Emmy-winning broadcaster David Brinkley, a pioneer of television journalism,
has died of complications from a fall. He was 82.

As the subtitle of his memoir asserts, Brinkley's journalism career spanned
eleven presidents, four wars, 22 political conventions, one moon landing,
and three assassinations. He won ten Emmys, three Peabody Awards, and
the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

As the cohost of NBC's nightly news broadcast, the Huntley-Brinkley
Report,
he led the network's news division to ratings dominance during the 1960s.
The show's signoff - "Goodnight, Chet"; "Goodnight, David" -
became a part of pop culture. In 1981, he moved to ABC and hosted This
Week With David Brinkley, a highly rated Sunday morning interview and
discussion program.

"As an NBC anchorman, David Brinkley's professionalism held up a
lantern for other journalists to follow and he was, deservedly, a giant
of TV news," said Academy Chairman Bryce Zabel. "In his second
career act as an ABC news commentator, Brinkley's characteristic bluntness
made his views not only refreshing but put him squarely on the side of
common sense in a world that often needed more of it."

He began his journalism career in the United Press syndicate, eventually
moving to Washington D.C. to become a White House correspondent at NBC
radio. Shortly after taking the position, NBC took possession of its very
first television camera, and with it came the beginning of television
journalism. Brinkley was chosen to become a part of NBC's news anchor
team after covering the Democratic and Republic national conventions with
Chet Huntley in 1956.