Reuven Frank

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Reuven Frank (7 December 1920 – 4 February 2006) was an American broadcast news pioneer.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, Reuven Frank earned a bachelor's degree at City College of New York and a graduate degree in journalism from Columbia University. He then worked a reporter at the Newark Evening News in New Jersey.

Frank was a key figure in bringing television news out of the shadow of radio news by emphasizing the importance of visuals in telling stories. His groundbreaking Huntley-Brinkley Report teamed newscasters Chet Huntley and David Brinkley. The national catchphrase "Good night, David" "Good night, Chet" was credited to Frank.

Frank's documentaries included Emmy Award-winning report "The Tunnel" (1962) about the escape of 59 Germans through a passage under the Berlin Wall. In the 1970s, he created and was executive producer of Weekend, a news magazine hosted by Lloyd Dobyns that originally aired one Saturday a month from 11:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. The program received a Peabody award. Linda Ellerbee later joined as co-host.

Frank served two tenures as president of NBC News, from 1968 to 1972 and from 1982 to 1984, and mentored such journalists as Tom Brokaw, John Chancellor, Linda Ellerbee, and Andrea Mitchell.

[edit] Quotes

"Sunshine is a weather report, a flood is news." Frank to Floyd Abrams.^[1]
The highest power of television journalism is not in the transmission of information but in the transmission of experience."^[2]

[edit] Notes

Collins, Scott. "Reuven Frank, 85; NBC Producer Helped Launch 'Huntley-Brinkley' Show". Los Angeles Times, (February 7, 2006)
Steinberg, Jacques. "Reuven Frank, Producer Who Pioneered TV News Coverage at NBC, Is Dead at 85". The New York Times, (February 7, 2006)