Names and faces
■ If Tom Brokaw has one piece of advice to leave for television journalists upon his retirement, it’s to get out to more of the country — and not just to visit. The Capitol insurrection is but one example of a story that might not have seemed such a surprise if more journalists were attuned to communities outside the power centers, the veteran NBC newsman said. Television news is “much, much too wedded to the East Coast and West Coast only” and needs to expand its presence across the country, Brokaw said. “Take some of the people who are only in Washington and send them to Salt Lake City or Kansas City,[Mo.,] or St. Louis for that matter,” he said. But on the public’s attitude toward the press after four years in which then-President Donald Trump considered journalists the enemy, Brokaw said he’s pessimistic about the possibilities for change. “I don’t think there will be a full recovery,” he said. “I think this is baked in.” Brokaw, who turns 81 on Saturday, has announced that he’s retiring from NBC News, where he has worked for 55 years. He said he’s been overwhelmed and heartened by the outpouring of good wishes from colleagues and people who watched him on TV. He’s been away from the power centers himself, and he hasn’t been to New York since before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, splitting time between homes in Montana and Florida. Brokaw has kept busy in the years since he stepped down as “NBC Nightly News” anchor in 2004, doing documentaries and appearing on “Morning Joe” and the network during news events. He’s finishing a book about his parents and their life growing up during the Depression in South Dakota. Asked how he was feeling, Brokaw said, “mixed, frankly.” In 2013, he was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer that affects the bone marrow, which led to painful back surgery.
■ Pope Francis has established an annual date to honor grandparents and other elders, lamenting that they are often forgotten despite the wisdom they have to offer society. The pope on Sunday announced that each year on the fourth Sunday of July, the Catholic Church will pay tribute to older adults who provide “thoughts and words of wisdom.” Francis will celebrate Mass in their honor July 25, pandemic restrictions permitting, the Vatican said. In his customary Sunday remarks, the pope noted that each year on July 26, the church honors Saints Anne and Joachim, the parents of Jesus’ mother, Mary. Grandparents, Francis said, transmit “life and faith” experiences to the young. The pope, who is 84, said the voice of older adults “is precious because they sing the praises of God and preserve the roots of peoples. … They remind us that old age is a gift and that grandparents are the ring linking generations.”