N.J. Burkett (Newton Jones Burkett)

Background

Newton Jones Burkett was born on May 6, 1962, in Orange, New Jersey, United States, and was raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey. His father, Newton Jones Burkett Jr., was a civil-rights activist and Elizabeth public servant who helped establish local civil-rights organizations. His mother was Barbara R. Alley Burkett.

Burkett developed his professional identity under the initials N.J. Burkett, a name widely used in his television career. He entered journalism during a period when local television news was expanding its emphasis on live reporting, field correspondence, and international coverage.

Education

Burkett graduated from Elizabeth High School in 1980. The school serves Elizabeth, one of New Jersey's major urban communities and a historically important industrial city in the New York metropolitan region.

He received a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Columbia University in 1984 and a master's degree in international affairs in 1985. Columbia University, founded in 1754 in New York City, is a major research institution whose programs in political science and international affairs place study of government, diplomacy, and global affairs within a broad liberal-arts and social-science tradition.

Career

Burkett began his television career as a newswriter at Wnew-TV in New York City from 1983 to 1985. Wnew-TV, now known as WNYW, was a major New York television station whose news operation served one of the largest and most competitive broadcast markets in the United States.

He worked as a reporter for WFSB-TV in Hartford, Connecticut, from 1986 to 1989. WFSB is a CBS-affiliated station serving Connecticut's Hartford–New Haven market, where local television reporting combines regional public-affairs coverage with national network news.

Burkett joined Wabc-TV's Eyewitness News team in 1989 and became one of the station's established field correspondents. His reporting has covered war and diplomacy, crime and politics, aviation and natural disasters, race relations, police misconduct, Superstorm Sandy, the crash of TWA Flight 800, and the Sandy Hook school shooting.

His international assignments included nearly three months of reporting from Iraq during the 2003 war and its preceding military buildup. He also covered the 2004 Madrid bombings, the 2005 London bombings, the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah war in southern Lebanon, the Israeli–Hamas conflict in Gaza in 2009–2010, the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, the Palestinian uprising during assignments from 2000 to 2004, and several Israeli national elections.

On September 11, 2001, Burkett and his photographer were reporting near the World Trade Center when the South Tower collapsed. Their footage documented the collapse and its immediate aftermath and was later exhibited at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. He subsequently reported from Haiti after the 2010 earthquake and from Japan after the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident.

Burkett has also conducted investigative field reporting, including an undercover examination of New York City's men's homeless shelters. His television work has received four Emmy Awards and seventeen Emmy nominations, as well as two Edward R. Murrow Awards. He shared a George Foster Peabody Award and an Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award with ABC News colleagues for coverage of the September 11 attacks.

Achievements

• Burkett's reporting on the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks included footage of the South Tower collapse and its immediate aftermath, work that was later placed on permanent exhibit at the Newseum in Washington, D.C.

• He reported from major international crises and disasters, including the Iraq War, the Madrid and London bombings, the Israel–Hezbollah war, conflicts involving Israel and Gaza, the Haiti earthquake, and the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident in Japan.

• He conducted an undercover investigation of New York City homeless shelters by reporting from inside a men's shelter while disguised as a homeless man.

Membership

Burkett has participated in professional, civic, and recreational organizations connected with television journalism, public broadcasting, and sailing. His professional affiliations include the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and its New York Chapter, where he has held national and chapter leadership roles.

He is also associated with the New York Yacht Club, the Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, and Newark Public Radio, Inc., the nonprofit organization operating WBGO, a public radio station based in Newark.

• Served on the Board of Trustees from 2011 to 2015, on the Executive Committee from 2014 to 2018, and as First Vice Chairman from 2016 to 2018; later served as a chapter officer.

  National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, New York Chapter , United States

  2011 - present

• New York Yacht Club , United States

• Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club , United States

• Trustee of the nonprofit organization operating WBGO public radio in Newark, New Jersey.

  Newark Public Radio, Inc. , United States

Interests

• Sailing and yacht racing.

• Sport & Clubs

  Sailing and yacht racing.

Connections

Burkett married Margaret Mary Rice on August 27, 1988. They have one child, Newton Jones Burkett IV.

His father, Newton Jones Burkett Jr., was a civil-rights activist, former Elizabeth Board of Education member, and business executive. Burkett has described his father's commitment to social justice and public service as an important influence on his upbringing.

Father:

Newton Jones Burkett

Civil-rights activist, former Elizabeth Board of Education member, and business executive.

Mother:

Barbara R. (Alley) Burkett

child:

Newton Jones Burkett IV

Wife:

Margaret Mary Rice

Married Burkett on August 27, 1988.

References

• N.J. Burkett | ABC7 WABC News Team Station biography documenting Burkett's WABC-TV career, international and domestic reporting, awards, September 11 coverage, education, and full name.
• WBGO Radio Board of Trustees Institutional biography documenting Burkett's service as a WBGO trustee, WABC-TV career, awards, National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences leadership, birthplace, upbringing, and Columbia University degrees.
• About the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences New York Chapter profile documenting Burkett's chapter leadership and the purpose and history of the professional television organization.