PERSON: Tom Brokaw


Employer

Position

Special correspondent
Biography

Tom Brokaw, one of the most trusted and respected figures in broadcast journalism, is a special correspondent for NBC News. In this role, he reports and produces long-form documentaries and provides expertise during election coverage and breaking news events for NBC News.<br> <br> On December 1, 2004, Brokaw stepped down after 21 years as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News. He has received numerous honors, including the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award, the Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement, and he was inducted as a fellow into the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Sciences. <br> <br> Most recently, Brokaw served as interim moderator of NBC’s top-rated Sunday morning public affairs program, Meet the Press, from June 2008 until December 2008, after the untimely death of Tim Russert.<br> <br> Over the years at NBC, while anchoring ‘NBC Nightly News’ and ‘Today,’ Brokaw also reported on 25 documentaries on subjects ranging from race, AIDS, the war on terror, Los Angeles gangs, Bill Gates, literacy, immigration and the evangelical movement. In addition to his long form documentaries, “Tom Brokaw Reports,” he has collaborated with NBC News’ Peacock Productions for Discovery’s Emmy-winning documentary ‘Global Warming: What You Need to Know with Tom Brokaw,’ and History Channel’s two-hour documentaries, ‘1968 with Tom Brokaw’ and ‘KING.’<br> <br> Brokaw received his second Peabody in 2004 with the documentary, ‘Tom Brokaw Reports: A Question of Fairness.’ The report examined the issue of affirmative action through the controversy surrounding the University of Michigan and its affirmative action policy, which detailed the continuing struggle to deal with race, fairness and higher education in America. In 2003, he won an Emmy for Outstanding Interview for ‘America Remembers: 9/11 Air Traffic Controllers.’<br> <br> In addition to securing exclusive interviews Pakistan president Gen. Pervez Musharraf and Afghan president Hamid Karzai, Brokaw traveled with the Pakistani army to mountainous and barren terrain along the border with Afghanistan as they hunted for Al Qaeda and also reported from Southeastern Afghanistan, the base of the 10th Mountain Division, where U.S. soldiers are not only hunting for Al Qaeda, but trying to win the hearts and minds of the people as well.<br> <br> In 2003, as the international controversy escalated over the increasing likelihood of war with Iraq, Brokaw traveled overseas to the diplomatic and military hotspots throughout the Middle East and the Gulf. On March 19, 2003, Brokaw was the first American news anchor to report that the war with Iraq had begun, and in April 2003, he landed the first television interview with President Bush after the President declared the end of major combat. During the summer of 2003, Brokaw was the first evening news anchor to return to Baghdad to report for five nights for ‘NBC Nightly News’ and ‘Dateline NBC’ on post-war Iraq and the reconstruction efforts.<br> <br> He has an impressive series of additional firsts, including the first exclusive U.S. one-on-one interview with Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev, earning an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award. Brokaw was the first and only anchor to report from the scene the night the Berlin Wall fell, and was the first American anchor to travel to Tibet to report on human-rights abuses and to conduct an interview with the Dalai Lama.<br> <br> The NBC News anchor also has a distinguished record as a political reporter. He has interviewed every president since Lyndon Baines Johnson and has covered every presidential election since 1968. Brokaw was NBC’s White House correspondent during the national trauma of Watergate (1973-1976). From 1984 to 2004, he anchored all of NBC’s political coverage, including primaries, national conventions and election nights, and moderated nine primary and/or general election debates.<br> <br> Complementing his distinguished broadcast journalism career, Brokaw has written articles, essays and commentary for several publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Time, The New Yorker, Men’s Journal, Sports Illustrated, Life, National Geographic, Outside and Interview.<br> <br> In 1998, Brokaw became a bestselling author with the publication of ‘The Greatest Generation.’ Inspired by the mountain of mail he received from his first book, Brokaw wrote “The Greatest Generation Speaks” in 1999. His third book, ‘An Album of Memories,’ was published in 2001. In November 2002, Brokaw’s fourth bestselling book ‘A Long Way from Home,’ a reflective look about growing up in the American Heartland, was released.<br> <br> Brokaw began his journalism career in 1962 at KMTV in Omaha, Nebraska. He anchored the late evening news on Atlanta’s WSB-TV in 1965 before joining KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. Brokaw was hired by NBC News in 1966 and from 1976-1981 he anchored NBC News’ “Today” program.<br> <br> — nbcnews.com
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