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Remembering David Brinkley
With Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, June 12, 2003; Noon ET
Veteran newscaster David Brinkley died Wednesday night at the age of 83. The winner of 10 Emmy awards, three George Foster Peabody Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, Brinkley became a household name as one-half of NBC's Huntley-Brinkley news team.
Author and Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz was online to discuss Brinkley, his career and contribution to journalism.
The transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
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Washington, D.C.:
Do you think that David Brinkley would be cast as an anchor today?
Howard Kurtz: You know, for all his success as a television talker over half a century, he might not. Brinkley was low-key, spoke in brief bursts, and while he could be cutting or sarcastic, he did not spew the voluminous and high-decibel opinions that are so much a part of today's blabbermouth media world.
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Somewhere, USA:
Was Brinkley well before the fall or has his health been deteriorating?
Howard Kurtz: His health, sadly, had definitely been deteriorating and he was getting regular nursing care. He remained remarkably active on TV well into his 70s, but once he retired he rather quickly faded from the spotlight, left D.C. and unfortunately was not in good health the last couple of years.
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Silver Spring, Md.:
Post retirement, David Brinkley agreed to be a spokesman for Archer Daniels Midland (or some other big, politically active company) and took some critical shots for it. He defended himself, stood his ground, did not seem to think it was an ethical problem. I was always puzzled why, with all the wealth he surely had acquired from his high profile career, he saw this step as necessary.
Howard Kurtz: I was puzzled by this as well. It's not as though he was desperate for the money. What was particularly unseemly was that the ads for Harvest Burgers and other ADM products aired for a time on his old show, This Week. I felt that was a misstep in an otherwise remarkable career.
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North Carolina:
What is the best Brinkley story you know?
Howard Kurtz: In 1943, when Brinkley first came to Washington, wartime housing was scarce. One lady whose husband was away in the Army offered to rent him a room, if he would sleep with her. He declined the offer.
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New York, N.Y.:
I grew up watching Huntley-Brinkley and later just David Brinkley. While I was very sad when he retired it was clear that it was time.
Why is it that certain jounalist/broadcasters are willing to speak their minds and not necessarily say the conventional as do their colleagues?
Why is David Brinkley almost unique?
Howard Kurtz: Brinkley was one of the few people in television -- Charles Kuralt was another -- who was a great writer. He knew how to write for the ear, which is a lot harder than it sounds. Beyond that, Brinkley had a way -- sometimes witty, sometimes cutting -- of getting to the nub of a matter, of cutting through the political fog. And he did it with an incredible economy of words and without waving his arms or engaging in other histrionics.
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New York:
Was there a story behind his move to ABC? How did This Week do under him?
Howard Kurtz: This Week ruled under Brinkley. It rocketed to No. 1 on Sunday morning and more or less held that spot for 15 years. The reason he defected from NBC, after 38 years there, was that he was more or less being put out to pasture. He was doing occasional specials, but not much else. NBC didn't quite know what to do with its aging icon. So Roone Arledge lured him to ABC, where Brinkley reinvented himself and revolutionized Sunday morning television.
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Toronto Canada:
Brinkley at one point said that if he were to be starting out in television today he wouldn't have the opportunity to anchor the desk because of his "look." How damaging is that reality to the quality of broadcast journalism overall?
Howard Kurtz: Very. Obviously TV isn't in the business of putting ugly people in front of the camera, but if matinee looks now matter as much as journalistic skills, the business is in trouble.
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Frederick, Md.:
Along with Chet Huntley, David Brinkly was the only news we watched in our house when I was growing up. Looking back, Mr. Brinkly was always, measured and professional. He was never self promoting or displayed a hint of subjectivity. The Aaron Browns and Shepard Smiths of the world would be well served to go back and review his tapes.
Thanks.
Howard Kurtz: Well, cable anchors obviously operate in a different world with lots more competition, and the standard of what's acceptable in terms of analysis and commentary is far different. A whole generation of journalists grew up imitating Brinkley in one form or another. But the era that he represented, and helped shape, is largely gone.
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Baltimore, Md.:
Mr. Kurtz-
Did Mr. Brinkley retire from This Week of his own volition, or were the powers that be involved in his departure back in 1997?
Howard Kurtz: I think there was a mutual agreement that he had lost a few steps and it was time to move on. The man was in his late 70s and was basically ready to hang it up.
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Chicago, Ill.:
Did Brinkley start his career as an in the field reporter? In what part of the country?
Howard Kurtz: His first job was at the Wilmington, N.C., Morning Star, one of three reporters there. He later joined what was called United Press, which sent him to Atlanta, Nashville and Charlotte. So he had a fair amount of print experience before joining NBC radio, which morphed into his television job.
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Gaithersburg, MD:
It's a tremendous shame that we should lose David Brinkley. It is so rare that a television news anchor would report the news in a way that is not condescending or patronizing. Brinkley seemd to have respect for his audience and reported news to grown ups rather than pursuing overgrown children. Was he the same way in person as he appeared on the news?
Howard Kurtz: He actually was. He had that same clipped style of speaking, was very self-effacing and didn't much like talking about himself. Hard to interview, in other words. He would finish a short answer and just sit in silence, waiting for the next question.
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Arlington, Va.:
What innovations did Brinkley bring to telvision? One is being half of an anchor duo and probably the only duo that was considered a success. The other is by developing a harder edge Washington Week round table with the staunch conservative, the mouthy liberal, and the level-headed woman in the middle.
Howard Kurtz: The answer is in his writing, his interviewing style, and his wry observations about politics. He was the first important Washington TV journalist at a time when most of the big shots, like John Cameron Swayze and Walter Cronkite, were based in New York.
Here's how he described his early TV role: "It took several seconds to get the film projector up to speed, and, in effect, my job was to fill the screen with something, anything, until the filmed picture stopped blurring, rocking and jumping."
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Arlington, Va.:
The Post's coverage of Brinkley's passing mentions that in his last years at NBC "he couldn’t stand his boss, Bill Small, the president of NBC News." What's up with that? However strong-willed Brinkley may have been, I'm hard-pressed to believe that someone could offend him to that degree. Any details?
Howard Kurtz: It was a personality clash, fueled by NBC's decision not to use Brinkley very much in his final years with the network. Brinkley was understated, but he had a big ego and did not appreciate being put out to pasture.
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Burke, Va.:
Where did Brinkley fall on the political scale? Did his politics change as he got older?
Howard Kurtz: It's a tribute to Brinkley that most of the audience probably had no clue what his politics were. As he got older, he sounded to my ear more Republican and conservative in his writing and in interviews. But he rarely showed this on the air, though he famously, after a long and tiring election night in 1996, pronounced Clinton a "bore."
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Alexandria, Va.:
I am old enough to remember the Huntley-Brinkley Report decades ago.
What did Huntley and Brinkley actually do on that show. Did they just read the copy someone else gave them?
Even so, I feel that an old friend has passed on.
Howard Kurtz: Brinkley wrote much of his own copy, which is how he developed that terse, wry style for which he became famous. But as with any television show, I'm sure some of the stories were written by the staff.
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Arlington, Va.:
Do you know if Brinkley considered Clinton a bore after Monica?
Howard Kurtz: I was just thinking that as I typed those words. His views on that matter have gone unrecorded. I believe he was referring to Clinton's habit of giving long speeches and rarely saying anything memorable. This was before "I did not have sexual relations with that woman."
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Miami, Fla.:
Did his books get good reviews?
Did they sell?
Howard Kurtz: He didn't write many books, but his volume on everyday life in Washington during World War II was a wonderful read and a best-seller. I don't recall how his memoirs did.
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Arlington, Va.:
How did Brinkley look back at his career? Was he happy with it? Were there regrets?
Howard Kurtz: I got the impression the last time I interviewed him that he was pretty satisfied with what he had done over the decades. There weren't any mountains left for him to climb. He confessed to being bored by the repetitive nature of the news cycle, but said he would never let the audience know that.
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Fort Mill, S.C.:
Did David Brinkley choose to leave the radio side of NBC or was he recruited to join the television ranks of the network? Did he regard this transition with confidence or uncertainty?
Howard Kurtz: Like many radio announcers of the era, he tried to make the transition to television; not everyone did that successfully.
Here's a NYT review of Brinkley's performance at the 1956 Democratic convention, when he was paired with Huntley: "A quiet southerner with a dry wit and heaven-sent appreciation of brevity has stolen the television limelight this week...Mr. Brinkley's extraordinary accomplishment has been not to talk too much."
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Arlington, Va.:
I'm a late sleeper on weekends but I used to set my alarm for "This Week with David Brinkley." I lost almost all interest in it (and other Sunday shows) when he retired.
I also really enjoyed reading "Washington Goes to War" when it first came out. I think I will reread it. It was an interesting look at the city at that point in time.
I would watch Reliable Sources more but I can never remember when it's on...
Howard Kurtz: There have been a couple of time changes, but we're now on Sunday mornings at 11:30 EDT.
As for "Washington Goes to War," I remember enjoying it immensely because it was about what ordinary people did in the capital, not the big-name politicians and journalists.
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Boston, Mass.:
There were rumors that Brinkley had been working on another book. Any truth to that? Obviously it wasn't lately but it would be nice if there was something more coming from him.
Howard Kurtz: Hadn't heard that. Seems unlikely given that he was in failing health.
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washingtonpost.com:
That wraps up
today's show. Thanks to everyone who joined the
discussion.
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