When you think of the evening TV news there's one name you remember.
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Jo Hall.
For 40 years Ms Hall has been one our screens delivering the latest news, events and human interest stories.
After completing high school at Koonung High School in Box Hill North, Ms Hall applied to the only journalism course at RMIT University.
"The course had only 60 places a year," she said.
"I didn't go to a private school and I didn't have great marks but I got in as 50 per cent of the application was based on the interview."
After nutting out her degree, her next challenge arose.
Finding employment in the late 1970s was a difficult task, but one made more difficult for Ms Hall based on her education history.
"I applied everywhere like The Age and the Herald Sun but in those days the larger places only hired people who went to private schools," she said.
"So I went to the Waverley Gazette and was there for 18 months and I just loved it.
"I covered everything, I had my own baby page and it was the first newspaper to have a magazine lift-out where I was writing feature pieces too.
"My dad saw a cadetship advertised for Channel Nine which ended up having something like 500 applications.
"I didn't think I really wanted to work in television but I went for the interview.
"They took a liking to me and asked me to hang around for the rest of the day.
"After a couple of days I got a call saying I had the job.
"I remember going out for a celebratory dinner with mum and dad and I was still thinking I didn't really want to work in television but my parents encouraged me.
"My mum said she thought it was an opportunity I couldn't pass."
In 1979, Ms Hall began her career as a television news reporter. Even though the screen is a far cry from print, Ms Hall attributes her lessons learnt at the Waverley Gazette with forming the foundations of her television career.
"The principles remain the same between the different medias. You're still asking the who, what, when, where, why and how.
"Television is obviously presentation based and I was a small skinny girl who was a bit self-conscious.
"For the first six months I wasn't on television, I was following the other journalists around.
"They even had to send me to elocution lessons because my voice was so bad.
"Television didn't come naturally to me."
But the endless roller coaster of the newsroom had already grown deep roots within Ms Hall and through sheer determination she slowly began to feel more comfortable looking down the barrel of a camera and talking to millions of Australians every night.
"My round has always been the feature, human interest pieces which remain with people long after the bulletin is over," she said.
"I've been able to cover stories from the Chopper Read murders to anchoring moments like 9/11, the fires and bombings.
Don't be afraid to work hard. Determination will get you everywhere.
- Channel Nine news presenter Jo Hall
"In 1983 I covered Ash Wednesday which was my first real hard-hitting report. I remember seeing my story run in London and I thought I must be ok.
"When I went to Canberra for the Thorn Awards in 1990 for my coverage of the Hawthorn Kindergarten siege and I was up against all these other distinguished journalists and when I won, again I thought I must be ok."
As a journalist, Ms Hall has achieved more than 'ok'.
A stalwart in every definition Ms Hall is the reliable face delivering our daily news which often means covering difficult, painful, moving and delightful news.
Across each bulletin she remains strong, unbiased and controlled while also adding her own spark which her loyal audiences have come to know and love.
Though not an easy career to pursue as a women, this pioneer has let nothing deter her.
"When I started it was a very male-dominated industry and it was rare for women to have children and go back to work," Ms Hall said.
"It was hard being one of the few female journalists and also having a family and I thought I wasn't going to last.
"I don't know when it was but there's definitely been a shift to older women being embraced.
"If you look around me to Sandra Sully, Liz Hayes and Tracy Grimshaw there are so many women who are holding their ground.
"It was hard juggling the shift work with my family and when I fell pregnant two years after starting at Nine my mum said she would help me.
"My mum passed away after my second child was born and my sister supported me.
"I went back to work five months after the twins were born and I couldn't have done it without the family support."
The ever-humble news anchor certainly doesn't seem to believe she's achieved anything remarkable, but with four adult children and a never-ending list of stories to cover, her work is showing no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
Achieving a 40th anniversary is a milestone for anyone, but for Ms Hall, she has dug, paved and cemented her own path to be the trusted face we turn to every night.
"Don't be afraid to work hard," she said.
"Determination will get you everywhere.
"Over the years your work isn't something you reflect upon until you have a celebration.
"Channel Nine threw me a party and I wrote a piece for Stellar over the weekend so I've been able to take a moment and look back with pride and think I've done alright."
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