Tony Zappone
Encyclopedia
Tony Zappone became at age 16 the youngest credentialed journalist
to lend press coverage to a major national political convention. He was also the youngest contributor of evidence (his photographs) during the Warren Commission
hearings into the slaying of President John F. Kennedy. He began his career in journalism at age 14 as a freelance photographer with The Tampa Tribune
, paid at the rate of three dollars per published news photo.
during a presidential visit to Tampa just four days before Kennedy's November 22, 1963 assassination in Dallas, Texas
. Nine months later, he presented the slain President's brother, U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy
, with pictures he had taken that day which were accepted for public display at the John F. Kennedy Library
in Boston. The presentation took place at Kennedy's U.S. Justice Department office in Washington
. (Almost 40 years later, the building was renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building.)
At that time, the Kennedy presidential library
was still in the planning stages so the attorney general said he would ensure the photographs would be held with other exhibits and materials until it was constructed.
Several of the photos Zappone took that day showing the last time Secret Service
agents were posted at the rear of the presidential limousine were entered as exhibits during The Warren Commission
's investigation into the Kennedy Assassination
and are still used today in Secret Service training. According to Secret Service records, Kennedy's Tampa visit was also remarkable in that he was exposed to the public for the second longest period of time of any appearance during his entire Presidency, the longest being his visit to Berlin, Germany.
A week after the presentation of photos, Zappone was the youngest credentialed photographer to cover the 1964 Democratic National Convention
at the original Atlantic City Convention Center
(now Boardwalk Hall
), having been granted an "All Areas" pass. Each evening he would take his film to the main Atlantic City post office and express mail it to newspapers in Tampa. During the convention, he was interviewed before a nationwide television audience by NBC News
Correspondents John Chancellor
and Frank McGee. He also caught up with Robert Kennedy once again at a rear exit following the attorney general's famous speech before an enthusastic convention audience that gave him a 22-minute ovation.
man requesting a sergeant after he pulled over a chimpanzee
driving a compact convertible for speeding on Interstate 4
just east of Tampa. He rushed to grab a ride with another newsman, WTVT TV reporter Steve Wilson, and arrived in time to photograph the lawman issuing the chimp a citation
for speeding and having no driver's license. Subsequently, charges against "Cappy" the chimp were dropped after a Hillsborough County
judge ruled no infraction had occurred because at that time there was no requirement in Florida law that chimpanzees have licenses to drive. Zappone was later commissioned by NBC
Productions, Inc. to shoot film footage of Cappy driving around the Tampa area for later use on that network's The Tonight Show
with Johnny Carson
. During the shoot, he was injured when the animal bit unrelentingly into his right hand during a stop at a downtown Tampa intersection and refused to let go until the light turned green 30 seconds later.
affiliate WTVT-TV using a borrowed, spring-wound, World War II era Bell and Howell 16 mm camera, he began shooting news film for Tampa television station WFLA-TV
. At that time (1965), the going rate paid to free lance by TV news departments was fifty cents per foot of film used on a newscast (eighteen feet equaled the average 30-second story.)
After 12 years at WFLA-TV, an NBC affiliate, he would return to WTVT-TV as a news correspondent.
On April 4, 1966, he was dismissed from college classes because the electricity went out suddenly. Learning from his car radio that a devastating tornado
had ripped through the Carrollwood section of North Tampa minutes earlier, Zappone rushed to the scene and became the first newsman with photos and news film of the extensive damage. His exposed 16 mm motion picture film was put on a plane bound for New York City
, where it was processed at the NBC News
headquarters. The dramatic images of crumbled homes, uprooted trees, mangled cars and other storm aftermath were broadcast that evening on NBC's Huntley-Brinkley Report
, the highest-rated evening news program of that time.
During the late 60's and early 70's, Zappone (while in his early 20's) was a frequent contributor to NBC Radio's weekend Monitor
program. Once he gained the confidence of the show's producers, the network began calling on him to create and submit feature stories for the legendary weekend radio showcase and to cover central Florida hard news stories for Monitor's "News on the Hour." He also submitted stories from the United Kingdom
and other parts of Europe
while stationed there in the military, 1970-71.
During summer vacations from his studies in political science and mass communication at The University of South Florida
Zappone worked as a reporter/photographer with The Philadelphia Bulletin. He was a founding staff member (photographer and reporter) of The Oracle
, the groundbreaking University of South Florida campus newspaper which printed its first issue September 6, 1966. In its first year, the publication won two National Pacemaker Awards given by the Associated Collegiate Press
(ACP) for excellence in college journalism and was named to the ACP Hall of Fame in 1989.
In his second year of college, he joined the staff of The Tampa Tribune
and The Tampa Times as a full time reporter and photographer. Concurrently, he attended college classes full time and was an active staff member of The Oracle as well until he graduated in 1969.
, Zappone was a part time news and feature photographer for the Pensacola News and the Pensacola Journal (now combined as the Pensacola News Journal) under special arrangement. From 1970-71, Zappone served in the U.S. Navy as part of the Armed Forces Courier Service (ARFCOS), now the Defense Courier Service
(DCS). He was assigned to the Defense Attaché
section, Embassy of the United States in London
, and the U.S. Naval Forces Europe command in Naples, Italy.
In London, he befriended then U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Walter H. Annenberg, founder of TV Guide
and former owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer
and the Philadelphia Daily News
, who became interested in his future career and cleared a path for opportunities in the print and broadcast journalism fields. Zappone also performed functions in Europe during this time for the National Security Agency
, headquartered in Fort George G. Meade
, Maryland.
While in Europe, he was a contributor to NBC News
programs, The Guardian
(formerly the Manchester Guardian) and The Observer
newspapers, both based in London, and the European editions of Life Magazine in a freelance capacity. He was also editor-in-chief of "The Tartan Log," a newspaper chronicling the non-classified activities of personnel stationed at U.S. military intelligence installations in Scotland
.
Radio assigned him to be the station's first morning and afternoon drive-time traffic reporter and field news correspondent. Using police monitors, a citizens' band radio and making frequent calls to law enforcement agencies, Zappone broadcast his "rush hour" reports from a section of the radio studio, then called "WFLA Traffic Central."
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
to lend press coverage to a major national political convention. He was also the youngest contributor of evidence (his photographs) during the Warren Commission
Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 27, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
hearings into the slaying of President John F. Kennedy. He began his career in journalism at age 14 as a freelance photographer with The Tampa Tribune
The Tampa Tribune
The Tampa Tribune, published in Tampa, Florida, is one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area, second in circulation and readership to the St. Petersburg Times. The paper's tagline is "Life...
, paid at the rate of three dollars per published news photo.
Photographed JFK days before assassination
He photographed President John F. KennedyJohn F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
during a presidential visit to Tampa just four days before Kennedy's November 22, 1963 assassination in Dallas, Texas
Dallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
. Nine months later, he presented the slain President's brother, U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy
Robert F. Kennedy
Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...
, with pictures he had taken that day which were accepted for public display at the John F. Kennedy Library
John F. Kennedy Library
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and museum of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. It is located on Columbia Point in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, next to the Boston campus of the University of...
in Boston. The presentation took place at Kennedy's U.S. Justice Department office in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. (Almost 40 years later, the building was renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building.)
At that time, the Kennedy presidential library
John F. Kennedy Library
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum is the presidential library and museum of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy. It is located on Columbia Point in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, next to the Boston campus of the University of...
was still in the planning stages so the attorney general said he would ensure the photographs would be held with other exhibits and materials until it was constructed.
Several of the photos Zappone took that day showing the last time Secret Service
United States Secret Service
The United States Secret Service is a United States federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The sworn members are divided among the Special Agents and the Uniformed Division. Until March 1, 2003, the Service was part of the United States...
agents were posted at the rear of the presidential limousine were entered as exhibits during The Warren Commission
Warren Commission
The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known unofficially as the Warren Commission, was established on November 27, 1963, by Lyndon B. Johnson to investigate the assassination of United States President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
's investigation into the Kennedy Assassination
Assassination of John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
and are still used today in Secret Service training. According to Secret Service records, Kennedy's Tampa visit was also remarkable in that he was exposed to the public for the second longest period of time of any appearance during his entire Presidency, the longest being his visit to Berlin, Germany.
A week after the presentation of photos, Zappone was the youngest credentialed photographer to cover the 1964 Democratic National Convention
1964 Democratic National Convention
The 1964 Democratic National Convention was the 1964 presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party. It took place at the Atlantic City Convention Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey from August 24 to 27, 1964. Incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson -- who had been Vice President under...
at the original Atlantic City Convention Center
Atlantic City Convention Center
The Atlantic City Convention Center is a large convention center located in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Opened in 1997, the center includes of showroom space, 5 exhibit halls, 45 meeting rooms with of space, a garage with 1,400 parking spaces, and an adjacent Sheraton hotel.-History:The Center was...
(now Boardwalk Hall
Boardwalk Hall
Boardwalk Hall, formally known as the Historic Atlantic City Convention Hall, is an arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States...
), having been granted an "All Areas" pass. Each evening he would take his film to the main Atlantic City post office and express mail it to newspapers in Tampa. During the convention, he was interviewed before a nationwide television audience by NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
Correspondents John Chancellor
John Chancellor
John William Chancellor was a well-known American journalist who spent most of his career with NBC News...
and Frank McGee. He also caught up with Robert Kennedy once again at a rear exit following the attorney general's famous speech before an enthusastic convention audience that gave him a 22-minute ovation.
Speeding chimp cited
Early in 1964, Zappone was monitoring local police frequencies and overheard a Florida Highway PatrolFlorida Highway Patrol
The Division of the Florida Highway Patrol is a division of the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles and the law enforcement agency charged with ensuring the safety of the highways and roads of the state.-History:...
man requesting a sergeant after he pulled over a chimpanzee
Chimpanzee
Chimpanzee, sometimes colloquially chimp, is the common name for the two extant species of ape in the genus Pan. The Congo River forms the boundary between the native habitat of the two species:...
driving a compact convertible for speeding on Interstate 4
Interstate 4
Interstate 4 is a intrastate Highway located entirely within the state of Florida, United States. It goes from Interstate 275 in Tampa, Florida to Interstate 95 at Daytona Beach, Florida . It also has the Florida Department of Transportation designation of State Road 400, but only a small...
just east of Tampa. He rushed to grab a ride with another newsman, WTVT TV reporter Steve Wilson, and arrived in time to photograph the lawman issuing the chimp a citation
Citation
Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source . More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated alphanumeric expression Broadly, a citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source (not always the original source). More precisely, a citation is an abbreviated...
for speeding and having no driver's license. Subsequently, charges against "Cappy" the chimp were dropped after a Hillsborough County
Hillsborough County, Florida
As of the census of 2000, there were 998,948 people, 391,357 households, and 255,164 families residing in the county. The population density was 951 people per square mile . There were 425,962 housing units at an average density of 405 per square mile...
judge ruled no infraction had occurred because at that time there was no requirement in Florida law that chimpanzees have licenses to drive. Zappone was later commissioned by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
Productions, Inc. to shoot film footage of Cappy driving around the Tampa area for later use on that network's The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show
The Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
with Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
. During the shoot, he was injured when the animal bit unrelentingly into his right hand during a stop at a downtown Tampa intersection and refused to let go until the light turned green 30 seconds later.
Getting started in television
At age 17, after a brief stint as junior news hound for Tampa's then CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
affiliate WTVT-TV using a borrowed, spring-wound, World War II era Bell and Howell 16 mm camera, he began shooting news film for Tampa television station WFLA-TV
WFLA-TV
WFLA-TV, virtual channel 8, is the NBC-affiliated television station in Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida. The station is the flagship station of its owner and operator, Media General. Its transmitter is located in Riverview, Hillsborough County, Florida. WFLA is the only station in the market to be...
. At that time (1965), the going rate paid to free lance by TV news departments was fifty cents per foot of film used on a newscast (eighteen feet equaled the average 30-second story.)
After 12 years at WFLA-TV, an NBC affiliate, he would return to WTVT-TV as a news correspondent.
On April 4, 1966, he was dismissed from college classes because the electricity went out suddenly. Learning from his car radio that a devastating tornado
Tornado
A tornado is a violent, dangerous, rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. They are often referred to as a twister or a cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology in a wider...
had ripped through the Carrollwood section of North Tampa minutes earlier, Zappone rushed to the scene and became the first newsman with photos and news film of the extensive damage. His exposed 16 mm motion picture film was put on a plane bound for New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where it was processed at the NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
headquarters. The dramatic images of crumbled homes, uprooted trees, mangled cars and other storm aftermath were broadcast that evening on NBC's Huntley-Brinkley Report
Huntley-Brinkley Report
The Huntley-Brinkley Report was the NBC television network's flagship evening news program from October 29, 1956 until July 31, 1970. It was anchored by Chet Huntley in New York City, and David Brinkley in Washington, D.C...
, the highest-rated evening news program of that time.
During the late 60's and early 70's, Zappone (while in his early 20's) was a frequent contributor to NBC Radio's weekend Monitor
Monitor (NBC Radio)
NBC Monitor was an American weekend radio program broadcast from June 12, 1955, until January 26, 1975. Airing live and nationwide on the NBC Radio Network, it originally aired beginning Saturday morning at 8am and continuing through the weekend until 12 midnight on Sunday...
program. Once he gained the confidence of the show's producers, the network began calling on him to create and submit feature stories for the legendary weekend radio showcase and to cover central Florida hard news stories for Monitor's "News on the Hour." He also submitted stories from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and other parts of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
while stationed there in the military, 1970-71.
During summer vacations from his studies in political science and mass communication at The University of South Florida
University of South Florida
The University of South Florida, also known as USF, is a member institution of the State University System of Florida, one of the state's three flagship universities for public research, and is located in Tampa, Florida, USA...
Zappone worked as a reporter/photographer with The Philadelphia Bulletin. He was a founding staff member (photographer and reporter) of The Oracle
The Oracle (University of South Florida)
The Oracle, the University of South Florida's student-run newspaper, made history when its premier issue was published September 6, 1966...
, the groundbreaking University of South Florida campus newspaper which printed its first issue September 6, 1966. In its first year, the publication won two National Pacemaker Awards given by the Associated Collegiate Press
Associated Collegiate Press
The Associated Collegiate Press is the largest and oldest national membership organization for college student media in the United States. The ACP is a division of the National Scholastic Press Association...
(ACP) for excellence in college journalism and was named to the ACP Hall of Fame in 1989.
In his second year of college, he joined the staff of The Tampa Tribune
The Tampa Tribune
The Tampa Tribune, published in Tampa, Florida, is one of two major newspapers published in the Tampa Bay area, second in circulation and readership to the St. Petersburg Times. The paper's tagline is "Life...
and The Tampa Times as a full time reporter and photographer. Concurrently, he attended college classes full time and was an active staff member of The Oracle as well until he graduated in 1969.
Vietnam Era military service
During late 1969 and early in 1970 (a part of the Vietnam Era) while in military training at Pensacola, FloridaPensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
, Zappone was a part time news and feature photographer for the Pensacola News and the Pensacola Journal (now combined as the Pensacola News Journal) under special arrangement. From 1970-71, Zappone served in the U.S. Navy as part of the Armed Forces Courier Service (ARFCOS), now the Defense Courier Service
Defense Courier Service
The Defense Courier Service is established under the United States Transportation Command , and is a global courier network for the expeditious, cost-effective, and secure distribution of highly classified and sensitive material. Operational control of global courier activities is exercised...
(DCS). He was assigned to the Defense Attaché
Attaché
Attaché is a French term in diplomacy referring to a person who is assigned to the diplomatic or administrative staff of a higher placed person or another service or agency...
section, Embassy of the United States in London
Embassy of the United States in London
The Embassy of the United States of America to the Court of St. James's has been located since 1960 in the American Embassy London Chancery Building, in Grosvenor Square, Westminster, London...
, and the U.S. Naval Forces Europe command in Naples, Italy.
In London, he befriended then U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Walter H. Annenberg, founder of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
and former owner of The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United States. The newspaper was founded by John R. Walker and John Norvell in June 1829 as The Pennsylvania Inquirer and is the third-oldest surviving daily newspaper in the...
and the Philadelphia Daily News
Philadelphia Daily News
The Philadelphia Daily News is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The newspaper is owned by Philadelphia Media Holdings which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper The Philadelphia Inquirer. The Daily News began publishing on March 31, 1925, under...
, who became interested in his future career and cleared a path for opportunities in the print and broadcast journalism fields. Zappone also performed functions in Europe during this time for the National Security Agency
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency/Central Security Service is a cryptologic intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the collection and analysis of foreign communications and foreign signals intelligence, as well as protecting U.S...
, headquartered in Fort George G. Meade
Fort George G. Meade
Fort George G. Meade is a United States Army installation that includes the Defense Information School, the United States Army Field Band, and the headquarters of United States Cyber Command, the National Security Agency, and the Defense Courier Service...
, Maryland.
While in Europe, he was a contributor to NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
programs, The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
(formerly the Manchester Guardian) and The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
newspapers, both based in London, and the European editions of Life Magazine in a freelance capacity. He was also editor-in-chief of "The Tartan Log," a newspaper chronicling the non-classified activities of personnel stationed at U.S. military intelligence installations in Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
Years that followed
Early in 1974, the general manager of WFLA (AM)WFLA (AM)
WFLA is an AM radio station in Tampa, Florida, serving the Arbitron Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater market with additional listenership to the east in the adjacent Lakeland-Winter Haven market and to the south in the adjacent Sarasota-Bradenton market...
Radio assigned him to be the station's first morning and afternoon drive-time traffic reporter and field news correspondent. Using police monitors, a citizens' band radio and making frequent calls to law enforcement agencies, Zappone broadcast his "rush hour" reports from a section of the radio studio, then called "WFLA Traffic Central."