoring up to nine sources for major events such as the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon and the Indianapolis 500. Parker also reorganized the station’s archive tape room, using his institutional knowledge as a longtime news photographer to improve access to historical footage. 

He retired shortly after turning 65 in August 2013. For the next three years, Parker returned to WISH-TV on a part-time basis, assisting with nights, weekends, and special event coverage. After fully retiring, Parker moved to Florida, where he continues to enjoy retirement after more than four decades documenting some of Indiana's most significant news events. 

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Written by Katherine Maners

April 2026