Museum to Honor Tom Brokaw at Annual New York Gala
Tuesday, January 20, 2004
New York, NY—On February 19, 2004, at its annual Gala at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York, The Museum of Television & Radio will honor Tom Brokaw for his extraordinary body of work as he approaches his retirement later this year as anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News. The Museum's two annual galas, which are held at different times of the year in New York and Los Angeles, benefit the Museum's various programs, including education and the preservation of television and radio programs and advertisements. Past Galas have paid tribute to such distinguished television professionals as Alan Alda; Julie Andrews; Steven Bochco; Kevin S. Bright, David Crane, and Marta Kauffman; David Brinkley; Carol Burnett; James Burrows; Sid Caesar; Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner; Ted Danson; Kelsey Grammer; David E. Kelley; Mary Tyler Moore; Jack Paar; Dan Rather; Jerry Seinfeld; Garry Shandling; Martin Sheen; Barbara Walters; and Dick Wolf.
"Tom Brokaw has been providing viewers with outstanding reporting of current events for nearly 40 years," commented Museum Chairman Frank A. Bennack, Jr. "The Museum is pleased to recognize the insight, integrity, and ability of one of today's most distinguished journalists and celebrate his extraordinary career at NBC."
Tom Brokaw first joined NBC News in 1966, and has covered some of the most challenging and important assignments in journalism. Since 1983, Brokaw has served as anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News. He has covered every presidential election since 1968 and was NBC's White House correspondent during the Watergate scandal. From 1984 through the current presidential election cycle, Brokaw has anchored all of NBC's political coverage, including primaries, national conventions, and election nights, and he has moderated eight primary and/or general election debates. Brokaw is the author of four books, including the 1998 national bestseller The Greatest Generation, which tells the story of the courageous men and women who came of age during the Great Depression and fought in World War II.
Most recently Brokaw has traveled overseas to 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, he landed the first television interview with President Bush since the war with Iraq. During the summer of 2003, Brokaw returned to Baghdad to report for five nights for NBC Nightly News and Dateline NBC on postwar Iraq and the reconstruction efforts.
In addition, Brokaw has secured landmark interviews with Russian presidents Mikhail Gorbachev and Vladimir Putin, and he was the first and only anchor to report from the scene the night the Berlin Wall fell. Brokaw has also been the recipient of numerous awards for his journalistic achievements, including the DuPont Award, a George Foster Peabody Award, and several Emmy, Overseas Press Club, Edward R. Murrow, and National Headliner awards.
Brokaw, who grew up in South Dakota, began his journalism career in 1962 at KMTV, Omaha, and anchored the late evening news on WSB-TV, Atlanta, before joining KNBC-TV in Los Angeles. He anchored NBC's Today from 1976 to 1981.
Individual tickets for The Museum of Television & Radio's Annual Gala honoring Tom Brokaw are available for $1,000 per person and can be purchased by contacting the Museum's Special Events office at (212) 621-6753.
The Museum of Television & Radio, with locations in New York and Los Angeles, is a nonprofit organization founded by William S. Paley to collect and preserve television and radio programs and advertisements and to make them available to the public. Since opening in 1976, the Museum has organized exhibitions, screening and listening series, seminars, and education classes to showcase its collection of over 100,000 television and radio programs and advertisements. In 2001 the Museum initiated a process to acquire Internet programming for the collection. Programs in the Museum's permanent collection are selected for their artistic, cultural, and historic significance.
The Museum of Television & Radio in New York, located at 25 West 52 Street in Manhattan, is open Tuesdays through Sundays from noon to 6:00 p.m. and until 8:00 p.m. on Thursdays. The Museum of Television & Radio in California, located at 465 North Beverly Drive, in Beverly Hills is open Wednesdays through Sundays from noon to 5:00 p.m. Both Museums are closed on New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Suggested contribution: Members free; $10.00 for adults; $8.00 for senior citizens and students; and $5.00 for children under fourteen. Admission is free in Los Angeles. The public areas in both Museums are accessible to wheelchairs, and assisted listening devices are available. Programs are subject to change. You may call the Museum in New York at (212) 621-6800, or in Los Angeles at (310) 786-1000. Visit the Museum's website at www.mtr.org.