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 journalis ...
, best known for his 20-year stint as moderator of ''
Washington Week in Review'' on
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
.
A native of
Richmond, Virginia, Duke worked at radio station
WMBG 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. ne ...
(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 o ...
. 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 ...
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 o ...
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 reporter. After 11 years with the network, he moved to
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
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, Order of Canada, 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.
E ...
, 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 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 List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
, where he lived in 1995-1996. He also served as a news analyst for the
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 exam. ...
...
. In 1999, upon the dismissal of his successor,
, he briefly returned as moderator of ''Washington Week in Review'' until the eventual permanent host,
, was able to assume her new duties. In 2003, Paul Duke was elected to the
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.