MediaWatch: April 1993
Table of Contents:
Revolving Door: Brokaw Balks at Babbitt
In turning down an offer from Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt to run the National Park Service, NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw endorsed the Clinton Administration's environmental policies. Brokaw told Washington Post reporter John Carmody that he considered the offer "very seriously," but decided to reject it because of the turmoil at NBC. "We need more parkland....I have a lot of friends in the environmental movement. I'm not an Earth Firster but I feel strongly, given my Western roots, in a reasonable dialogue on the issues; I think I'd be reasonably good at that," Brokaw asserted.
In the March 20 article Carmody explained that "Brokaw is among those who believe the park system faces a crisis, as mining, oil, lumber and ranching activity crowds to the very edge of such wilderness areas as Yellowstone National Park, threatening their ecosystems even as development and maintenance of the parks is hampered by budget cuts and increasingly large visitor counts."
But a 30 Rock veteran still might take over the agency. Among those under consideration: Roger Kennedy, Director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. During the 1950s he was a reporter for NBC News.
Return Engagement
The last time a Democrat controlled the White House Douglas Bennet served as Assistant Secretary of State for congressional relations and then as Director of the Agency for International Development, a State Department agency. With a Democrat back on Pennsylvania Avenue, Bennet will soon be back at State. President Clinton has nominated him for the position of Assistant Secretary of State for intergovernmental organizations.
So what did the Democratic partisan do when the Republicans were in power? Bennet ran National Public Radio (NPR) as its President from 1983 until Clinton chose him. Before working for Carter, Bennet served as top aide to two Democratic Senators: Abraham Ribicoff and Tom Eagleton.
NBC's Defensive Move
During the Persian Gulf War Pete Williams' daily televised briefings from the Pentagon made him famous. Now he'll be a regular fixture on NBC News. Assistant Secretary of Defense for public affairs during the Bush Administration, Williams became a national correspondent in early April, working out of the Washington bureau.
Williams is not new to television reporting. From 1976 to 1985 he was an anchor and reporter for KTWO-TV in Casper, Wyoming. After four years as Press Secretary and Legislative Assistant to U.S. Representative Richard Cheney, he followed the Republican to the Pentagon.
Texas Temp
David Beckwith, a Time Washington correspondent for eight years before becoming Press Secretary to Vice President Dan Quayle, has landed a temporary job. He's Press Secretary to Kay Bailey Hutchison, a Republican candidate to fill the Texas Senate seat vacated by Lloyd Bentsen. No matter what the outcome of the May 1 election (and possible subsequent run-off), Beckwith told The Washington Post he plans to return to journalism when the campaign ends.
