Dateline: Democracy with Sam Donaldson | SHSU CAM
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Dateline: Democracy is an incredible opportunity for insight into how media shapes American thought and prepares citizens to practice democracy. As an online independent study course through Sam Houston State University’s College of Arts and Media, this series highlights a stellar line-up of influential individuals in national media.
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Native Texan and legendary American television journalist Sam Donaldson is best known for his long and distinguished career at ABC, where he covered stories and conducted investigations of national and international interest.
Donaldson earned a B.A. in telecommunications at Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso) and later worked for local radio and television stations. After a year of graduate school and a stint in the military, he returned to broadcasting in 1959, first as a television announcer and then as a newscaster for an NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C.
In 1967 he joined ABC, and in 1977 he became the network’s chief White House correspondent, a position he held until 1988 and again in 1998–99. His booming voice and his persistent questions made him a popular and controversial subject in the public eye.
In the 1980s, Donaldson’s role at ABC expanded dramatically, a trend that would continue throughout his career. He served as anchor for “World News Sunday” and was a regular panelist on the news discussion program “This Week” with David Brinkley. From 1989 to 1999 he served as cohost of “Primetime Live.”
During his second stint as ABC’s chief White House correspondent, he was also the anchor of the investigative program “20/20.” From 1999 to 2001 Donaldson hosted a live webcast and from 2001 to 2004 he anchored a daily news program, “The Sam Donaldson Show–Live in America” for ABC News Radio. In 2009, Donaldson retired from full-time work. His reporting garnered numerous accolades, including four Emmy Awards and three George Foster Peabody Awards, and his career is chronicled in his 1987 memoir “Hold On, Mr. President!”.
________________________
Native Texan and legendary American television journalist Sam Donaldson is best known for his long and distinguished career at ABC, where he covered stories and conducted investigations of national and international interest.
Donaldson earned a B.A. in telecommunications at Texas Western College (now the University of Texas at El Paso) and later worked for local radio and television stations. After a year of graduate school and a stint in the military, he returned to broadcasting in 1959, first as a television announcer and then as a newscaster for an NBC affiliate in Washington, D.C.
In 1967 he joined ABC, and in 1977 he became the network’s chief White House correspondent, a position he held until 1988 and again in 1998–99. His booming voice and his persistent questions made him a popular and controversial subject in the public eye.
In the 1980s, Donaldson’s role at ABC expanded dramatically, a trend that would continue throughout his career. He served as anchor for “World News Sunday” and was a regular panelist on the news discussion program “This Week” with David Brinkley. From 1989 to 1999 he served as cohost of “Primetime Live.”
During his second stint as ABC’s chief White House correspondent, he was also the anchor of the investigative program “20/20.” From 1999 to 2001 Donaldson hosted a live webcast and from 2001 to 2004 he anchored a daily news program, “The Sam Donaldson Show–Live in America” for ABC News Radio. In 2009, Donaldson retired from full-time work. His reporting garnered numerous accolades, including four Emmy Awards and three George Foster Peabody Awards, and his career is chronicled in his 1987 memoir “Hold On, Mr. President!”.
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