Brokaw, 80, is best known for anchoring NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He has been the network’s senior correspondent in recent years, enjoying a form of semi-retirement while rehearsing. on NBC and MSNBC.
In his latest essay, published in late December, he called the coronavirus pandemic “America’s biggest test since the Civil War.”
Brokaw was absent from NBC’s election coverage and inauguration, which was partially attributed to his age and health.
NBC announced his retirement in a press release Friday attributing to him “more than half a century of award-winning reports.”
The network said “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 American television producer Andy Franklin, “presided over and led us to more stories than anyone can tell.”
On the occasion of a 2017 special on Brokaw’s career, Franklin and other employees described Brokaw’s leadership qualities and journalistic backbone.
Robert Windrem spoke of Brokaw’s quiet, measured coverage the day Richard Nixon resigned from the presidency.
“I was deeply impressed not only by his professionalism, but something else: his patriotism,” Windrem said. “He understood his role in the nation, his responsibility as an American.”
Brokaw joined NBC in 1966, as a journalist in the Los Angeles office, “covering Ronald Reagan’s first presidential candidacy,” according to the network’s biography for him. “He became a White House correspondent for NBC News, co-host of ‘Today,’ and eventually became the presenter and managing editor of ‘NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.'”
At first he shared the “Night News” with Roger Mudd; a year later, he became the solo anchor, competing with Peter Jennings on ABC and Dan Rather on CBS. “NBC Nightly News” regularly topped the charts with Brokaw at the helm.
Later in his career, Brokaw intervened to moderate “Meet the Press” when Tim Russert died in 2008. NBC said Brokaw is the only journalist in network history to host “Today,” “Nightly.” News “and” Meet the Press “.
Several women on NBC, including hosts such as Rachel Maddow and Andrea Mitchell, signed an open letter in support of Brokaw and calling him “a man of enormous decency and integrity.”
By 2018, Brokaw’s live segments on NBC and MSNBC were already receding. In recent months, he recorded his rehearsals instead of appearing live.
His late 2020 comment on “Morning Joe” looked forward to Joe Biden’s presidency and criticized then-President Trump for “complaining while Covid patients struggle to survive.”
“In no time, Donald Trump’s main audiences will be his caddies,” he quipped.
He then turned inward: “For me, it’s been an incredible journey. 57 years, as a reporter. As a young reporter in Omaha, I entered local programming with a newsletter. President Kennedy had been And for the next 57 years, I covered the seismic events that irritated our world, but none were as catastrophic as this pandemic.This is the biggest test in America since the Civil War.We still have miles to go. in advance and we have no guarantees of how everything will turn out. “
In a statement issued by NBC on Friday afternoon, Brokaw tilted his cap to his colleagues: “During one of the most complex and consistent times in American history, a new generation of journalists, producers and technicians “NBC News provides the United States with opportunities and insight and critical information 24 hours a day. I couldn’t be more proud of that.”