Brokaw, 80, is best known for anchoring the “NBC Nightly News” from 1982 to 2004. He has been the network’s senior correspondent for the past few years and has enjoyed some form of semi-retirement while contributing essays to NBC and MSNBC programs.
In his most recent essay, published in late December, he calls the coronavirus pandemic ‘America’s biggest test since the civil war’.
Brokaw was absent from the NBC election and inauguration, a fact attributed in part to his age and health.
NBC announced his retirement in a press release on Friday, attributing it to “more than half a century of award-winning reporting”.
The network said that “Brokaw will continue to be active in print journalism, writing books and articles, and spending time with his wife, Meredith, three daughters and grandchildren.”
Brokaw is a television news icon who, in the words of NBC producer Andy Franklin, “presented more than anyone – and led us.”
On the occasion of a 2017 specialist on Brokaw’s career, Franklin and other staff members described Brokaw’s leadership qualities and journalistic backbone.
Robert Windrem spoke about Brokaw’s calm, measured coverage on the day Richard Nixon resigned the presidency.
“I was deeply impressed not only by his professionalism, but also by something else: his patriotism,” Windrem said. “He understood his role in the country, his responsibility as an American.”
Brokaw joined NBC in 1966 as a reporter in the Los Angeles office, “discussing Ronald Reagan’s first presidential candidate,” according to the network’s biography. “He became NBC News’ White House correspondent, presented ‘Today’ and eventually became the anchor and managing editor of ‘NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.'”
Initially, he shared the “Nightly News” with Roger Mudd; a year later he became the solo anchor and competed with Peter Jennings on ABC and Dan Rather on CBS. The “NBC Nightly News” regularly topped the rankings with Brokaw at the helm.
Later in his career, Brokaw stepped in to moderate ‘Meet the Press’ when Tim Russert passed away in 2008. NBC said Brokaw was the only journalist in network history to present ‘Today’, ‘Nightly News’ and ‘Meet the Press’.
A number of women at NBC, including hosts such as Rachel Maddow and Andrea Mitchell, signed an open letter supporting Brokaw, calling him “a man of great decency and integrity.”
By 2018, Brokaw’s live segments on NBC and MSNBC were already declining. In recent months, he has recorded his essays rather than appearing live.
His comments towards the end of 2020 on ‘Morning Joe’ looked forward to the presidency of Joe Biden and criticized then-President Trump for ‘whining while Covid patients are struggling to survive’.
“Before long, Donald Trump’s main audiences will be his cadets,” he said.
Then he turned inward: “For me, it’s been an incredible journey. 57 years as a reporter. As a young reporter in Omaha, I broke into local programming with a bulletin. President Kennedy was assassinated. And for the next 57 years. , I’ve covered the seismic events that have ravaged our world, but nothing has been as catastrophic as this pandemic. This is America’s biggest test since the Civil War. We still have miles to go, and no assurance how it all will not come out. ‘
In a statement issued by NBC on Friday afternoon, Brokaw pointed out his cap to his colleagues: “During one of the most complex and consequent periods in American history, a new generation of NBC News America journalists, producers and technicians are offering timely, informative and critically important information, 24/7. I could not be more proud of it. ‘