Ernie Mastroianni, 1934-2016: Groundbreaking reporting made him a trusted voice

His investigative reporting held the powerful to account and his groundbreaking civil-rights coverage made Ernie Mastroianni a trusted voice in the Jacksonville community.

The local broadcast icon, who parlayed his experience into a teaching role at Northwestern University and later a 16-year stint in public service, passed away Sunday. He was 82.

After cutting his teeth at WJXT-TV in the late 1960s, Mr. Mastroianni, described by a former colleague as “pleasant” but “disciplined,” earned a reputation for dogged reporting and exposing wrongdoing.

Veteran WJXT-TV anchor Tom Wills arrived at that station in 1975 when Mr. Mastroianni was news director. The station honored its late news director on the air Monday evening. Wills remembered his former boss as a “charming” raconteur.

“He had an absolutely remarkable ability to inspire and lead young reporters,” Wills said.

First Coast News reporter Ken Amaro, who worked with Mr. Mastroianni at Channel 12, said his colleague adhered to the ethics and tenets of journalism by being honest, objective and following a story, no matter where it led, in search of the truth.

“He didn’t take no for an answer. If his gut told him someone wasn’t being forthcoming, he would dog them,” Amaro said. “He wasn’t interested in fancy craftsmanship. Just the truth — whatever it took to get it on air.”

Former colleague Joe Coppoletta remembered how Mr. Mastroianni reacted when news staff found out a secret meeting of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority’s board was taking place in private at a member’s home, an apparent breach of state laws requiring government business to be conducted in public.

“So he grabbed me, and we went to the home to enforce the ‘Sunshine Law.’ Needless to say, the participants were furious, but Ernie couldn’t care less. He stood them down, and we got the story,” Coppoletta said. “For him, all that mattered was that the people of Jacksonville had a right to know what was going on.”

Mr. Mastroianni also earned the trust of the city’s black neighborhoods by giving them a voice during a time of civil unrest, Amaro said. “He was one of the few white guys who could go into some of the black communities because he was respected, he did a service,” he said. “The community had confidence in him.”

In his own words, Mr. Mastroianni told former co-worker Harry Reagan in an interview how their then news director approached him about the lack of coverage devoted to black residents. The pair agreed they could change that.

“Instantly, I became the black reporter,” Mr. Mastroianni recalled. “Whenever there was a story that had to do with the black community, they would call me: ‘Ernie go up there.’ And consequently, I became friends with a number of these people.”

Mr. Mastroianni left WJXT-TV to teach journalism to graduate college students at Northwestern University in Chicago. His path later led him to public service when he ran for election as Duval County Property Appraiser in 1987, an office he won and held for 16 years.

Amaro said Mr. Mastroianni’s principles followed him into elected office.

“Even though he served in public office, he never bought into that whole political paradigm of ‘You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours,’” Amaro said. “He was always transparent and above board.”

Outside the public sphere, Mr. Mastroianni was a loving husband and father who raised his children with a sense of humor, according to his wife, Karen, who said he challenged them to be thinkers and debaters. At home, she said he loved to garden and cook for family and friends. She treasures the 36 years they shared.

“He could make anything beautiful,” she said. “My life was beautiful because of him.”

She said right up until the day he died, he stuck to the values that he embodied as a newsman. As his health waned, that meant confronting a truth he didn’t want sugarcoated: he would succumb to dementia.

“He knew right to his death what was wrong and he accepted it,” she said. “It was sad because he was brave enough to face it head on.”

Mr. Mastroianni is survived by his wife; children Frank, Anthony and David; and grandchildren Maya, Ernie, Maxwell and Grace.

His family has respected Mr. Mastroianni’s wishes that there be no funeral service. Instead, those who wish to honor his memory are asked to consider making a donation to the Dementia Society of America.

Times-Union staff writer Dan Scanlan contributed to this report.

Garrett Pelican: (904) 359-4385