Mixture: News Trivia

1. On June 7, 1946, many Britons saw with their own eyes as Jasmine Bligh introduced a Disney cartoon on BBC television. What was remarkable about this?

From Quiz Saw It With My Own Eyes

Answer: It was the resumption of BBC broadcasting following WWII

The British Broadcasting Company, better known was the BBC, began broadcasting in 1932. In 1939 it was forced to cease all television broadcasts, due to World War Two. On June 7, 1946 broadcasts resumed with Jasmine Bligh announced, "Good afternoon everybody. How are you? Do you remember me, Jasmine Blight?" She then introduced the Disney cartoon, "Mickey's Touchdown", which was the last things viewers had seen before the BBC went off the air. A well-known urban legend has fellow BBC announcer Leslie Mitchell saying "Well, as I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted...". While this is a fine story, it is apparently not true. (Information for this question came from Wikipedia and Cavenger BBC)

From Quiz Have You Heard The News?

Answer: Nashville

Oprah relocated to Nashville from her native Mississippi by way of Milwaukee as a young girl. She was still in high school when she began her broadcasting career at WVOL radio in Nashville, Tennessee. At age 19 she was the youngest person as well as the first African-American woman to anchor the news when she was with Nashville's WTVF-TV. She then moved to Baltimore's WJZ-TV to co-anchor the "Six O'Clock News". She went on to become co-host of its local talk show, "People Are Talking". Her nationally syndicated shows were originally in a tabloid format but took a shift towards self-help and literature with a mixture of spirituality in the nineties.

From Quiz American Broadcast TV News Anchors

Answer: Walter Cronkite

CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite first gained broadcast news prominence while covering the assassination of JFK. One of TV news' most memorable moments occurred when, while announcing the death of the murdered president, Cronkite appeared to choke back tears. In the years following that monumental event, until his retirement from broadcast news in the 1980s, Walter Cronkite was often referred to as "the most trusted man in America."

From Quiz Saw It With My Own Eyes

Answer: Harry Truman

Harry Truman's second inauguration, on January 20, 1949, was the first to be broadcast on television. In 1925 Calvin Coolidge was the first president to have his inauguration broadcast over the radio, while in 1997, Bill Clinton was the first to be broadcast over the Internet. (Source: Smithsonian web page)

From Quiz Have You Heard The News?

Answer: Dave Garroway

With his co-host, a chimpanzee named J. Fred Muggs, Dave had a serious demeanor while dealing with the news stories of the day. He also hosted a Friday night variety series, "The Dave Garroway Show", from October 2, 1953 to June 25, 1954. From October, 1955 to June, 1958, he hosted NBC's Sunday afternoon live documentary "Wide Wide World". Dave Garroway got his start in radio while in the Navy. His first television show was in 1949, when he hosted "Garroway At Large" for NBC in Chicago. NBC President Sylvester "Pat" Weaver personally selected Garroway as host for the fledgling "Today Show". Jack Paar was an early "Tonight Show" host.

From Quiz American Broadcast TV News Anchors

Answer: Chet Huntley and David Brinkley

During the height of their joint reign as NBC news anchors, in the late sixties and early seventies, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley were known in the TV broadcast news business as "highbrows". In truth, both had logged many hours as field reporters. According to "Stars Of Broadcast News", by Patricia Walsham, Chet Huntley was, in fact, the son of poor Irish immigrants, who had already dropped out of college when his avid interest in news and the sonorous timbre of his voice led him to find success as a news anchor at NBC. And even though Mr. Brinkley hailed from a more refined background than his co-anchor, Mr. Huntley, he was reportedly still very accessible to those around him.

From Quiz Have You Heard The News?

Answer: Texaco

The program was also known as the "Texaco Huntley-Brinkley Report". Texaco is credited with saving the program by committing to sponsor the broadcast for a year. At first, the show was a 15-minute broadcast, expanding to 30 minutes in 1963. It was anchored by Chet Huntley in New York with David Brinkley in Washington. It succeeded the "Camel News Caravan", which was anchored by John Cameron Swayze. Texaco also sponsored "Texaco Star Theater" which eventually became hosted by Milton Berle. He would use their slogan "you can trust your car to the man who wears the star" during live commercials.

From Quiz American Broadcast TV News Anchors

Answer: Dan Rather

While walking through Manhattan in the late eighties, Dan Rather was accosted by a man shouting, "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" at him. The reason for the man's bizarre behavior toward Mr. Rather remains a mystery, but the freakish experience prompted R.E.M. to write the song of the same name, although, for whatever reason, they chose not to include Mr. Rather's name in the lyrics.

From Quiz Saw It With My Own Eyes

Answer: A lawyer representing the US army

When Senator Joseph McCarthy's assistant David Schine was drafted into the US army, McCarthy apparently asked that he be granted "special privileges". With accusation flying back and forth between the army and McCarthy, the case was investigated and the hearings broadcast by ABC and the DuMont networks. Joseph Welch of the Boston firm of Hale and Dorr was the lead counsel for the Army. When McCarthy suggested that Welch's colleague, Fred Fisher, might be a communist sympathizer, Welch's response came straight from the heart. "Until this moment, senator, I think I have never gauged your cruelty or recklessness...Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?" The audience promptly burst into applause, leaving McCarthy viably confused. According to the web page of the Museum of Broadcast Communicating, from which this information came, this spelled the beginning of the end of McCarthy. "TV Land Magazine" rates Welch's outburst as 39 in its rating of the 100 most important moments of television.

From Quiz Have You Heard The News?

Answer: Walter Cronkite

In the episode Cronkite meets with Lou Grant in Lou's office. Then Ted Baxter tries to convince Cronkite that he is actually Eric Sevareid and pleads with Cronkite to hire him for the network news. Walter Cronkite was a military reporter before his career in television news. He was at the Battle of the Bulge and covered the Nuremberg trials. In 1950 Cronkite joined CBS News in its early television division, first covering the political conventions for the network and eventually becoming anchor for the nightly news. He was also a staunch supporter of the space program and is remembered for his intense and emotional coverage during the 1963 Kennedy assassination. John Chancellor anchored the "NBC Nightly News" from 1970 to 1982.

From Quiz American Broadcast TV News Anchors

Answer: Peter Jennings

Peter Jennings, anchor of "ABC World News", was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1938. He became a permanent resident of the States in the late sixties, and in 1974, won a Peabody Award for his profile of then-Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat.

From Quiz Have You Heard The News?

Answer: Peter Jennings

Born in Toronto, Peter Jennings was the anchor of CTV's late night national news at age 23 in 1962. He was made ABC foreign correspondent in 1968, establishing the Beirut, Lebanon bureau. In 1972 Jennings covered his first major breaking news story, the Munich Olympics killing of Israeli athletes by Black September. After winning a Peabody Award for a 1974 profile of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, Jennings returned to the United States. He became news anchor for ABC's new morning program "AM America", which became "Good Morning America" in 1975. Eight years later he returned to ABC's evening anchor desk. New Jersey native Brian Williams succeeded Jennings in 2004. South Dakota born Brokaw became the anchor of the "NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw" in September, 1983. Reynolds is best known as anchor of the "ABC Evening News" from 1968 to 1970.

From Quiz American Broadcast TV News Anchors

Answer: Tom Brokaw

Tom Brokaw has said that, of all his accomplishments, he is most proud of his books on the "greatest generation", from whose ranks came the soldiers who fought in World War II. Bidding farewell to his television audience on his last night as anchor of NBC Nightly News, Mr. Brokaw thanked the "Greatest Generation" for the lessons they had taught him.

From Quiz Who's the Anchor?

Answer: Tim Russert

Along with "Meet the Press," which Russert took over in 1991, he also anchored "The Tim Russert Show" and held the position of political analyst for "NBC Nightly News." On June 13, 2008, he suddenly collapsed while working and never regained consciousness. That night, "NBC Nightly News" dedicated nearly its entire show to Russert.

From Quiz Have You Heard The News?

Answer: Harry Reasoner

Reasoner teamed up with Mike Wallace to begin the "60 Minutes" news/magazine series. In 1970, he joined CBS TV as news co-anchor of the "ABC Evening News" with Howard K. Smith until 1976, when he became the sole anchor. During most of that period he and Smith alternated commentaries at the end of each newscast. From 1976 until 1978, Reasoner co-anchored the news with Barbara Walters. The Reasoner/Walters co-anchored program ended in 1978 when Reasoner returned to CBS. He remained with CBS until he retired in May, 1991. In 1970, he appeared on "The Dick Cavett Program" in an interview. Charles Gibson is also an ABC anchor.

From Quiz Who's the Anchor?

Answer: Chris Matthews

Chris Matthews was always somewhat of a political mystery. Though he worked for Jimmy Carter, he once stated that "I voted for George W. [Bush] in 2000." After Hillary Clinton won a 2008 presidential primary in New Hampshire, he said, "The reason she may be a front-runner is her husband messed around." Later that year rumors swirled that Matthews may run for a Democratic Senate seat in Pennsylvania.

From Quiz Saw It With My Own Eyes

Answer: The assassination attempt of Pope John Paul II

On May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was greeting the faithful in St. Peter's Square. Riding in an open jeep, there was little distance between him and the enthusiastic crowd eager to see him in person. Like many events involving the popular John Paul II, this one was covered by live television. Suddenly, shots rang out from the crowd, and both those in the square, and those watching the event on television, saw the Pope slump over suddenly in the jeep. Surviving serious wound to his digestive tract, the Pope not only recovered, but visited his assailant, Mehmet Ali Agca, in prison. While other assassinations or assassination attempts have taken place while the press is nearby, most have not actually been captured on live television. John Hinkley's attempt on President Ronald Reagan, which took place just seven weeks before the attempt on the Pope, was not filmed live - the cameras kicked in as the President was being bundled into a car. The 1968 assassination of Senator Robert Kennedy took place in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles,as Kennedy was making his way to a press conference. Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin had attended a rally, which was televised live in Israel, but was shot while leaving the podium and out of the eye of the cameras.

From Quiz Have You Heard The News?

Answer: Ted Koppel

"Nightline" began just four days after the Iran hostage crisis started on November 8, 1979. ABC News tried to compete against "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" by updating America on the latest news from Iran. At first the show was called "The Iran Crisis-America Held Hostage: Day xxx". "World News Tonight" anchor Frank Reynolds was the host when the program started. Shortly afterwards, Reynolds left the program and Ted Koppel took on the hosting duties. The program was changed to "Nightline". The show has been cited as a factor in the Jimmy Carter defeat by Ronald Reagan. After the crisis ended, English-born Koppel stayed on to host the show until 2005. Cokie Roberts, Robert Siegel and Daniel Schorr are all NPR news people.

From Quiz Saw It With My Own Eyes

Answer: The first time a perfect score of "ten" was awarded in gymnastics in the Olympics

Romanian gymnast, Nadia Comaneci, was the first gymnast ever to receive a perfect score of "ten" in an Olympic event. At the age of fourteen, while participating in the Montreal summer Olympics, Nadia electrified the crowds with her performance on the uneven bars. The prefect score was so unusual that the electric scoreboard was unable to illuminate the number "10", and showed her score as "1.0". Comaneci went on to win six more perfect scores during the games!

From Quiz Have You Heard The News?

Answer: Edward R. Murrow

Edward R. Murrow was a WWII correspondent based in London. He started with CBS in the 1930's and remained with the network throughout his entire career. At the end of one 1940 broadcast Murrow ended his segment with "good night, and good luck". It became his catch phrase. He was initially skeptical of television news reporting. As the 1950s began, Murrow began appearing on CBS Television in editorial trailers on the "CBS Evening News" and doing coverage of special events. Murrow's last major TV milestone was reporting the "CBS Reports" installment "Harvest of Shame", a report on the plight of migrant farm workers. Bob Trout was an early NBC and CBS anchor. Journalist William L. Shirer was an early contemporary of Murrow's. Journalist Crocker Snow, Jr. was named director of the Murrow Center in 2005.

From Quiz American Broadcast TV News Anchors

Answer: Deborah Norville

Deborah Norville had just inherited the "Today" show's co-anchor crown from the recently-retired Jane Pauley when she became pregnant with her first child. Already the focus of criticism from viewers who missed Ms. Pauley and saw her replacement as a youthful opportunist, Ms. Norville further complicated the situation by allowing herself to be photographed breast-feeding her newborn son. She was relieved of her "Today" show duties soon after, although, subsequently, she was able to rebuild her career as a featured reporter on the same network.

From Quiz Have You Heard The News?

Answer: Charles Collingwood

Collingwood was a Rhodes Scholar who resigned from a teaching position to work with Edward R. Murrow during WWII. Collingwood reported directly from Omaha Beach during the D-Day invasion. It was Collingwood who replaced Walter Cronkite when President Kennedy was assassinated after Cronkite was overcome with emotion. Collingwood at times also served as a "CBS Evening News" substitute anchor. He was also a Vietnam War correspondent and anchored Jackie Kennedy's 1962 White House televised tours. Charles Kuralt hosted the long-running "On The Road" CBS TV series. Eric Sevaraid was also one of Murrow's war correspondents. From 1964 until he retired from CBS in 1977 he did a segment on the "CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite".

From Quiz Have You Heard The News?

Answer: Ruben Salazar

Salazar was the News Director for the Spanish language television station KMEX in Los Angeles. On August 29, 1970, he was covering the National Chicano Moratorium March protesting the disproportionate number of Chicanos being killed in Vietnam. The rally was broken up by the L. A. County Sheriffs Department using tear gas. Salazar was shot in the head at close range with a tear gas projectile while seated in a bar. The shooting was ruled a homicide, but the police officer involved was never prosecuted. George Polk was a CBS journalist who disappeared in Greece in May, 1948, and was found dead a few days later shot in the back of the head. Walter Jacobson is a Chicago television news personality and former anchor. Terry Moran often anchored "World News", "Nightline", and other ABC News broadcasts.

From Quiz American Broadcast TV News Anchors

Answer: Tom Brokaw

During the anthrax scare following 9/11, a tainted letters arrived at Tom Brokaw's office, creating a nightmare situation for one of his employees who was thought to have been infected. Fortunately, she hadn't been, but Mr. Brokaw's anger surfaced during a TV interview when he fought back tears while denouncing the cruelty and cowardice of the person who sent the poisoned letter.

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