Wade Hargrove Feted at UNC

Annual media law colloquium set up in attorney’s honor

By Michael Malone -- Broadcasting & Cable, 10/28/2009 7:30:00 PM

Bigwig communications attorney Wade Hargrove was honored in a surprise ceremony Oct. 28 at the Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill, NC. The North Carolina Association of Broadcasters (NCAB) and the North Carolina Cable Telecommunications Association (NCCTA) came together to announce they’d raised over $200,000 to establish an annual media law presentation in Hargrove’s honor.
 
The Hearst Corporation and Mass Communication Foundation of North Carolina were instrumental to the fundraising efforts too. Other contributors to the cause include ABC Television Affiliates Association, Capitol Communications and Fox Television Affiliates Association.
 
A partner at Brooks Pierce in Raleigh, Hargrove is a giant figure in communications law. He’s been NCAB executive director and general counsel for more than 39 years, NCCTA general counsel for 30 years, and Hearst communications regulatory counsel for 20 years.
 
The Wade H. Hargrove Communications Law and Policy Colloquium will feature an annual public address at UNC by what the organizers call “a prominent national figure in communications law and public policy.” The speaker will also meet with students and industry leaders. The first speaker will appear next year.
 
Hargrove was the driving force behind UNC’s Center for Media Law and Policy, a national forum for the discussion of issues pertaining to media and law.