David Brinkley Remembered; Started in Radio

A man known for his mark on television actually got his start in broadcasting in radio.
David Brinkley, who died at age 82 Wednesday night at home in Houston of complications from a fall, covered every president from FDR to Clinton, according to ABC News. He retired in 1996.
He was known to many Americans for his work on NBC and ABC television on “The Huntley-Brinkley Report” and “This Week With David Brinkley,” respectively; but his first network job was in radio at NBC, covering the White House at age 23.
His honors included 10 Emmys, three Peabody Awards, and the Medal of Freedom Award.
A profile in the archives of The Museum of Broadcast Communications states, “Brinkley was no star when he first went to NBC Radio in 1943. His talent for strong and clear writing became evident as he continually struggled to write for announcers who read only the words and seemed to miss the meaning.
“He also began to gain experience as a newscaster when he did ten-minute newscasts for the network. Nor was he famous when he became the Washington reporter for John Cameron Swayze’s ‘Camel News Caravan,’ NBC’s early TV news effort. But as the 1956 political conventions came into focus for the U.S. TV audience, they came to see, hear, and to know Brinkley as a new breed of TV journalist.”