Tom Brokaw announces retirement

NBC News senior correspondent leaves after 55 years, at age 80

Tom Brokaw is formally retiring from NBC News after an extraordinary 55years with the network. Brokaw, 80, is best known for anchoring the “NBC Nightly News” from 1982 through 2004. He has been the network’s senior correspondent in recent years, enjoying a form of semi-retirement while contributing essays to NBC and MSNBC programs.

In his most recent essay, published in late December, he called the coronavirus pandemic “America’s greatest test since the Civil War.”

Brokaw was absent from NBC’s election and inauguration coverage, a fact that was partially attributed to his age and health. NBC announced his retirement in a press release on Friday that credited him with “more than half a century of award-winning reporting.”

The network said that “Brokaw will continue to be active in print journalism, authoring books and articles, and spend time with his wife, Meredith, three daughters and grandchildren.”

He also remains active on Twitter, where he posted a tribute to Hank Aaron after the baseball legend died on Friday.

In a statement provided by NBC on Friday afternoon, Brokaw tipped his cap to his colleagues: “During one of the most complex and consequential eras in American history, a new generation of NBC News journalists, producers and technicians is providing America with timely, insightful and critically important information, 24⁄7. I could not be more proud of them.”