Hal Bruno
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Harold Robinson "Hal" Bruno, Jr. (October 25, 1928 – November 8, 2011) was an American
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
and political analyst, who worked as the political director of
ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...
from 1980 to 1999. He served as the moderator of the 1992 vice presidential debate between
Dan Quayle James Danforth Quayle (; born February 4, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 44th vice president of the United States from 1989 to 1993 under President George H. W. Bush. A member of the Republican Party, Quayle served as a U.S. ...
,
Al Gore Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic ...
, and James Stockdale.


Biography


Early life

Hal Bruno was born in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
, Illinois, on October 25, 1928. His father sold housewares for a living. He became a volunteer firefighter during the 1940s. Bruno earned his
bachelor's degree 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 si ...
in 1950 from the
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the Uni ...
, where he worked as a sportswriter for the university's newspaper, ''
The Daily Illini ''The Daily Illini'', commonly known as the ''DI'', is a student-run newspaper that has been published for the community of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 1871. Weekday circulation during fall and spring semesters is 7,000; c ...
'', alongside
Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, poet, cartoonist, singer / songwriter, musician, and playwright. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before ...
, Bud Karmin, Gene Shalit,
Hugh Hough Hugh Frederick Hough (April 15, 1924 – April 18, 1986) was an American author. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Reporting with Art Petacque for uncovering new evidence that led to the reopening of efforts to solve the 1966 murd ...
and
Robert Novak Robert David Sanders Novak (February 26, 1931 – August 18, 2009) was an American syndicated columnist, journalist, television personality, author, and conservative political commentator. After working for two newspapers before serving in the ...
. He also worked for the '' Champaign News Gazette'' during weekends while in college. He served in the
Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...
as an Army intelligence officer. Bruno then earned a
Fulbright scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
to study in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
after the war. He married his wife, Margaret "Meg" Christian Bruno, on November 12, 1959.


Career

Bruno launched his professional career as a
reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...
for Chicago area
newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...
s and
news agencies A news agency is an organization that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news organizations, such as newspapers, magazines and radio and television broadcasters. A news agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire, ...
. His first job after his graduation was for ''
Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mu ...
'' before becoming the sports editor of the '' Daily Chronicle''. He temporarily left his profession in order to serve in the Korean War. Bruno returned to Chicago after the war and joined the staff of the '' Chicago City News Bureau'' as a police reporter. He joined ''
The Chicago American The ''Chicago American'' was an afternoon newspaper published in Chicago, under various names until its dissolution in 1974. History The paper's first edition came out on July 4, 1900, as '' Hearst's Chicago American''. It became the ''Morning ...
'' in 1954 In 1956, Bruno earned a
Fulbright Scholarship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...
to study Indian media. He worked as a South Asian correspondent for the International News Service while in India. Bruno covered some of the biggest news stories of the 1950s, including the 1956
Suez Crisis The Suez Crisis, or the Second Arab–Israeli war, also called the Tripartite Aggression ( ar, العدوان الثلاثي, Al-ʿUdwān aṯ-Ṯulāṯiyy) in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel,Also known as the Suez War or 1956 Wa ...
, the Our Lady of the Angels School fire in 1958, and the
Cuban revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...
in 1959. He joined the staff of ''
Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...
'' magazine in 1960. Bruno worked as a reporter,
foreign correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locat ...
,
news editor Copy editing (also known as copyediting and manuscript editing) is the process of revising written material ( copy) to improve readability and fitness, as well as ensuring that text is free of grammatical and factual errors. '' The Chicago Manual ...
and chief political correspondent for ''Newsweek'' for 18 years. One of his first assignments at the magazine was the 1960 president election between John F. Kennedy and
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
. His foreign reports included the 1962
Sino-Indian War The Sino-Indian War took place between China and India from October to November 1962, as a major flare-up of the Sino-Indian border dispute. There had been a series of violent border skirmishes between the two countries after the 1959 Tibet ...
. He rose to become ''Newsweek's'' Chicago bureau chief and later the magazine's political editor in Washington D.C.


ABC News

Bruno joined ABC News in 1978 after leaving ''Newsweek''. He oversaw ABC News' election and political coverage during the 1980s and 1990s. Ken Rudin, the current political editor of
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
who worked as Bruno's deputy at ABC News, described Bruno as "...the eyes and ears for Peter (Jennings) and 'World News Tonight' and (Ted) Koppel." As political director, Bruno packaged much of the political headlines presented by ABC's best known reporters, including Ted Koppel,
Cokie Roberts Mary Martha Corinne Morrison Claiborne "Cokie" Roberts (née Boggs; December 27, 1943 – September 17, 2019) was an American journalist and author. Her career included decades as a political reporter and analyst for National Public Radio, PBS, ...
,
Sam Donaldson Samuel Andrew Donaldson Jr. (born March 11, 1934) is an American former reporter and news anchor, serving with ABC News from 1967 to 2009. He is best known as the network's White House Correspondent (1977–1989 and 1998–99) and as a panelist ...
, and Peter Jennings. Colleagues, such as Donaldson, have described Bruno as personally knowing nearly every major party county chairman in the United States. While much of his work at ABC took place off-screen, Bruno was invited onto news and talk shows owing to his political expertise. Bruno also hosted the weekly
radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netwo ...
, ''Hal Bruno's Washington'', on ABC Radio until 1999. Bruno received public attention as the moderator of the 1992 vice presidential debate in
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...
on October 13, 1992. The debate took place between incumbent Republican Vice President Dan Quayle, Democrat Al Gore, and
Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...
retired Vice Admiral James B. Stockdale, who was the
running mate A running mate is a person running together with another person on a joint ticket during an election. The term is most often used in reference to the person in the subordinate position (such as the vice presidential candidate running with a p ...
of
Ross Perot Henry Ross Perot (; June 27, 1930 – July 9, 2019) was an American business magnate, billionaire, politician and philanthropist. He was the founder and chief executive officer of Electronic Data Systems and Perot Systems. He ran an indepe ...
. The debate would become known for unusual responses and negative rhetoric from the candidates and the audience. It would later be called "the most combative debate in the 32-year history of the televised forums" by the ''
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...
''. One of the most memorable moments from the debate came early in the night. Bruno, in his capacity as debate moderator, asked James Stockdale, "Admiral Stockdale, your opening statement, please, sir?" Stockdale famously replied to Bruno's request: "Who am I? Why am I here?" Bruno also scolded the debate's audience when they jeered candidates Quayle and Gore, saying, "There’s no call for that ... so knock that off." He retired from ABC in 1999 to become the chairman of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.


Firefighting

Bruno said that his interest in
firefighting Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter. Firefighters typically ...
began "after riding as a kid on fire trucks in Chicago." Bruno originally became a volunteer firefighter during the 1940s and remained in firefighting for more than 60 years. He served as the
chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the group ...
of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation from 1999 to 2008 and remained Chairman Emeritus after retiring from the post. He combined his background in
journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the " news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (p ...
and firefighting as a monthly
columnist A columnist is a person who writes for publication in a series, creating an article that usually offers commentary and opinions. Columns appear in newspapers, magazines and other publications, including blogs. They take the form of a short essay ...
for Firehouse Magazine. In 2008, he authored a column for Firehouse about th
https://www.firehouse.com/prevention-investigation/fire-protection-systems/news/10493645/eyewitness-to-tragedy-our-lady-of-angels-school-fire
that he responded to with the Chicago Fire Department and later put on his reporter's hat to cover. Bruno called in coverage of the attack on the Pentagon on
September 11, 2001 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerc ...
. He was one of the first rescue workers to respond to the Pentagon attack and remained on site for hours.


Later life

Bruno was inducted into the
Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...
Hall of Fame in 2008. Bruno died at Suburban Hospital in
Bethesda, Maryland Bethesda () is an unincorporated, census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland. It is located just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House (1820, rebuilt 1849), which ...
, November 8, 2011, of
heart arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, heart arrhythmias, or dysrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beats per minute in adult ...
caused by a fall at the age of 83. He was survived by his wife of nearly 56 years, Margaret; two sons, Harold R. Bruno III and Daniel Bruno; his sister, Barbara; and four grandchildren. Bruno and his wife were residents of
Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the name of both a town and an unincorporated census-designated place (Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland) that straddle the northwest border of Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Several settlements in t ...
.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruno, Hal 1928 births 2011 deaths American broadcast news analysts ABC News personalities American newspaper reporters and correspondents American magazine journalists American firefighters United States Army personnel of the Korean War University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni People from Chevy Chase, Maryland Fulbright alumni