You have heard their voices on radio and seen their faces on TV. Now Blade media columnist Ron Musselman will go behind the scenes to introduce you to your

favorite media personalities. Stay Tuned appears the third Monday of every month.

FIRST JOB: In the television business, it was the NBC page program. I spent the bulk of my time giving tours of NBC studios at 30 Rockefeller Center. But I also

had the chance to work behind the scenes of Saturday Night Live, Late Night with David Letterman, NBC News Today, NBC News Now (with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric), and WNBC s Today In New York morning news program. Matt Lauer was an anchor for Today in New York while I was there as a researcher and production assistant.

My first full-time on-air job was as a reporter trainee at WRCB-TV (NBC affiliate) in Chattanooga, Tenn. It s also where I grew up as a television journalist. Several

months into the job, I was promoted to general assignment reporter and I later became what my news director called the go-to reporter. From there, I became the producer and host of the station s weekly public affairs program, and then weekend

evening anchor. After eight years in Chattanooga, I often thought I d stay there forever. It s not only where I grew up professionally, but it is also where I met my wife, and where I became a dad.

FIRST SALARY: NBC page ($9.23 an hour, I never quite understood that fi gure, but it s what we all made), and reporter trainee ($7 an hour).

MY IDOL IS: It would have to be my 87-year-old grandmother, Beatrice Graham, who still lives on her own, drives, and goes fishing every day. In Coosawhatchie, S.C.

[her hometown, just outside of Savannah, Ga.], she is known as the Fishing Queen. She recently sent me a picture of herself in the newspaper [The Jasper Journal]. She was holding a 15-pound bass she spent 20 minutes reeling in with her wooden

fishing pole. My grandmother is also the woman who raised me in Coosawhatchie for the first five years of my life. My mom was single and 19 years old when she gave birth to me, so my grandma stepped in to give her time to get her life together and to prepare herself to be a mom.

Professionally, my idol would have to be the late Malvin Goode.

He was the first African-American to be named a network correspondent.

He worked for ABC News and I had the honor of meeting him when I was a sophomore in high school. He was the keynote speaker at a Martin Luther King,

Jr., breakfast. I have to say hearing him speak and meeting him changed my life. It allowed me to see the possibility of doing television news when there weren t

many people who looked like me doing it. I would love to follow in his footsteps.

MOST EMBARRASSING TV MOMENT: I was doing a story about a rare snowy

day in Chattanooga. I decided it would be fun to do a part of the story (my stand-up) sledding down the hill of a golf course, where children were playing. I borrowed a kid s sled, put on the wireless mike, and down the hill I went. There was only one tree at the bottom of the entire hill. And somehow, I managed to hit it, not once, but twice. I was in pain for several days and the station played that video again and again for people to see. Ouch.

HIGHLIGHT OF MY CAREER: This may still be a weird answer. From meeting o r d i n a r y people, to interviewing celebrities, and covering presidential visits, I have honestly enjoyed so many things that I have done in my career as a television journalist. But I don t think I have had the highlight yet.

I sense there is more for me, and I am working at being patient and prepared when that time comes.

MY FAVORITE THING TO DO OUTSIDE OF WORK: I enjoy preparing dinner for my wife and son and sitting down to eat the meal together. Working the early mornings allows me to do this nearly every evening, while she is still at work and he is at school. Beyond that, my favorite thing to do is to be in worship services at our church, Cathedral of Praise.

That church, and our pastor [Tony Scott], are the two biggest reasons we have been able to feel so at home here.

I THINK TOLEDO S BEST-KEPT SECRET IS: The people. My wife and I moved here not knowing anyone three years ago. Today, we have people in our lives that are closer to us than our birth families. People have been very embracing and made us feel very special. I would be happy to give you a list of names if you like (smile).

PEOPLE MAY BE SURPRISED TO KNOW THAT I: Love to bake and I love to eat. Baking really relaxes me. The items people ask for me to make the most are carrot cake, red velvet cake, creme brulee, and sweet potato pie.

IN FIVE YEARS, I SEE MYSELF: I entered this business with dreams of being a network correspondent.

I am not quite ready to give up on those dreams, unless God directs me elsewhere. So in five years, I see myself following in the footsteps of Malvin Goode and delivering good stories to the world.

MY DREAM JOB IS: I have always felt the best job in television news is to be a news reader for one of the morning shows. It allows you to anchor the news on a regular basis and still spend time reporting the stories you are passionate about. That said, I admire Chris Cuomo on Good Morning America, Ann Curry on Today, and Russ Mitchell on the CBS Early Show. They sit where I would love to sit someday.

First Published June 18, 2007, 10:22 a.m.