Jeffrey Brown (born 1956)[1] is an American journalist, who is a senior correspondent for the PBS NewsHour.[2] His reports focus on arts and literature, and he has interviewed numerous writers, poets, and musicians. Brown has worked most of his professional career at PBS and has written a poetry collection called The News.
Jeffrey Brown | |
---|---|
![]() Brown at the 2015 Texas Book Festival | |
Born | 1956 (age 67–68) |
Nationality | American |
Alma mater | UC Berkeley (BA) Columbia University (MS) |
Occupation | Journalist |
Spouse | Paula Crawford |
Children | 2 |
Parent(s) | Morton Brown Mirriam "Micki" Brown (née Decter) |
Early life and education
editBrown was born in 1956 to Morton Brown and Mirriam "Micki" Brown (née Decter).[1][3] He has four siblings, and grew up in Belmont, Massachusetts.[3][4] He graduated from high school in 1974.[5]
Brown studied Classics at the University of California, Berkeley, earning a bachelor's degree. He planned to pursue a PhD subsequently in order to become an academic, but finally decided he wanted to be a law journalist. Brown did a joint program at Berkeley Law and the Columbia Journalism School. He first studied law for two years and then studied journalism for one year. Brown received a master's degree in journalism, but did not finish law school.[6] In 2010, Brown received an honorary degree (D.H.L.) from Wesley College after giving a commencement speech there.[7]
Career
editWhile studying at Columbia, Brown met television executive Fred W. Friendly, who worked as a professor at the university.[6] After he graduated, Brown became Friendly's teaching assistant and a producer for the Columbia University Seminars on Media & Society, a television production company directed by Friendly.[8] For a few years, Brown helped produce and write the seminars that were aired on public television about, among other things, ethics, law, foreign policy, and the Constitution.[9]
Thereafter, in 1988, Brown joined the PBS NewsHour, which was at that time called The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.[10] He was hired as an off-camera economics reporter, and was initially based in New York City, but moved to Washington, D.C. eight years later.[10][11] At first, Brown worked as a reporter and a producer, before being promoted to the position of senior producer for national affairs.[12] He became an on-camera correspondent in 1998, covering both general events and arts.[13]
Brown was named the NewsHour's arts correspondent, when that position was created, in March 2002.[9] Brown was promoted to senior correspondent three years later.[10] In December 2008, the NewsHour launched a blog called "Art Beat", covering arts and culture, which is written by Brown and other NewsHour reporters.[14]
Brown became part of the anchor team, when The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer was renamed PBS NewsHour in December 2009; Jim Lehrer was joined every broadcast by either Judy Woodruff, Gwen Ifill, or Brown.[15] After Lehrer stepped down in June 2012, the program was hosted by Woodruff, Ifill, Brown, Ray Suarez, and Margaret Warner on a rotating basis.[16] That situation ended in September 2013, when Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff became the sole anchors. Simultaneously, Brown was named "chief correspondent for arts, culture, and society".[17]
Between September 2012 and May 2014, Brown presented the series "Where Poetry Lives" on the NewsHour together with Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey.[18] They travelled through the US to report on societal issues through the lens of poetry.[19] In 2014, Brown started presenting the NewsHour series "Culture at Risk" about threatened heritage in the United States and abroad.[20] For that series, he has reported from numerous countries, including Myanmar, Peru, Mali, Nepal (after the April 2015 earthquake), Cuba, Italy, Spain, Tunisia, and South Africa.[21] When the PBS NewsHour launched a monthly book club in collaboration with The New York Times called "Now Read This" in 2018, Brown became its host, interviewing the writers.[22]
Besides covering arts, culture, and society, Brown has during his years as an arts correspondent for the NewsHour also occasionally reported on other subjects including science and politics.[10] For example, he co-anchored coverage of President Obama's second inauguration, and has participated in election night coverage during the 2008, 2012, and 2016 presidential elections.[23][24][25][26]
Brown has also released a poetry collection called The News, that contains 45 poems about reporting on television, things he encountered while reporting, and personal events in his life.[27][28] It was published by Copper Canyon Press in May 2015, and has a foreword written by poet Robert Pinsky.[1] Elizabeth Lund wrote the following about the collection in a review in The Washington Post: "[Brown] knows how to tell a story, and The News does a wonderful job of balancing the language of journalism and the power of poetry."[29]
Accolades
editBrown has won a number of awards, including a News & Documentary Emmy Award, a Peabody Award, and multiple CINE Golden Eagle Awards. The Emmy was awarded in the category "Outstanding Background/Analysis of a Single Current Story - (Segments)" to a segment about an antitrust case against Microsoft in 1999 and the Peabody Award to a segment about the unemployment rate in 2003. Brown produced both segments.[30][31]
In 2002, Brown won a CINE Golden Eagle Award for his arts coverage on the NewsHour.[32] In the following years, a number of segments, of which Brown he was the correspondent, won Golden Eagles including "Intelligent Design v. Evolution" (2005), "Doubt" (2005), "Blues Master: B.B. King" (2006), "Death is on Hold/Connecting with Kids" (2007), "Haitian Artists Create Poetry Amid Rubble" (2011), and "Musical Legend Herbie Hancock" (2011).[33][34][35][36]
Personal life
editBrown is married to Paula Crawford, an artist, professor, and author.[9] They met while they were both studying at UC Berkeley, and have two children. Brown lives in Arlington, Virginia.[13]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c The news: poems. Library of Congress. 2015. ISBN 9781556594809. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ "About Us". PBS. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
- ^ a b "MORTON BERNARD BROWN". The Boston Globe. 19 January 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via Legacy.com.
- ^ Sasaki, Fred; Share, Don, eds. (2017). Who Reads Poetry: 50 Views from "Poetry" Magazine. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 204. ISBN 9780226504766. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ "Jeffrey Brown public address, part 1". Furman University. 25 September 2012. Retrieved 24 March 2018 – via YouTube.
- ^ a b "Jeffrey Brown: "The News: Poems"". Politics and Prose. 4 June 2015. Retrieved 22 March 2018 – via YouTube.
- ^ "Commencement Weekend 2010". Wesley College. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Brown, Jeffrey (4 December 2015). "Dialogue Extra: Journalist and Poet Jeffrey Brown". Idaho Public Television (Interview). Interviewed by Marcia Franklin. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ a b c "JEFFREY BROWN". PBS. 22 October 2002. Archived from the original on 22 October 2002. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b c d "JEFFREY BROWN". PBS. 10 January 2006. Archived from the original on 10 January 2006. Retrieved 19 March 2018 – via Wayback Machine.
- ^ Brown, Jeffrey (18 May 2015). "Jeffrey Brown: "The News: Poems"". The Diane Rehm Show (Interview). Interviewed by Susan Page. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
- ^ Brown, Jeffrey (2 November 2012). "Jeffrey Brown - Wyoming Chronicle". Wyoming PBS (Interview). Interviewed by Geoffrey O'Gara – via YouTube.
- ^ a b "The Public Voice: Speaking to and of the Culture". Bates College. 13 March 2008. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "Jeffrey Brown Unveils Art Beat on the Program". PBS. 16 December 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "Leading Media Executive Bo Jones to join MacNeil/Lehrer Productions as President and CEO". PBS. 27 October 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "Jim Lehrer Stepping Down from Regular Anchor Role on PBS NewsHour". PBS. 12 May 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "PBS NewsHour Names Gwen Ifill and Judy Woodruff Co-Anchors and Managing Editors". PBS. 6 August 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "Where Poetry Lives". PBS. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "Poet's Notebook: Beginning the Journey by Remembering the Past". PBS. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "PBS NewsHour examines how development will impact Myanmar's architectural and archeological heritage in the first of a new series: "Culture at Risk"". PBS. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "Culture At Risk". PBS. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "Introducing the PBS NewsHour-New York Times book club". PBS NewsHour. 3 January 2018. Retrieved 23 March 2018 – via YouTube.
- ^ "** REVISED**PBS NEWSHOUR offers live coverage of President Obama's Inauguration on air and online". PBS. 18 January 2018.
- ^ "PBS and The NewsHour to provide complete coverage and analysis of the 2008 National Election". PBS. 29 October 2008. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "PBS NEWSHOUR Special Election Day coverage extends throughout the day, across multiple platforms". PBS. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ "PBS NewsHour Announces Election Night 2016 Special Coverage Plans". PBS. 2 November 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ Brown, Jeffrey (13 May 2015). "Jeffrey Brown translates his reporting life into a new book of poetry". PBS (Interview). Interviewed by Gwen Ifill. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
- ^ Brown, Jeffrey (4 December 2015). "Dialogue: Journalist and Poet Jeffrey Brown". Idaho Public Television (Interview). Interviewed by Marcia Franklin. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Lund, Elizabeth (12 May 2015). "Three best poetry books of May". The Washington Post. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ "THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS AND SCIENCES PRESENTS THE 20TH ANNUAL NEWS AND DOCUMENTARY EMMY AWARDS" (PDF). Emmy Awards. 8 September 1999. p. 4. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "Jobless Recovery: Non-Working Numbers". Peabody Awards. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ "CINE GOLDEN EAGLE FILM & VIDEO COMPETITION: 2002 WINNER DIRECTORY" (PDF). CINE. p. 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 April 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2018 – via Wayback Machine.
- ^ "CINE GOLDEN EAGLE FILM & VIDEO COMPETITION: 2005 WINNER DIRECTORY" (PDF). CINE. pp. 11 and 15. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2018 – via Wayback Machine.
- ^ "CINE GOLDEN EAGLE FILM & VIDEO COMPETITION: 2006 WINNER DIRECTORY" (PDF). CINE. p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2018 – via Wayback Machine.
- ^ "CINE GOLDEN EAGLE FILM & VIDEO COMPETITION: 2007 WINNER DIRECTORY" (PDF). CINE. p. 5. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 23 March 2018 – via Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Awards". PBS. Retrieved 23 March 2018.