Newton Jones Burkett, III (born May 6, 1962), known as N.J. Burkett, is a

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, locati ...

for

WABC-TV WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neig ...

, the largest

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

television station A television station is a set of equipment managed by a business, organisation or other entity, such as an amateur television (ATV) operator, that transmits video content and audio content via radio waves directly from a transmitter on the eart ...

in the United States. He joined the Eyewitness News team in July 1989 from

WFSB-TV WFSB (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Hartford, Connecticut, United States, serving the Hartford–New Haven market as an affiliate of CBS. Owned by Gray Television, the station maintains studios on Denise D'Ascenzo Way in Rocky ...

in Hartford, Connecticut, where he had been a

since 1986.

Early life and education

Burkett grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey, though he describes the choice to use the initials "N.J." as arising from the efforts of his agent and a station president to make him seem less "aristocratic" and not a tribute to his home state. He graduated from Elizabeth High School with the class of 1980 and attended

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Career

Burkett is best known for his coverage of the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001 (he was located across from the plaza and just survived the collapse of South Tower), for which he shared or was awarded outright many prestigious honors, including the

George Foster Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award, and the Emmy Award for Outstanding On-Camera Achievement from the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He holds a BA in political science and a master's in international affairs, both from Columbia University. In June 2016, Burkett was elected First Vice Chairman of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences by the Academy's Board of Trustees, and served in that capacity until June 2018. He served on the Academy's Executive Committee from 2014 to 2018 and for two terms as President of the Academy's flagship chapter in New York from 2011 to 2015. In May 2019, he was elected New York Chapter President for a third time by the chapter's Board of Governors. In September 2019, Burkett was elected to the Board of Trustees of Newark Public Radio, the operator of WBGO-FM a not-for-profit jazz radio station in Newark, N.J.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burkett, N. J. 1962 births American reporters and correspondents Elizabeth High School (New Jersey) alumni People from Elizabeth, New Jersey People from Orange, New Jersey Living people School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University alumni Survivors of the September 11 attacks