John Palmer | |
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| Born | John Spencer Palmer (1935-09-10)September 10, 1935 Kingsport, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Died | August 3, 2013(2013-08-03) (aged 77) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Alma mater | Northwestern University(BS) Columbia University(MS) |
| Occupation | Television journalist |
John Spencer Palmer (September 10, 1935 – August 3, 2013) was an American news correspondent, television broadcaster andnews anchor forNBC News.
Palmer worked for theNBC network over the course of 40 years, first from 1962 to 1990; then again from 1994 until his retirement in 2002. During his tenure with NBC News, he held several positions, including correspondent stints inChicago,Paris, and theMiddle East;White House correspondent (1979–1982); anchor of the Sunday edition ofNBC Nightly News (1984-1986 & 1996) and news anchor forThe Today Show (1982–1989).[1]
In April 1980, Palmer reported on the failure ofOperation Eagle Claw, the mission to rescuethe American hostages held by Iran. This earned him the Merriman Smith Memorial Award for excellence in presidential news coverage, becoming the first broadcast journalist to ever receive this prestigious award.[2]
On January 28, 1986, Palmer broke into NBC's regularly scheduled programing from the New York news desk at 11:40 am to report "...we've just witnessed the launch of theSpace Shuttle Challenger ... there has been a major problem with that launch." As a replay of the launch began to play, Palmer's calm voice over of the footage shown brought the chilling news to the nation ... "In just a few moments you will see an explosion. The Space Shuttle Challenger apparently exploded ... you will see it very clearly on your television sets."[3]
Palmer officially joined theToday cast as news anchor on September 27, 1982, replacingChris Wallace, who had read the news and served asBryant Gumbel andJane Pauley'sWashington co-anchor.[4] The team of Gumbel, Pauley, Palmer,Willard Scott, andGene Shalit helped takeThe Today Show to the top of the ratings in1986, where it stayed until the end of the decade.[5] In the late 1980s, Palmer was the primary substitute co-host ofToday on days when Gumbel was away.
After serving asToday news anchor for seven years, Palmer was abruptly replaced byDeborah Norville in September1989, and was moved to Norville's old position atNBC News at Sunrise.WTVJ, the NBC owned-and-operated television station inMiami, offered Palmer the lead local news anchor chair in late 1989, but Palmer turned down the opportunity.[6] Palmer left NBC News in March1990 to anchor a syndicated program,Instant Recall. After that show was canceled, Palmer joined theChristian Science Monitor in December1991 as anchor of Monitor Channel's short-livedWorld Monitor newscast. He later served as Washington correspondent for Monitor Radio.[7]
In 1994, NBC News Washington bureau chiefTim Russert and NBC News presidentAndrew Lack invited Palmer to return to the network as a Washington correspondent, and Palmer accepted.[7] He was soon back on familiar ground, serving as White House correspondent for the weekend edition ofNBC Nightly News and an occasional substitute news anchor forThe Today Show. He retired from NBC News in January 2002.
Palmer was host ofThe Informed Citizen andThe Prudent Advisor onRetirement Living TV.[8]
He was also the recipient of severalhonorary Doctorate degrees.
Palmer was born inKingsport, Tennessee, and graduated fromDobyns-Bennett High School. He was a graduate ofNorthwestern University and obtained amaster's degree fromColumbia University. Palmer died on August 3, 2013, at the age of 77, inWashington, D.C., frompulmonary fibrosis.[9] In 2014, his bookNewscatcher: A Memoir by John Palmer was published posthumously, which Palmer had started working on before his death.
| Preceded by | Today Show News Anchor September 27, 1982-July 14, 1989 | Succeeded by |
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