N. J. Burkett

Last updated
N. J. Burkett
Born
Newton Jones Burkett, III

(1962-05-06) May 6, 1962 (age 61)
Occupation Journalist
Known forCoverage of the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001
Notable creditSenior Reporter for WABC-TV (1989–present)

Newton Jones Burkett, III (born May 6, 1962), known as N.J. Burkett, is a correspondent for WABC-TV in New York City, the largest ABC television station in the United States. He joined the Eyewitness News team in July 1989 from WFSB-TV in Hartford, Connecticut, where he had been a correspondent since 1986.

Contents

Early life and education

Burkett grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey, though he describes the choice to use the initials "N.J." as arising from the efforts of his agent and a station president to make him seem less "aristocratic" and not a tribute to his home state. [1] He graduated from Elizabeth High School with the class of 1980 and attended Columbia University. [2] He holds a BA in political science and a master's in international affairs, both from Columbia University. [3]

Career

Burkett is best known for his coverage of the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001. He was located across from the plaza about a block away and was reporting when his camera operator recorded the first moments of the collapse of the South Tower. Upon realizing the building was collapsing, Burkett shouted to flee the scene and began running. Burkett and his camera operator recorded the aftermath of the collapse as dust and debris covered the area and documented as injured persons were treated by first responders. Burkett's camera operator also filmed the collapse of the North Tower 28 minutes later, after which they found shelter in an underground parking garage to avoid the toxic dust. [4]

For this reportage on 9/11, Burkett shared or was awarded outright many prestigious honors, including the George Foster Peabody Award, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award, and the Emmy Award for Outstanding On-Camera Achievement from the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

In June 2016, Burkett was elected First Vice Chairman of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences by the Academy's Board of Trustees, and served in that capacity until June 2018. He served on the Academy's Executive Committee from 2014 to 2018 and for two terms as President of the Academy's flagship chapter in New York from 2011 to 2015.

In May 2019, he was elected New York Chapter President for a third time by the chapter's Board of Governors.

In September 2019, Burkett was elected to the Board of Trustees of Newark Public Radio, the operator of WBGO-FM a not-for-profit jazz radio station in Newark, New Jersey.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Authority of New York and New Jersey</span> Transportation facility agency in New York City and New Jersey

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorized by the United States Congress. The Port Authority oversees much of the regional transportation infrastructure, including bridges, tunnels, airports, and seaports, within the geographical jurisdiction of the Port of New York and New Jersey. This 1,500-square-mile (3,900 km2) port district is generally encompassed within a 25-mile (40 km) radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. The Port Authority is headquartered at 4 World Trade Center.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabeth, New Jersey</span> City in Union County, New Jersey, United States

Elizabeth is a city in and the county seat of Union County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the city retained its ranking as the state's fourth-most-populous city behind neighboring Newark, Jersey City, and Paterson, with a population of 137,298, an increase of 12,329 (+9.9%) from the 2010 census count of 124,969, which in turn reflected an increase of 4,401 (3.7%) from the 120,568 counted in the 2000 census.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newark Liberty International Airport</span> Airport in New Jersey, U.S.

Newark Liberty International Airport, originally Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark in Essex County and Elizabeth in Union County, New Jersey, in the United States. Located about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of downtown Newark and 9 miles (14 km) west-southwest of Manhattan in New York City, it is a major gateway to points in Europe, South America, Asia, and Oceania. It is jointly owned by the cities and leased to its operator, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It is the second-busiest airport in the New York airport system behind John F. Kennedy International Airport but far ahead of LaGuardia Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PATH (rail system)</span> Rapid transit system in New Jersey and New York

The Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is a 13.8-mile (22.2 km) rapid transit system in the northeastern New Jersey cities of Newark, Harrison, Jersey City, and Hoboken, as well as Lower and Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. PATH trains run around the clock year-round; four routes serving 13 stations operate during the daytime on weekdays, while two routes operate during weekends, late nights, and holidays. It crosses the Hudson River through cast iron tunnels that rest on the river bottom. It operates as a deep-level subway in Manhattan and the Jersey City/Hoboken riverfront; from Grove Street in Jersey City to Newark, trains run in open cuts, at grade level, and on elevated track. In 2022, the system saw 45,501,400 rides, or about 183,300 per weekday in the third quarter of 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NJ Transit</span> Public transportation system

New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the state of New York and Pennsylvania. It operates bus, light rail, and commuter rail services throughout the state, connecting to major commercial and employment centers both within the state and in its two adjacent major cities, New York City and Philadelphia. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 175,960,600.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newark Academy</span> High school in Essex County, New Jersey, United States

Newark Academy is a coeducational private day school located in Livingston, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in sixth through twelfth grades. The school has been accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Elementary and Secondary Schools since 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Jersey Network</span> Public broadcaster in New Jersey, United States (1971–2011)

The New Jersey Network (NJN) was a network of public television and radio stations serving the U.S. state of New Jersey. NJN was a member of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) for television and the National Public Radio (NPR) for radio, broadcasting their programming as well as producing and broadcasting their own programming, mostly relating to issues in New Jersey. With studios in both Trenton and Newark, NJN's television network covered all of New Jersey, plus parts of Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut and Delaware. The radio network primarily served several areas of New Jersey that were not covered by Philadelphia and New York City public radio stations.

New York City has been called the media capital of the world. The media of New York City are internationally influential and include some of the most important newspapers, largest publishing houses, biggest record companies, and most prolific television studios in the world. It is a major global center for the book, magazine, music, newspaper, and television industries.

Melinda Murphy is an executive producer for Expat Living, a lifestyle magazine in Singapore and Hong Kong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernie Wagenblast</span> American journalist and voice-over artist

Bernie Wagenblast is a transportation journalist, radio personality and voice-over artist. She is the founder and editor of the Transportation Communications Newsletter. The newsletter originated as a discussion group in June 1998, evolving into its current format shortly thereafter. She also edits The AASHTO Daily Transportation Update, published by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and hosts AASHTO's ETAP Podcast and the ITE Talks Transportation podcast for the Institute of Transportation Engineers.

Samuel Fowler was an American Democratic Party politician who represented New Jersey's 4th congressional district in the U.S. representative for two terms from 1889 to 1893.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Adubato Jr.</span> American politician

Steve Adubato is an American television broadcaster, author and university lecturer. In the mid 1980s he was New Jersey's youngest state legislator in the New Jersey General Assembly at age 26. Adubato holds a doctorate from Rutgers University in the field of mass media and communication. He is the author of four books.

Shannon Paige Sohn is a television news reporter at WABC-TV Eyewitness News in New York City, where she became the first helicopter reporter to win a national Emmy Award.

The Metropolitan Television Alliance, LLC (MTVA) is a group organized in the wake of the loss of the transmission facilities atop the World Trade Center in 2001. Its mission is to identify, design and build a facility suitable for the long-term requirements of its member stations to meet their over-the-air digital broadcast requirements. This could include designing facilities for the Freedom Tower in Lower Manhattan, assessing alternative sites and technologies and dealing with local, state and federal authorities on relevant issues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Suffrage Hikes</span>

The Suffrage Hikes of 1912 to 1914 brought attention to the issue of women's suffrage. Florence Gertrude de Fonblanque organised the first from Edinburgh to London. Within months Rosalie Gardiner Jones had organized the first American one which left from The Bronx to Albany, New York. The second hike was from New York City to Washington, D.C., and covered 230 miles in 17 days.

There is a long history of television and film in New Jersey, which is considered the birthplace of the movie picture industry.

NJ PBS is a public television network serving the U.S. state of New Jersey. The network is owned by the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority (NJPBA), an agency of the New Jersey state government which owns the licenses for all but one of the PBS member stations licensed in the state. NJPBA outsources the network's operations to Public Media NJ, a wholly-owned subsidiary of New York City-based The WNET Group, the parent company of Newark, New Jersey–licensed WNET and Garden City, New York–licensed WLIW. In addition to PBS programming, NJ PBS airs shows distributed by American Public Television (APT); the network also produces and broadcasts its own programs, mostly related to issues in New Jersey. NJ PBS' operations are based in Englewood, New Jersey. Its anchor studio is located at Gateway Center in Newark. Master control and some internal operations are based at WNET's studios in the Worldwide Plaza complex in Midtown Manhattan.

The 33rd News & Documentary Emmy Awards were held on October 1, 2012, at Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, located in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Awards were presented in 42 categories, including Breaking News, Investigative Reporting, Outstanding Interview, and Best Documentary. In attendance were over 900 television and news media industry executives, news and documentary producers and journalists.

The 34th News & Documentary Emmy Awards were held on October 1, 2013, at Rose Hall, Home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, located in the Time Warner Center in New York City. Awards were presented in 42 categories, including Breaking News, Investigative Reporting, Outstanding Interview, and Best Documentary. In attendance were over 900 television and news media industry executives, news and documentary producers and journalists.

Anthony R. DePalma is an American author, journalist and educator who was a foreign correspondent and reporter for The New York Times for 22 years. He continues to work on books, magazine articles and other writing projects. He is also an adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

References

  1. Mason-Draffen, Carrie via Newsday . "What's in a name? At work, an initial reaction", Pittsburgh Post-Gazette , February 11, 2008. Accessed January 23, 2015. "Newton Jones Burkett III, a correspondent for New York's WABC-TV news station, became N.J. Burkett in a sort of Hollywood moment almost 19 years ago.... Mr. Burkett, who did grow up in Elizabeth, N.J., said he looked at the person dumbfounded and said, 'That's right – my mother named her son New Jersey.'"
  2. Harris, Doug. "Dateline: The World; Elizabeth Native, NJ (Newton Jones) Burkett of WABC News, writes the 'first draft of history'", Trinitas Hospital Healthy Edge, Fall 2008. Accessed January 23, 2015. "[Q] As a native of Elizabeth, what keeps the City close to your heart? [A] ...I was in the Elizabeth High School graduating class of 1980. I lived in Elizabeth for the first 18 years of my life until I left to go to Columbia University, but my parents still live there."
  3. "ABC Local Profile" . Retrieved March 12, 2014.
  4. "N.J. Burkett reporting as Twin Towers begin to collapse on September 11, 2001". YouTube . WABC-TV. 2018-09-07 [2001-09-11].