David Bloom
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David Bloom (May 22, 1963 – April 6, 2003) was an NBC journalist (co-anchor of Weekend Today and reporter) until his sudden death in 2003 at the age of 39.
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[edit] Early life
David Bloom grew up in Edina, Minnesota, an avid ice hockey player and state champion high school debater.
Bloom attended Pitzer College in Claremont, California from 1981 to 1985 where he was a national debate champion. He graduated with a B.A. in Political Science.
[edit] Reporting career
He began his television career at WKBT-TV in LaCrosse, Wisconsin covering local government stories.
Bloom worked as a general assignment reporter at KWCH-TV in Wichita, Kansas from 1988–1989
Bloom next worked in Miami, Florida, for WTVJ-TV. While covering Hurricane Andrew, the storm that devastated south Florida, showed David in his element — in the middle of the big story. In 1991, he won a regional Emmy for investigative journalism for his report on South Florida's role in the shipment of arms to Iraq. He won both the Peabody Award and the RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award for his hurricane coverage.
In 1993, Bloom joined NBC News as correspondent in Chicago, Illinois and moved to Los Angeles, California in 1995. Bloom later became NBC's White House correspondent.
In 1999, Bloom was named co-anchor of Weekend Today, a position he served until his untimely death.
[edit] Gulf War II reporting
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Bloom was panned by some media critics for having portrayed the initial phases of the land invasion of Iraq as sterilized and bloodless.[who?] Some felt his reporting made the invasion seem like a glamorous and exciting adventure leaving out all the death and destruction that was occurring all around him.[who?] Still others gave him high marks for his down-to-earth and realistic coverage that helped viewers relate to what was happening, hour by hour.[who?]
He will be remembered for his creation of the "Bloom Mobile," an Army tank recovery vehicle retrofitted by Miramar, Floria based company Maritime Telecommunications Network with live television and satellite transmission equipment so he could continuously broadcast reports as troops made their way toward Baghdad.[1]
[edit] Death
Bloom was traveling with the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq when he suddenly died due to deep vein thrombosis and a pulmonary embolism. [2] Bloom's death has sparked various conspiracy theories. The most widespread of which claims that Bloom was poisoned because he had obtained footage of US Army officers speaking with Osama bin Laden.
The David Bloom Award was established by the Radio & Television Association in 2006 to honor excellence in enterprise reporting. ABC World News Tonight co-anchor Bob Woodruff received the award in its first year.
[edit] Personal
Bloom was a Roman Catholic. His funeral was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City.
David considered his most passionate role the family man, and was survived by his wife, Melanie, and three daughters. The Blooms were residents of Pound Ridge, New York at the time of his death. His wife was Melanie Bloom who now works with the Coalition to Prevent DVT. They have 3 daughters: Nicole, Christine and Ava
[edit] References
- ^ Technology Review: "You Don't Understand Our Audience"
- ^ ‘My husband should be living today’: Melanie Bloom, the widow of former NBC correspondent David Bloom, on preventing the often-silent killer DVT March 3, 2005]
David's widow, Melanie, married Dan McNulty in 2008
