Martin Agronsky

Martin Agronsky (12 January 1915 — 1999) was an American journalist and host of the television program Agronsky & Company.

Early years

Agronsky was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 12, 1915. He moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey as a young child and graduated from Atlantic City High School in 1932 and from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in 1936.

Years as a correspondent

In 1936, Agronsky became a reporter for the Palestine Post, precursor to today's Jerusalem Post, which had been founded by his uncle, Gershon Agron. In 1937 he left the newspaper to become a freelance journalist. During this period he covered the Last day's of " The illfated " League of Nations " , the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939. During his time in Europe he freelanced for various American , British and other newspapers and various wire sevices around the world including a freelance piece he did for " Foreign Affairs " magazine on The Rise of Anti-Semitism in Mussilini's Italy. In 1940 Max Jordan the NBC Bureau Chief for all of Europe was Scrambling to put together an NBC presence Throughout Europe to cover Hitler's War in the Balkan's with Britain . Max Jordan Tapped Agronsky to be the NBC Bureau chief in the Balkins. At First agronsky covered the war from all over the Balkins and much of Eastern Europe . Eventually , Agronsky Opened a Permanent NBC Bureau in Ankara the Capital of A Neutral Turkey . Although based in Ankara , Agronsky Spent most of his time in Istanbul A city over flowing with intrigue . In Europe and North Africa Agronsky became a foreign correspondent for NBC, providing coverage of World War II from the Balkans and Eastern Europe . Eventually Agronsky was transferred to Cairo , Egypt and accredited to cover the British 8TH Army Group in North Africa. When Pearl Harbor was bombed by Japan on December 7, 1941 Agronsky was sent to Australia . His journey to Australia to cover General Douglas Macarthur's arrival in Melbourne from Corrigador took several months and took him Country hopping . Agronsky arrived in Singapore as the city was being bombed into submission by the Japanese air force while the Japanese Army began Circling the city with Ground troops . After a week in Singapore , Agronsky was lucky to literally catch one of the last plane's out of Singapore , a Dutch Air Mail Plane . In 1943 NBC consisted of The Blue and the Red Networks . NBC was forced to spin of one of the Networks which became ABC and Agronsky went with the new network becamming a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent for ABC Doing " The Daily War Journal " until the end of WW11 . In 1948 he helped to pioneer television coverage of American political conventions in 1948. He also covered the hearings on purported communist infiltration of the United States chaired by Senator Joseph McCarthy. Agronsky also did a one on one interview show on television at ABC entitled " At Issue " In 1957, he returned to NBC, again as a correspondent and from 1957 through 1964 starting with the " Dave Garroway hosted " Today Show " he did all the interviews out of Washington during that time for the " Today Show " . In addition , he did another One on one interview show entitled " Look Here " Where He interviewed amongst others the Sen. John Kennedy and a young up and comming Martin Luther King Jr. interviewed Martin Luther King, Jr that year. He covered the trial for eight months from start to finish of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Israel in 1961. An interview with Texas Governor John Connally Agronsky conducted on November 27, 1963, five days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in the car Connally had been riding in, was widely considered a great success by his fellow journalists.

CBS Paris Bureau Chief From March 1965 to September 1965== Face the Nation Moderator September 1965- December 1968

 After several months at the CBS Washington Bureau Agronsky was named " The CBS Bureau Chief " in Paris . After six months As CBS beaureau chief in Paris CBS recalled Agronsky from Paris and made him the new Moderator of " Face The Nation " in Washington . He was the " CBS Bureau Chief " in Paris From March to September 1965 ! Agronsky was recalled from Paris to become the Moderator of " Face The Nation " from September 1965 Through December 1968 Doing the show from both Washington and Around the World .
         

==Agronsky & Company== " Matin Agronsky's : Evening Edition "== " Agronsky At Large " Agronsky became a news anchor for WTOP-TV in Washington, D.C., in 1969, but in the same year became host of the political discussion television program Agronsky & Company, produced by the Washington, D.C local CBS affiliate WTOP where agronsky anchored the one hour " Big News " Agronsky introduced a short segment on the news with Political Reporters . Shortly afterwards , Agronsky left the evening local news and , " Agronsky & Company " became a stand alone weekly show of its own produced and syndicated by " Post Newsweek Stations ( owner of WTOP ) The show was syndicated nationally by Post Newsweek to local and National Stations including those of the PBS station's Nationally including WETA in Washington. He hosted the show until he retired in January 1988, and it proved to be one of the biggest successes of his career.^[1]

The show generally is credited as having invented the now-common roundtable discussion format for public affairs and political television shows which feature prominent journalists discussing current events and offering their opinions about them, although Agronsky & Company always maintained a low key and never involved the loud arguments and shouting that came to characterize many of its imitators that came along later. Its regular panelists included Hugh Sidey of Time magazine, Peter Lisagor of the Chicago Daily News, and columnists Carl Rowan, James J. Kilpatrick, Elizabeth Drew, and George Will, and although some of the liberal-vs.-conservative argumentation now common on American public affairs shows began with pointed arguments between Agronsky & Company panelists, Agronsky always exerted a calming influence. The show was held in generally high regard; Senator Edward Kennedy once said, "Everybody who is in public life watches Agronsky.".^[2] In a celebrated essay for The New Republic in 1981, liberal pundit Michael Kinsley lampooned the program as "Jerkofsky and Company." After Agronsky's retirement, journalist Gordon Peterson took over the show and, renamed Inside Washington, it continues to air today with the same low-key format.

In addition to doing " Agronsky & Company " once a week , Agronsky started doing on PBS, Martin Agronsky's : Evening Edition , a five night a week interview show that ran Monday through Friday at 7:30 P.M. which had the good luck of coinciding with the 1972 Presidential Campaign that saw the re-election of Richard Nixon as President ,the Watergate break in , the subsequent Senate Watergate hearings and the ultimate Resignation of Richard Nixon from his Presidency . After " Evening Edition " ended toward the end of 1975 , Agronsky at Large" , a once a week hour long one on one interview show Ran on PBS throughout 1976 .

Awards

Agronsky received the George Foster Peabody Award in 1952 for his coverage of the McCarthy hearings for ABC. In 1961 he received the Alfred I. DuPont Award for his reporting on the trial of Adolph Eichmann, also while at NBC. He received the Emmy Award while at CBS in 1968 for his one hour interview , the first TV interview granted by Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black . He also won the " Venice Film Festival Award for his one hour documentory " , The first such award Granted to a news documentory entitled , " Polaris , Journal of an Under Sea Voyage " about a three week undersea voyage aboard the " SS Geaorge Washington " one of the first U.S. nuclear submarine's based out of Holylocke , Scotland . Agronsky was also the recipient of many other Journalism Awards throughout his over fifty year journalism career

Personal life

Agronsky married Helen Smathers, a United States Army nurse whom he met while covering General Douglas Macarthur in Melbourne, Australia in 1942. Agronsky returned to the U.S. in March of 1943 whereupon he expedited Lt. Smathers' return to the States where they were married in Baltimore, Maryland at City Hall, grabbing a stranger off the street to be their best man. They went on to have four children, Marcia, Jonathan, David and Julie, four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. The marriage ended with her death in 1969. Agronsky then married Sharon Hines in 1971; the marriage produced one child, Rachel.

Death

Martin Agronsky died at his Rock Creek Park home in Washington , D.C. on July 25, 1999 of congestive heart failure at age 84. During his 52 year Journalism career , Print from 1936 to 1940 and Radio and Television from 1940 to 1988 , Agronsky is believed to be the only Broadcast Journalist / commentator To have worked For all three American Commercial Networks , NBC Twice ,as a War Correspondant for NBC Radio from ,1940-1943 and For NBC Radio and Television from 1957 through 1964 . ABC Radio and Television Correspondant both in the U.S and Overseas from 1943-1957 . CBS Radio and Television from Early 1964-1968 both in the U.S. and Overseas . Syndication by Post Newsweek stations of " Agronsky & Company " from 1969 to 1988 and PBS from 1971-1976 both here and overseas .

Biographical chronology

Date	Event
1915, Jan. 12	Born, Philadelphia, Pa.
1936	B.A., Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.
1936-1937	Reporter, Palestine Post
1937-1940	Freelance newspaper reporter
1940-1943	Foreign correspondent, National Broadcasting Co.
1943	Married Helen Smathers (died 1969)
1943-1957	Correspondent, American Broadcasting Co., Washington, D.C.
1952	Awarded George Foster Peabody Award
1957-1964	Correspondent, National Broadcasting Co.
1961	Awarded Alfred I. DuPont Award
1964-1968	Bureau chief, Paris, France, and moderator of Face the Nation, Columbia Broadcasting System
1968	Received Emmy Award
1969	News anchor, WTOP-TV, Washington, D.C.
1969-1988	Host, Agronsky and Company, WETA-TV, Washington, D.C.
1971-1975	Host, Martin Agronsky's Evening Edition and Agronsky at Large, Public Broadcasting System
1999, July 25	Died, Washington, D.C.

References

1. ^ {{Citation . In 1971 in addition to doing Agronsky & Company once a week Agronsky Started doing a five night a week half hour interview show entitled " Martin Agronsky's : Evening Addition " which became the show to watch during the " Watergate " scandal and was taped live out of WETA's studio in Shirlington , Virginia nearby the landmark " Weenie Beanie " . Evening Edition had the good fortune of airing nightly before , during and after the Watergate break in which led ultimately to the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon on August 9th ,1974. Evening Edition went of the air in late 1975 ! Agronsky then did a one hour interview show weekly on PBS during 1976 entitled " Agronsky At Large " where he interviewed various American's in Government and the private sector such as Alfred Hitchcock and various European leaders in addition to "Anwar Sadat " of Egypt shortly before his assasination in Egypt . | title = One of the Originalsted Agronsky & Company for the five Post Newsweek stations | url = http://www.ajr.org/Article.asp?id=3208 | year = 1999 | author = Robertson, Lori | journal = American Journalism Review | issue = September 1999 | accessdate = 2009-10-23 }}
2. ^ AP: The Washington Post (July 26, 1999). "Martin Agronsky, TV Commentator, Dies". Seattle Times. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19990726&slug=2973904. Retrieved 2009-10-23. 

External links

• One of the Originals
• Internet Movie Database Agronsky & Co.
• NNDB Martin Agronsky
• King Interview 1
• King Interview 2
• King Interview 3
• King Interview 4

Preceded by Paul Niven

Face the Nation Moderator July 11, 1965 – May 26, 1968

Succeeded by George Herman

Persondata
Name	Agronsky, Martin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	January 12, 1915
Place of birth
Date of death	1999
Place of death