Dave White began his media career at Mooresville High School. There he was
hooked on broadcasting by the school’s student-produced news and radio programs which included a weekly program on the Plainfield radio station, 98.3 FM. At the time, Mooresville had video production equipment years before most other high schools, thanks to winning a contest.
Well before his teens, it was obvious Dave was headed for broadcasting. He played “radio” as a little kid by drawing dials on a cardboard box and using a string and Lincoln log for his “mic,” while his Zenith transistor radio played inside the box.
He enrolled in Franklin College where he progressed his way to manager of the WFCI College Radio and also worked for the local Franklin commercial station, WFIN, while studying English literature and journalism.
After Franklin, Dave married the love of his life, Roberta, and did graduate studies in rehabilitation administration at Southern Illinois University. He was certified as a rehabilitation administrator by Indiana University.
His radio connections led him to jobs at the rehabilitation agency Gateway where, as executive director, he impacted the lives of people in the disability community.
While at Gateway, broadcasting was still a strong draw and Dave worked side jobs producing public affairs programs on WIFE radio and WISH-TV. He decided to leave Gateway and worked stints at WATI, WNTS, and WFMS which led back to 98.3 FM, which had become Indy’s Christian Music Station.
Dave was there for 20 years as program director and operations manager.
During that time, he did morning drive under the air name Jay Carpenter. With co-host Phil Foley, he produced and co-hosted “Power Source” for 10 years on WHMB-TV. WXIR Love 98 was one of the highest rated and billing contemporary Christian music stations in the country.
Simultaneously, he produced and hosted WISH-TV’s “Religion in the News” for nearly three decades.
His work took him to China, Thailand, Israel, Haiti, and former Soviet countries. In more than 15-hundred interviews, Dave enjoyed talking to average people about their real impacts on their real communities.
In 1993 he received a commendation from Governor Evan Bayh for his “unselfish contributions and dedicated service to make Indiana a better place to live and work.”
Dave and Roberta’s children followed in their dad’s footsteps, Jennifer in rehabilitation and Josh in media.
In 2002, with Josh fresh out of Franklin College, he and Dave formed DreamVision Media Partners, a production company focused on non-profit groups.
Starting in the early 2000s, Dave made a mark on the Indiana broadcast community as president of the Indiana’s Broadcast Pioneers.
Dave used his expertise and experience in the creation of more than 150 biographical video tributes, ensuring that Indiana legends live on in video archives at the Indiana State Museum.
During his time as president, Dave guided the Broadcast Pioneers toward higher standards of mission and diversity during the Covid pandemic.
Dave’s example of servant leadership sets the bar for broadcasters now and into the future.
