Brinkley, David McClure

▪ 2004

      American television journalist (b. July 10, 1920, Wilmington, N.C.—d. June 11, 2003, Houston, Texas), had a dry wit, a wry, clipped delivery, and a relaxed demeanour that enhanced the effectiveness of his work and, combined with his skills as a news reporter and as a writer, made him one of the most influential news anchors and commentators in the United States. His 14-year partnership with Chet Huntley on The Huntley-Brinkley Report provided a format for news programs that remained the most-followed model, and their signature closing lines—“Good night, Chet,” “Good night, David”—became a catchphrase, though Brinkley later admitted to having disliked the exchange. Brinkley began writing for a weekly newspaper when he was in high school, and after some university studies and a year in the army, he went to work for United Press. NBC hired him as a news writer in 1943 and in 1945 moved him to television, as moderator of a news show. He became a news commentator in 1950 and the following year was made Washington correspondent for the NBC nightly news broadcast. Brinkley was first paired with Huntley for live coverage of the political conventions in the summer of 1956, and The Huntley-Brinkley Report debuted in the fall. Until Huntley retired in 1970, the show was nearly always the top-ranked news program. Brinkley then served as an anchor of NBC's Nightly News and was host of NBC Magazine and David Brinkley's Journal, and in 1981 he moved to ABC for This Week with David Brinkley. He retired in 1997. Brinkley claimed that his career was summarized by the subtitle of his memoir, David Brinkley (1995): 11 Presidents, 4 Wars, 22 Political Conventions, 1 Moon Landing, 3 Assassinations, 2,000 Weeks of News and Other Stuff on Television, and 18 Years of Growing Up in North Carolina. That career, however, also included such honours as 10 Emmy Awards, 3 George Foster Peabody Awards, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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