Robert Gordon Abernethy (November 5, 1927 – May 2, 2021) was an American journalist, best known for serving various roles during a 42-year career with

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's var ...

. He later co-created, and was executive editor and host of ''

Religion & Ethics Newsweekly ''Religion & Ethics Newsweekly'' was an American weekly television news-magazine program which aired on PBS. History and content Premiering in 1997, ''Religion & Ethics Newsweekly'' was devoted to news of religion and spirituality, along with ...

'', which aired on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

from 1997 until 2017.

Early career

Abernethy received his

bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

and

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

s from the

Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs The Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (formerly the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs) is a professional public policy school at Princeton University. The school provides an array of comprehensive course ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

. His broadcasting career began in 1951, at WBUD radio (now

WFJS WFJS (1260 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a religious radio format, focusing on the Catholic Church and carrying EWTN Radio Network programs. The station is owned by the Domestic Church Media Foundation, a Catholic-based organization in Tre ...

) in Morrisville, Pennsylvania.

NBC

After graduating from Princeton in 1952, Abernethy went to work at

. He was assigned to the network's

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

bureau in 1953 and spent two years there before being transferred to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He returned to Washington in 1958 to report and anchor network news updates. From 1961 until 1963 Abernethy hosted a weekly television news magazine for NBC, ''Update'', which targeted teenagers and young adults. He also anchored the network's coverage of the

Northeast blackout of 1965 The northeast blackout of 1965 was a significant disruption in the supply of electricity on Tuesday, November 9, 1965, affecting parts of Ontario in Canada and Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, ...

from its Washington news bureau. In August 1966 NBC transferred Abernethy again, this time to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, and assigned him to anchor evening newscasts at its owned-and-operated television station

KNBC KNBC (channel 4) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Corona-licens ...

. Abernethy anchored at KNBC until 1970, but remained on the newscasts as an interviewer, special correspondent, and commentator. He also served as moderator of a local public affairs program on the station, ''KNBC News Conference''. After 11 years at KNBC, Abernethy left Los Angeles in 1977 and returned to NBC's Washington bureau to report for the ''

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

'', where he appeared alongside former KNBC colleague

Tom Brokaw Thomas John Brokaw (; born February 6, 1940) is an American retired network television journalist and author. He first served as the co-anchor of ''The Today Show'' from 1976 to 1981 with Jane Pauley, then as the anchor and managing editor of '' ...

. Abernethy took a leave from NBC in 1984 to study briefly at

Yale Divinity School Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

. He returned to the network a year later to Washington, and in 1989 accepted what would be his final NBC assignment, chief correspondent of the

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

bureau.

Public Television

Abernethy completed his Moscow assignment in 1994 and subsequently retired from NBC. He spent the next three years developing ''

Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly ''Religion & Ethics Newsweekly'' was an American weekly television news-magazine program which aired on PBS. History and content Premiering in 1997, ''Religion & Ethics Newsweekly'' was devoted to news of religion and spirituality, along with ...

'' for

. Using his personal background as part of a family of

Northern Baptist The American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA) is a mainline/evangelical Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainli ...

ministers, his education at Yale Divinity and having covered religion stories for NBC, Abernethy crafted the program to fill a void in objective reporting of faith-based issues in American television. ''Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly'' premiered in September 1997, produced by

WNET WNET (channel 13), branded on-air as "Thirteen" (stylized as "THIRTEEN"), is a primary PBS member television station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, United States, serving the New York City area. Owned by The WNET Group (formerly known as the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and underwritten primarily by a $5 million grant from the

Lilly Endowment Lilly Endowment Inc., headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is one of the world's largest private philanthropic foundations and among the largest endowments in the United States. It was founded in 1937 by Josiah K. (J. K.) Lilly Sr. and his so ...

. An executive there said it was ''one of the largest amounts our religion program has ever made to a single project.'' The program ended in February 2017 after a nearly 20-year run.

Personal life

Abernethy was married to Marie Cheremeteff Grove. He has one daughter with his first wife Jean Montgomery who died in 1980; one daughter with Grove; one stepdaughter,First person interview with Abernethy's eldest daughter Jane. and three stepsons. He lived in

Brunswick, Maine Brunswick is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The population was 21,756 at the 2020 United States Census. Part of the Portland-South Portland-Biddeford metropolitan area, Brunswick is home to Bowdoin College, the Bowdoin Intern ...

after many years living between

, and

Jaffrey, New Hampshire Jaffrey is a town in Cheshire County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 5,320 at the 2020 census. The main village in town, where 3,058 people resided at the 2020 census, is defined as the Jaffrey census-designated place (CDP) a ...

. Abernethy and his wife were ordained members of the

United Church of Christ The United Church of Christ (UCC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination based in the United States, with historical and confessional roots in the Congregational, Calvinist, Lutheran, and Anabaptist traditions, and with approximately 4 ...

. He died from natural causes on May 2, 2021.

Awards

Wilbur Awards The Religion Communicators Council is an American nonprofit organization representing marketing, communications and public relations officers from 60 different faith-based institutions in the United States. Founded in 1929 as the Religious Publicit ...

(2009) - awarded by the Religion Communicators Council (RCC) * James Parks Morton Interfaith Award (2015) * Honorary Degree from

Governors State University Governors State University (Governors State or GOVST) is a public university in University Park, Illinois. The campus is located south of Chicago, Illinois. GSU was founded in 1969. It is a public university offering degree programs at the und ...

at the 46th commencement ceremony in 2017.Scholar and Journalist to be Awarded Honorary Degrees
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References

External links

Bob Abernethy, Executive Editor and Host, ''Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly'' (biography) – PBS
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abernethy, Bob 1927 births 2021 deaths American television journalists Princeton School of Public and International Affairs alumni NBC News people American male journalists United Church of Christ members Assassination of John F. Kennedy Yale Divinity School alumni Religion journalists People from Brunswick, Maine