Reuven Frank (December 7, 1920 – February 5, 2006) was an American broadcast news executive.

Life and career

Born Israel Reuven Frank (he later dropped his first name) to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

family in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, he earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

social science Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among members within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the ...

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

. He served four years in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, rising to the rank of

sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

. After completing his studies at the

Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sch ...

, he worked for three years at the ''

Newark Evening News The ''Newark Evening News'' was an American newspaper published in Newark, New Jersey. As New Jersey's largest city, Newark played a major role in New Jersey's journalistic history. At its apex, ''The News'' was widely regarded as the newspaper of ...

'' as a

reporter A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

, rewrite man and night

city editor A city editor is a section editor of a newspaper responsible for daily news from a city or metropolitan area. They often work at night to be able to track news that happens at any time and include it in the following day's publication. Regional ...

. At the insistence of Gerald Green, he joined

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

as a writer for the ''

Camel News Caravan ''The Camel News Caravan'' or ''Camel Caravan of News'' is an American television program broadcast by NBC. Anchored by John Cameron Swayze, it aired from February 16, 1949, to October 26, 1956, and was replaced by '' The Huntley–Brinkley Repo ...

'' in 1950. 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. He paired

Chet Huntley Chester Robert Huntley (December 10, 1911 – March 20, 1974) was an American television newscaster, best known for co-anchoring NBC's evening news program, '' The Huntley–Brinkley Report,'' for 14 years beginning in 1956. Early life Hunt ...

and

David Brinkley David McClure Brinkley (July 10, 1920 – June 11, 2003) was an American newscaster for NBC and ABC in a career lasting from 1943 to 1997. From 1956 through 1970, he co-anchored NBC's top-rated nightly news program, '' The Huntley–Brinkle ...

for the first time to co-anchor NBC's coverage of the 1956 Democratic and

Republican National Conventions The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of ...

. Later that same year, he created the groundbreaking '' Huntley-Brinkley Report'', and was its producer until 1964. The national catchphrase "Good night, David" "Good night, Chet" was credited to Frank. Frank's

documentaries A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". The American author and media analyst Bill ...

included

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

-winning report '' The Tunnel'' (1962) about the escape of 59 Germans through a passage under the

Berlin Wall The Berlin Wall (, ) was a guarded concrete Separation barrier, barrier that encircled West Berlin from 1961 to 1989, separating it from East Berlin and the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR; East Germany). Construction of the B ...

. It received the

for program of the year, the only documentary ever so honored. In the 1970s, he created and was executive producer of ''

Weekend The weekdays and weekend are the complementary parts of the week, devoted to labour and rest, respectively. The legal weekdays (British English), or workweek (American English), is the part of the seven-day week devoted to working. In most o ...

'', 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

, from 1968 to 1974 and from 1982 to 1984, and mentored such journalists as

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American author and retired network television journalist. He first served as the co-anchor of Today (American TV program), ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anch ...

John Chancellor John William Chancellor (July 14, 1927 – July 12, 1996) was an American journalist who spent most of his career with NBC News. He is considered a pioneer in television news. Chancellor served as anchor of the ''NBC Nightly News'' from 1970 to ...

, Linda Ellerbee, and

Andrea Mitchell Andrea Mitchell (born October 30, 1946) is an American television journalist, anchor and commentator for NBC News, based in Washington, D.C. She is NBC News' chief foreign affairs & chief Washington correspondent, reporting on the 2008 presid ...

. His memoir, ''Out of Thin Air: The Brief Wonderful Life of Network News'', was published in 1991. Frank was a resident of

Tenafly, New Jersey Tenafly () is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 15,409, an increase of 921 (+6.4%) from the 2010 census count of 14,488, which in turn reflected an ...

. He died of pneumonia on February 5, 2006, at the age of 85. He was a member of Temple Sinai of Bergen County.

Personal life

In 1946, he married Bernice Kaplow; they had two sons: notable art critic Peter Solomon Frank and James Aaron Frank.

Quotes

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

References

Other references

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External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Frank, Reuven 1920 births 2006 deaths Jewish American journalists American television journalists Canadian emigrants to the United States City College of New York alumni Deaths from pneumonia in New Jersey NBCUniversal people NBC executives Journalists from Montreal People from Tenafly, New Jersey Presidents of NBC News American male journalists 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American Jews