Paul Welden Duke (October 16, 1926 — July 18, 2005) was an American newspaper, radio and television

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 journalism ...

, best known for his 20-year stint as moderator of ''

Washington Week in Review ''Washington Week''—previously ''Washington Week in Review''—is an American Public affairs programming, public affairs television program, which has aired on PBS and its predecessor, National Educational Television, since 1967. Unlike other p ...

'' 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 ...

. A native of

Richmond, Virginia (Thus do we reach the stars) , image_map = , mapsize = 250 px , map_caption = Location within Virginia , pushpin_map = Virginia#USA , pushpin_label = Richmond , pushpin_m ...

, Duke worked at radio station

WMBG WMBG (740 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station licensed in Williamsburg, Virginia, serving the Virginia Peninsula. WMBG is owned and operated by Gregory H. Granger. It airs local news and talk, as well as a mix of adult standards, oldies, a ...

during high school. He attended the

University of Richmond The University of Richmond (UR or U of R) is a private liberal arts college in Richmond, Virginia. It is a primarily undergraduate, residential institution with approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students in five schools: the School ...

where he majored in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

. After he graduated in 1947, he became a

sportswriter Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...

for

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

(AP) in Richmond. Within a few years, he was reporting on major national stories, particularly the struggle for

Civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

. His

byline The byline (or by-line in British English) on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name of the writer of the article. Bylines are commonly placed between the headline and the text of the article, although some magazines (notably ''Reader's D ...

became known nationally and, after ten years with the organization, AP rewarded him with a permanent assignment to its

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

bureau. He covered the 1960 Presidential campaign for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' (which he had joined the previous year) and in 1963 joined

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 ...

as a

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

reporter. After 11 years with the network, he moved to

to become their esteemed low-key moderator of ''Washington Week In Review''. The previous host, Duke's former NBC colleague,

Robert MacNeil Robert Breckenridge Ware MacNeil, OC (born January 19, 1931) is a Canadian-American journalist and writer. He is a retired television news anchor who partnered with Jim Lehrer to create ''The MacNeil/Lehrer Report'' in 1975. Early life and ed ...

, had given up his post to start PBS' nightly news and analysis program '' The Robert MacNeil Report''. Duke continued his hosting duties for a record twenty years, as ''Washington Week in Review'' became the longest-running series on PBS, won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

and gained an audience of 4.6 million. From 1980 to 1984, Duke also hosted ''The Lawmakers'', a show on PBS about Congress. Duke retired as a full-time journalist in 1994, but continued to contribute reports to his old program from his new base in

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 ...

, where he lived in 1995-1996. He also served as a news analyst for the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

and provided an

Alistair Cooke Alistair Cooke (born Alfred Cooke; 20 November 1908 – 30 March 2004) was a British-American writer whose work as a journalist, television personality and radio broadcaster was done primarily in the United States.National Public Radio 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 n ...

(NPR)'s Washington station WETA. In 1999, upon the dismissal of his successor,

Ken Bode Kenneth Adlam Bode (March 30, 1939 – June 2, 2022) was an American television host. He was the moderator of ''Washington Week'' from 1994 to 1999. He also served as Dean of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and a professo ...

, he briefly returned as moderator of ''Washington Week in Review'' until the eventual permanent host,

Gwen Ifill Gwendolyn L. Ifill ( ; September 29, 1955 – November 14, 2016) was an American journalist, television newscaster, and author. In 1999, she became the first African-American woman to host a nationally televised U.S. public affairs program ...

, was able to assume her new duties. In 2003, Paul Duke was elected to the

Common Cause Common Cause is a watchdog group based in Washington, D.C., with chapters in 35 states. It was founded in 1970 by John W. Gardner, a Republican, who was the former Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President L ...

National Governing Board. He was elected to the

National Governing Board in 1998. Paul Duke was 78 when he died of acute

leukemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...

at his home in Washington, D.C. He had a son, Paul Jr. from his first marriage to Janet Johnston. Since 1985 he had been married to Janet Wachter.

References

External links

* *
Washington Post obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duke, Paul 1926 births 2005 deaths Deaths from acute leukemia The Wall Street Journal people American television journalists Writers from Richmond, Virginia University of Richmond alumni NBC News people Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. American male journalists Journalists from Virginia 20th-century American journalists