{"id":5131,"date":"2016-07-12T13:25:34","date_gmt":"2016-07-12T18:25:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=5131"},"modified":"2016-07-12T15:02:26","modified_gmt":"2016-07-12T20:02:26","slug":"we-were-very-blessed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2016\/07\/12\/we-were-very-blessed\/","title":{"rendered":"‘We Were Very Blessed’"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the summer of 1973, Jim Serra had completed his sophomore year at the University of Missouri at St. Louis, a young photographer seeking a future in media.<\/p>\n

\"Serra<\/a><\/p>\n

Serra at the 1976 Rayne Frog Festival.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

At the time, America was engrossed in the Senate Watergate Committee hearings, which were televised for more than two months on the major television networks. The unprecedented event flickered on 12-inch screens everywhere from barber shops to international airport terminals.<\/p>\n

Serra too was caught up in the political drama. Like millions of Americans that summer, he watched as Washington and the media, through their independent investigations, unraveled the \u201cthird-rate burglary\u201d and linked it to a series of illegal covert operations, authorized by the White House, which would eventually lead to President Richard Nixon\u2019s resignation.<\/p>\n

During the hearings, Serra realized that television would enable him to blend his love of images with his emerging talent for on-air reporting. That fall, he transferred to the University of Missouri School of Journalism to major in broadcast journalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was of the generation of Americans who went into journalism because of Watergate and all of the volatile events in Washington at the time,\u201d Serra said. \u201cWe wanted to make a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

June 30, 2016, after more than 25 years as vice president and general manager of KPLC Television, Serra is retiring, capping a 40-year career that began in (and would eventually lead him back to) his adopted home of Lake Charles.<\/p>\n

\u201cLake Charles is a wonderful place,\u201d said Serra, who will retire on June 30. \u201cOne of the reasons is that the media [outlets] compete hard against each other. But when there is a need and somebody is in trouble, even the media \u2014 cutthroat competitors \u2014 tends to rally around each other. That\u2019s just a reflection on how Southwest Louisiana people are.\u201d<\/p>\n

KPLC\u2019s Executive Assistant Veronica Bilbo will also retire on June 30 after 40 years at the station.<\/p>\n

John Ware, KPLC\u2019s general sales manager, will succeed Serra as vice president and general manager. Ware said Serra was the man responsible for making KPLC \u201cthe great station that it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJim has shaped this station,\u201d he said. \u201cHe has been the only G.M. I have ever known in my 22 years here. I\u2019m happy that he is going to be able to enjoy some retirement time, and I am also honored to be given the opportunity to guide this station forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

After graduating from Missouri in 1975, Serra made frequent trips to visit his brother David, an air force electronics instructor in Biloxi, Miss. It wasn\u2019t long before he developed a fondness for the Gulf Coast, so much so that he decided to begin his broadcasting career in the region.<\/p>\n

Family connections would soon bring Serra to Lafayette, where he interviewed at two television stations. One night, during his stay in a Lafayette motel, the city experienced a massive thunderstorm that flooded the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything flooded around that motel, and I couldn\u2019t get out,\u201d Serra said. \u201cI ate out of the vending machine. This was pre-internet, and I was so bored that I began reading the classified ads of the local newspaper and saw the job I wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Serra spotted a job opening for an assignment editor, noon anchor, producer, reporter and photographer at a television station in Lake Charles.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could\u2019ve written that classified ad,\u201d Serra said. \u201cIt was for KPLC in Lake Charles, La. The ad said \u2018no phone calls\u2019 and, of course, I called the guy the next day and he hired me. That was the beginning of it and it was an amazing adventure.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Serra arrived in Lake Charles the city was in the midst of some highly contentious union-management struggles. On Jan. 15, 1976, the two sides came to blows at the Jupiter Chemical Co. in Lake Charles, when armed men stormed the company\u2019s employment trailer. One applicant, Joe Hooper, was killed in the midst of the violence.<\/p>\n

Serra was the first reporter on the scene. In the midst of the violence, he shot 100 feet of film before two large workers grabbed him by his collar and forced him off the premises.<\/p>\n

\"Jim<\/a>That night, Serra\u2019s footage of the Jupiter riot aired on all of the national networks and some of the largest local television stations in America.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt made national news,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a big deal here in this tiny little corner of Louisiana. \u201c<\/p>\n

The Jupiter incident was the major impetus behind Louisiana becoming a right-to-work state later that year.<\/p>\n

Serra reported at KPLC until 1977, when he left for an anchor\/reporting job at KSLA-TV, a CBS affiliate in Shreveport. He would soon move into the production role in the newsroom. Throughout the late 1970s and early 1980s, Serra worked as a producer at television stations in Louisville, Ky., and Miami before returning to his hometown of St. Louis, where he was a producer at the city\u2019s NBC affiliate.<\/p>\n

In 1981, Serra married his college girlfriend and fellow journalism classmate Debbie Hacker. The following year, the young couple made a return trip to Lake Charles when they decided to move back. In 1983, their daughter Jennie was born.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe truth is that we thought we were passing through one more time,\u201d Serra said. \u201cGod laughs at those who plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Serra returned to KPLC as the station\u2019s sales manager, a position he would hold until he was promoted to vice president and general manager in 1990.<\/p>\n

Under Serra\u2019s leadership, KPLC was transformed into a 21st century television station. Video, the veritable backbone of television news since the 1970s, would be replaced by digital broadcasting. By the early 1990s, KPLC would find a permanent home on the Internet, which would enable the station to become the on-demand, digital, multi-platform content creator it is today.<\/p>\n

But it was an early 21st century storm that would test the station\u2019s ability to report news under the most severe conditions. On Sept. 24, 2005, Hurricane Rita, a category 3 storm, hit Southwest Louisiana with winds that were estimated at 120 miles per hour. In its wake, the storm destroyed homes and businesses in Calcasieu and Cameron Parishes and left\u00a0the region without power for two weeks.<\/p>\n

In response, KPLC\u2019s staff fired up the station\u2019s generator and lived in-house for two weeks to provide viewers with continuous coverage of the hurricane and the harsh realities of its aftermath.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe called it Camp KPLC,\u201d Serra said. \u201cThat was perhaps one of the most bonding and, I think, meaningful times in our station\u2019s history. We all bonded not just with each other, but with the community, our advertisers and our viewers. When you go through an event like that, it brings you even closer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Serra said Hurricane Rita was the single biggest news event to hit Southwest Louisiana during his 26 years as KPLC\u2019s vice president and general manager. He added that when the hurricane landed in Southwest Louisiana, KPLCTV.com was the most watched website in the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very proud of our coverage of the approach of Hurricane Rita, the strike and the aftermath,\u201d Serra said. \u201cIn fact, the industry noted how we did this. We were lauded by avoiding those stereotypical reporter tilting against the wind and really providing meaningful information and data as it was needed to keep our community safe.\u201d<\/p>\n

KPLC News Director Charlie Haldeman called Serra \u201ca broadcaster\u2019s broadcaster,\u201d who saw early on what modern technology like the Internet would do for the television industry.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

A selfie taken prior to a taping of a recent segment of A Better Southwest Louisiana.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIn a lot of ways, he may be the classic broadcaster and journalist from the heyday of television,\u201d Haldeman added. \u201cBut he\u2019s also adapted better than most leaders in newsrooms and television stations. He has a brilliant mind; he\u2019s a man who can do 20 different things at once and make it look easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

As he departs KPLC, Serra said the station is well suited for the broadcasting challenges of the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cKPLC is comprised of great broadcasters,\u201d Serra said. \u201cSome of these people are in front of the camera; others are behind it. They are the ones who are due all of the credit for making KPLC a great television station. That will not change with a change of management.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Serra said family will come first. He and Debbie like to travel, but will spend the lion\u2019s share of this year caring for their parents, who are in their late 90s. The Serras also plan to spend more time in New Orleans, where their daughter, Jennie Guidry, lives with her husband, John, and their two-year-old daughter Samantha.<\/p>\n

Although he\u2019s officially retiring from KPLC, Serra said he will never retire completely. He added that he will continue to visit the station for the free coffee, a tradition that was started earlier this year. In the meantime, Serra is keeping all of his options open, as he decides what he will do next in this new phase of his life.<\/p>\n

But one thing is certain \u2014 Jim and Debbie Serra are staying in Lake Charles. They will continue to be active in the community.<\/p>\n

\"Jim,<\/a><\/p>\n

Jim, Debbie and Samantha.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWe were very blessed,\u201d Serra said. \u201cIn an industry that breeds gypsies, we were able to settle down in a place that we loved and build our lives and become part of the community. We have no plans to leave.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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