Brokaw To Retire From NBC News After 55 Years

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Brokaw To Retire From NBC News After 55 Years

Tom Brokaw, 80, author of The Greatest Generation, was NBC's lead anchor at Nightly News and for big events for more than 20 years before giving way to Brian Williams in 2004. He was a White House correspondent during Richard Nixon's presidency, and began co-hosting Today in 1976. He started...

tvnewscheck.com

Some of this is from when Tom Brokaw was with KNBC-TV in Los Angeles before the National NBC News got him.

 

[installLSC]

That's gotta be the world record for a single network, right? Lloyd Robertson in Canada has done network news in some form for 59 years, but that was split between CBC and CTV.

 

[KeithE4]

That's gotta be the world record for a single network, right? Lloyd Robertson in Canada has done network news in some form for 59 years, but that was split between CBC and CTV.

He's been with the company since 1966, but didn't move up to the NBC network fulltime until 1973 when he became White House correspondent. He spent his first 7 years at KNBC Los Angeles.

 

[TheBigA]

At one time, he was criticized as being too much of a "pretty boy" to do serious news for a network. Peter Jennings received the same criticism. His years in the Nixon white house did a lot for his credibility.

 

[Don CT]

I thought he was already retired.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Retiring Brokaw: Journalists should get out of power centers

NEW YORK (AP) — If Tom Brokaw has one piece of advice to leave for television journalists upon his retirement, it's to get out to more of the country —and not just to visit.

apnews.com

Its an interesting editorial though but isn't most TV Journalists have their start in places where Tom Brokaw is suggesting people should go to as a local talent prior to going to the power centers such as Washington D.C., Los Angeles and New York. I don't know if National Network News will actually put priorities outside the "Power Centers" as local TV News can do easily though.

NEW YORK (AP) — If Tom Brokaw has one piece of advice to leave for television journalists upon his retirement, it’s to get out to more of the country —and not just to visit.

The Capitol insurrection is but one example of a story that might not have seemed as much a surprise if more journalists were attuned to communities outside of the power centers, the veteran NBC newsman said.

Television news is “much, much too wedded to the East Coast and West Coast only” and needs to expand its presence across the country.

“Take some of the people who are only in Washington and send them to Salt Lake City or Kansas City, or St. Louis for that matter,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press.

 

[TheBigA]

Its an interesting editorial though but isn't most TV Journalists have their start in places where Tom Brokaw is suggesting people should go to as a local talent prior to going to the power centers such as Washington D.C., Los Angeles and New York. I don't know if National Network News will actually put priorities outside the "Power Centers" as local TV News can do easily though.

Brokaw got his start in his home state of South Dakota. But he didn't stay there long. What drove him to leave? The money and the visibility of the big city. If you think you're good at what you do, regardless of the field, you want to be seen and make money. Hard to do in South Dakota. But the great thing about the internet is that it's not completely impossible. Everyone has access to the same platform, regardless of where you are. That puts all the pressure on the idea. If you can come up with something that can attract a lot of eyes, YouTube can pay pretty well.

But sometimes if you happen to be at a network affiliate in Louisville or some smaller town and a big news story happens, it's very likely that you can pitch your story to the network. I saw several local reporters on NBC this summer during the coverage of the various protests across the country. So it's possible.

The idea Ted Turner had 40 years ago was to create a news network that wasn't based in NY DC or LA. He built CNN in Atlanta. That was 40 years ago! Could someone do the same thing in Omaha? Sure.

 

[KeithE4]

The idea Ted Turner had 40 years ago was to create a news network that wasn't based in NY DC or LA. He built CNN in Atlanta. That was 40 years ago! Could someone do the same thing in Omaha? Sure.

Omaha? Highly unlikely, if not impossible. CNN can't do it outside the East Coast anymore. IIRC, they've run little to nothing from Atlanta for years. Pretty much everything is from their studios in NYC or Washington.

 

[TheBigA]

Omaha? Highly unlikely, if not impossible. CNN can't do it outside the East Coast anymore. IIRC, they've run little to nothing from Atlanta for years. Pretty much everything is from their studios in NYC or Washington.

That's a choice they make. But it's technically possible to base a news network anywhere. There's a guy in Upstate Michigan doing it. And I just found this story about a guy launching a national news service from Indianapolis:

WISH-TV owner launching inclusive news network in Indianapolis (msn.com)

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Brokaw got his start in his home state of South Dakota. But he didn't stay there long. What drove him to leave? The money and the visibility of the big city. If you think you're good at what you do, regardless of the field, you want to be seen and make money. Hard to do in South Dakota. But the great thing about the internet is that it's not completely impossible. Everyone has access to the same platform, regardless of where you are. That puts all the pressure on the idea. If you can come up with something that can attract a lot of eyes, YouTube can pay pretty well.

But sometimes if you happen to be at a network affiliate in Louisville or some smaller town and a big news story happens, it's very likely that you can pitch your story to the network. I saw several local reporters on NBC this summer during the coverage of the various protests across the country. So it's possible.

The idea Ted Turner had 40 years ago was to create a news network that wasn't based in NY DC or LA. He built CNN in Atlanta. That was 40 years ago! Could someone do the same thing in Omaha? Sure.

And 4 decades later Nexstar with News Nation where they borrow people from the Nexstar owned stations all over the country , Gray with investigate TV, and CBSN Local where local CBS Affiliate talent may do segments for the national CBS News and their local affiliate are running with the idea Ted Turner had where news is not only in NYC, LA and DC.

 

[installLSC]

This reminds me of ABC's three anchor experiment from 1978. Max Robinson was based in Chicago and supposed to cover non-DC domestic news. Unfortunately, the focus of news inevitably drifted to Washington-based Frank Reynolds and Robinson became the odd man out. No matter where you're based, news will always have a very inside the Beltway orientation.

 

[danderson6500]

Reynolds made more sense as the main anchor then. Was he the only anchor based in DC then?

 

[TheBigA]

No matter where you're based, news will always have a very inside the Beltway orientation.

It can if you let it. The other way is to anchor it in NYC, which is what they did after Max died in 1983. That ends up giving you a different kind of bias. They intended Max to take more of a "middle America" approach, but I don't think it translated. It's kind of why a big chunk of the country feels left out in news coverage, because it's obvious that those reporting it don't relate to a big part of the country that isn't either DC or NYC.

Reynolds made more sense as the main anchor then. Was he the only anchor based in DC then?

They had a very extensive bureau in DC that also featured Ted Koppel. So when the Iran hostage crisis happened, he became the first anchor of Nightline.

I think your question was if he was the only national TV anchor in DC. No, because the PBS McNeil-Lehrer Report's co-anchor Jim Lehrer was based in DC.

 

[Mediafrog+]

I think your question was if he was the only national TV anchor in DC. No, because the PBS McNeil-Lehrer Report's co-anchor Jim Lehrer was based in DC.

Of course the dual anchor/dual city concept went back to the 1960's with The Huntley-Brinkley Report, NBC's evening newscast. Chet Huntley was in NYC, David Brinkley in D.C.

 

[TheBigA]

Of course the dual anchor/dual city concept went back to the 1960's with The Huntley-Brinkley Report, NBC's evening newscast. Chet Huntley was in NYC, David Brinkley in D.C.

You reminded me that after Chet retired in 1970, they kept David in DC as a co-anchor with John Chancellor for a while. But in 1971, they made Chancellor sole anchor in NY with Brinkley doing nightly commentaries. By 1978, when ABC started the three anchor concept, the NBC Nightly News was with Chancellor in NY.

Backstory on the ABC three anchor thing was it marked Roone Arledge's debut as VP of News & Sports. He wanted something flashier than the traditional news cast, so he came up with World News Tonight, and had the distinctive four note opening theme.

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

It can if you let it. The other way is to anchor it in NYC, which is what they did after Max died in 1983. That ends up giving you a different kind of bias. They intended Max to take more of a "middle America" approach, but I don't think it translated. It's kind of why a big chunk of the country feels left out in news coverage, because it's obvious that those reporting it don't relate to a big part of the country that isn't either DC or NYC.


They had a very extensive bureau in DC that also featured Ted Koppel. So when the Iran hostage crisis happened, he became the first anchor of Nightline.

I think your question was if he was the only national TV anchor in DC. No, because the PBS McNeil-Lehrer Report's co-anchor Jim Lehrer was based in DC.

I remember CBS tried that approach where they had the CBS Local O&O Anchors do the weekend CBS Weekend News in 2020 when CBS had to wait for approval to open the New York offices of CBS News due to the COVID-19 scare in New York City area when it started and they had to take over the set of the Late Show with Colbert for the CBS This Morning for the New York operations for CBS News and Washington DC for the Evening news and the other places where CBS has an O&O such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Dallas and others as representing "Middle America" in their weekend newscasts and in the case of San Francisco the KPIX Crew even took over CBS New York feed along with the other O&O's during the New York office closures.

 

[danderson6500]

It can if you let it. The other way is to anchor it in NYC, which is what they did after Max died in 1983. That ends up giving you a different kind of bias. They intended Max to take more of a "middle America" approach, but I don't think it translated. It's kind of why a big chunk of the country feels left out in news coverage, because it's obvious that those reporting it don't relate to a big part of the country that isn't either DC or NYC.


They had a very extensive bureau in DC that also featured Ted Koppel. So when the Iran hostage crisis happened, he became the first anchor of Nightline.

I think your question was if he was the only national TV anchor in DC. No, because the PBS McNeil-Lehrer Report's co-anchor Jim Lehrer was based in DC.

Koppel had the SF earthquake breaking news in 89 because Peter Jennings had went home for the night.

 

[seatownmedia]

I won’t minimize his NBC career, but he has basically been retired since 2004. Yes, he has come on for certain big events since, but generally unseen for the past decade and a half.

 

[AMFMRadFan]

I remember CBS tried that approach where they had the CBS Local O&O Anchors do the weekend CBS Weekend News in 2020 when CBS had to wait for approval to open the New York offices of CBS News due to the COVID-19 scare in New York City area when it started and they had to take over the set of the Late Show with Colbert for the CBS This Morning for the New York operations for CBS News and Washington DC for the Evening news and the other places where CBS has an O&O such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Dallas and others as representing "Middle America" in their weekend newscasts and in the case of San Francisco the KPIX Crew even took over CBS New York feed along with the other O&O's during the New York office closures.

It wasn't just the O&Os that took part in sharing duties anchoring the CBS Weekend News. Non-O&Os took part in it as well.

Examples are:

Atlanta, GA-On the Weekend of 4/18/2020 & 4/19/2020

CBS46 WGCL-TV (A Meredith Corporation station)

-Rick Folbaum anchored on the Saturday night newscast
-Shon Gables anchored on the Sunday night newscast

Seattle, WA-Tacoma, WA-On the Weekend of 5/2/2020 & 5/3/2020

KIRO 7 (An Apollo Global/Cox Media Group station)

-Monique Ming Laven anchored on both the Saturday night & the Sunday night newscasts

 

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

It wasn't just the O&Os that took part in sharing duties anchoring the CBS Weekend News. Non-O&Os took part in it as well.

Examples are:

Atlanta, GA-On the Weekend of 4/18/2020 & 4/19/2020

CBS46 WGCL-TV (A Meredith Corporation station)

-Rick Folbaum anchored on the Saturday night newscast
-Shon Gables anchored on the Sunday night newscast

Seattle, WA-Tacoma, WA-On the Weekend of 5/2/2020 & 5/3/2020

KIRO 7 (An Apollo Global/Cox Media Group station)

-Monique Ming Laven anchored on both the Saturday night & the Sunday night newscasts

I forgot to mentioned that one of the non CBS O&O's that also did the CBS Weekend news in 2020 was WUSA-TV it's a Tegna Owned station and there was one out of Portland KOIN-TV a Nexstar Owned station that also did the Weekend Evening news along with the CBS Owned stations during the time CBS had to wait for approval to enter their New York offices.