The Media Drop

Lots of blogs are covering Tom Brokaw’s last day in the anchor chair at NBC, and I’m going to do my part by chiming in with a few items I thought would be a little different than the usual fare.

NBC6 out of Miami has a story about how Brokaw wanted to work for that Florida station, WTVJ, back in the early 1960s. But after the news director, Ralph Renick, saw a poor review of Brokaw’s abilities, he took back his job offer to Brokaw. Brokaw went to Atlanta and Los Angeles, and here we are today. NBC6 even has a “Brokaw-Renick Correspondence” page set up with copies of the typed (on a typewriter!) letters scanned in.

Dave Mason writes in The Gleaner about what made Brokaw the newscaster he was eventually recognized as. The key, Mason points out, is that Brokaw “remembered the importance of making the news clear and relevant to people living today in places like South Dakota.”

Columbia, South Carolina’s WIS-TV Channel 10 (an NBC affiliate) publishes an NBC story about Brokaw’s career. One highlight from his time at Sioux City, Iowa’s KTIV-TV comes from the station’s program director during Brokaw’s tenure, Don Stone. Stone recalls an instance when Brokaw was doing voiceovers on commercials - live. “He was supposed to do a commercial for Kidder-Knoepfler, and he missed one because he was answering a call of nature. So, I told him to try and schedule those a little better.” Oops.

Brian Stelter has video at TVNewser of Brokaw’s signoff from tonight’s newscast, along with the text. Goodnight, Tom. Best wishes.