Looking Ahead to 'Highway 50' with Tom Brokaw on USA Network by Reg Seeton
When
it comes to responsible, hard-hitting journalism
with integrity, former long-running NBC Nightly
News anchor, Tom Brokaw, is one of the most prolific
news men in television history. After retiring
in 2004 from the Nightly News desk, Brokaw has
remained an active participant in NBC news, producing
and hosting various specials and documentaries
that have taken Americans on deeper journeys into
some of today's most relevant, ongoing socio-political
issues that affect the United States and its citizens.
In many ways, Tom Brokaw has become the Jimmy
Carter of the news world since he's been so busy
in his retirement. Since many of his documentary
explorations have been of deeper significance
than his days at the news desk, Tom Brokaw has
also selectively been on the scene to cover major
events like the campaign and inauguration of Barack
Obama while filling in as host of the long-runnung
Meet the Press after the untimely death of the
beloved Tim Russert.
Now Tom Brokaw is jumping back into relevant socio-political news territory with USA Network for the documentary series Highway 50: A Road Trip Across America as part of USA's new Character Project, which will air as a one-hour primetime special in January 2010 for the one-year anniversary of President Barack Obama's induction into the White House. As part of the USA Character project, Brokaw will journey along Highway 50 that stretches from Maryland to California to focus on the lives of average Americans while listening and learning first-hand how the economy, politics, and the Obama culture is affecting their daily routines and outlook for the future. Working in conjunction with NBC, in which some of the Highway 50 segments will be aired throughout NBC news, Brokaw and Highway 50: A Road Trip Across America will spotlight how average Americans are being impacted by the social changes and policies surrounding education, race, the fall of the economy, big business, and gun control as related to the Obama adiministration.
The news of Highway 50 comes on the heels of the USA Network announcement of the March 17 released American Character: A Photographic Journey, a book of informative photographs by the top photographers in the U.S. specially ordered by the network with a foreward by Tom Brokaw. American Character: A Photographic Journey also highlights the lives of average Americans as characters, from musicians and artists to farmers and fishermen, in a different medium than Highway 50.
Immediately
following Tom Brokaw's official announcement
of Highway 50:A Road Trip Across America on
the Today Show, TheDeadbolt was invited to take
part in a conference call with legendary news
man Tom Brokaw to ask a couple of questions
about the upcoming 2010 USA project. More significantly,
even through our brief time with Tom Brokaw,
we got to learn more about his participation
in Highway 50, how the docu-series may help
Americans find a new way of looking at themselves,
how he views the mainstream media as a character,
and what he believes the average U.S. character
needs from the political figures within the
nation's capital. Here's a look at our brief
time with Tom on the call.
THE DEADBOLT: In what ways do you think Highway 50 will help Americans rediscover a sense of identity?
TOM BROKAW: I don’t know. I don’t want to get into the business of predicting that. I do think, and based on my own personal experiences as I go around the country, that people want to be heard and want to be in on this dialogue at a time when we are recasting ourselves, in effect, in this country and they have something to say. And I would think that one community will learn from another, that one business will learn from another, that one worker will learn from another. There’s a lot of innovation that is responding to the conditions that now exist and what we hope to do is kind of knit all of that together, as it were.
THE DEADBOLT: In taking on a project like Highway 50, what is your view of the press as a character in America’s future?
BROKAW: [laughs] I’m more worried about the future of American press, period, in its print and even in some of its electronic forms. But what I do think, and I said this earlier, I think we get so concentrated on the top that we don’t pay enough attention to what’s going on out across the country.
I remember when I was a White House correspondent during Watergate, one of the most useful things I would do is get the heck out of the White House and go out to traditional Republican districts to take the measure of how Nixon was doing there and hear the voices. So I got beyond the normal back and forth that would go on at the Washington Press Club and hear coffee clutches in small towns - Republican businessmen gathered and were beginning to have some real doubts about Nixon and what he was saying and whether is was true or not. That was very useful to me.
THE DEADBOLT: What do you believe that Americans need from Washington at a time like this?
BROKAW:
What I think, as much as anything, is straight
answers. I think a lot of the anxieties that
exist out there right now - and a lot of people
who are holding their bank accounts tight, and
there’s some manifestation of some real anxiety
- is that almost everything they’ve been told
over the last nine months to a year has turned
out not to be true.
You know, we were supposed to be at the end of the worst Wall Street after Bear Sterns. Not true. Hank Paulson - and he believed at the time, and with good reason - said that he thought that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could survive in their current form. During the Beijing Olympics I had him on Meet the Press and ten days later they were going down, fast.
So this is an unusual time, it’s all happening at warp speed. It’s complicated and I think what people need at the moment, or want is straight talk. And I think Obama has been pretty skilled up to this point, but Tim Geithner said last night on Charlie Rose, expectations are outrunning reality at this point .
For more on the new Character Project series, travel along the roads of the web and turn left at the sign that reads USA Network.
The Market has a Target Date  June 9th  2010.
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 The building will accommodate 30 Vendors very comfortably , leaving ample space for pedestrian
traffic.
We have two (2) public restrooms.
The John Wayne Parking Lot provides an open air exposure to traffic on Main/highway 24.
 E-Avenue leads to City Hall through the Business District.
The Limon Community Farmer's Market,941 Main is located in the Middle of the High Plains of Colorado.
 The towns include an area of 65 to 75 Miles, that are cumulative in population.
Off street parking at the back of the property, including side streets make the location easy to approach.
 We look forward to a great year.
 We promise a large number of Happy People will attend the Farmer's Market in Limon Colorado.
Mark
January 18, 2010 - 19:48
Subject: Jan 18th episode
I just got done watching the segment on the lady in Ferney, Nv. She stated she has a $1400.00+ a month mortgage payment. The segment did not say if this was a 15 yr or 30 year mortgage. Although the house looks very nice, I still find it diffucult to believe that the house is worth that much. I did some quick calculations and if the payments are as much as she stated for a 30yr loan the purchace price must have been in the mid to upper $300K range. I don't think that house should be appraised at that high rate. I feel for her family and the many others accross the nation that have lost jobs and are in the process of lossing homes. There just seemed to be a lot of questions reguarding the story. Something does not add up.
Bill Harvey – Dallas,TX (Coppell)
January 12, 2010 - 23:31
Subject: 25 yr homeowner now in Foreclosure with a FEB 2010 sale date
Howdy Tom-
My name is Bill Harvey from Dallas,TX ( Coppell)
If you want a "good story" regarding the huge mortgage / and sub-prime mess of this nation, I feel I am a "poster child"!
I bought my home new twenty five (25) years ago at a young age of 23. Recently, after going through this economic times, and now that I am am un-employed -my home is in foreclosure. I have tried to work with the bank ( Wells Fargo) but get nothing but a joke! These guys don't care, - but of course they say they do-
If you would like to hear my story, please give me a call
Check out hte website for The Hardest Year. ..two journalists travel across the country in an RV interviewing people and discussing life. They don't have the budget of Tom but it is still GREAT!!
roger wallace – Fallon,Nevada-hwy 50
July 07, 2009 - 21:13
Subject: hwy 50 central Nevada
Hey Tom, when you get out west, there are a number of things to check out in Churchill Co., Nevada-on hwy 50. Indian petroglphs, Navy top-gun air station, pony express stations, agate/jasper rock, and Fallon.
It would be nice if you gave notice of when you will be in our area, we could get together some folks you could talk with(instead of some producer).
Look forward to hearing your reports as you go along!
Roger Wallace MEd
Bob Guess – Sacramento, Ca.
July 01, 2009 - 18:30
Subject: Real Americans
If you want a real look at a cross-section of the people who make the U.S.A.
great, stop in for coffee at 10 am at Carl's Jr.s in La Junta, Co.
Ann Aylesworth – Bishop, Ca.
July 01, 2009 - 17:32
Subject: Awesome food in Pollock Pines, Ca.
Hi, Tom!
We travel many times from Bishop, Ca. to San Francisco to visit our 2 college students. We take Highway 50 from the S. Lake Tahoe area along the American River to Sacramento, where it meets Highway 80. In the Pollock Pines area is Dante's Italian restaurant. Owned by a family, not a franchise, they have awesome food and rely on Highway 50 traffic for survival. My daughter and I ate there just 2 nights ago and we were amazed by the menu selection, the prices being competitive to any fine dining restaurant. We were the only customers at 6pm and we were given the best service and the best meal in a long time. I recommend the Veal Scallopini! Try not to blink, you might miss it. But, if you do end up near Dante's, please stop in and check them out. They even make their own sweets.
Enjoy!
Ann
Mike Melville – Delta, Utah
June 28, 2009 - 22:53
Subject: Highway 50 the Lonelist Highway in America Art Collection
A Truly Amazing Artist from Fillmore, Utah who's name is Lloyd Brown has been working on a collection of 25 oil paintings of the beautiful scenery along Highway 50. This collection will later be shown in an Art Show in Dallas Texes. If you are interested or would like a sample let me know.
When
it comes to responsible, hard-hitting journalism
with integrity, former long-running NBC Nightly
News anchor, Tom Brokaw, is one of the most prolific
news men in television history. After retiring
in 2004 from the Nightly News desk, Brokaw has
remained an active participant in NBC news, producing
and hosting various specials and documentaries
that have taken Americans on deeper journeys into
some of today's most relevant, ongoing socio-political
issues that affect the United States and its citizens.
In many ways, Tom Brokaw has become the Jimmy
Carter of the news world since he's been so busy
in his retirement. Since many of his documentary
explorations have been of deeper significance
than his days at the news desk, Tom Brokaw has
also selectively been on the scene to cover major
events like the campaign and inauguration of Barack
Obama while filling in as host of the long-runnung
Meet the Press after the untimely death of the
beloved Tim Russert.
Immediately
following Tom Brokaw's official announcement
of Highway 50:A Road Trip Across America on
the Today Show, TheDeadbolt was invited to take
part in a conference call with legendary news
man Tom Brokaw to ask a couple of questions
about the upcoming 2010 USA project. More significantly,
even through our brief time with Tom Brokaw,
we got to learn more about his participation
in Highway 50, how the docu-series may help
Americans find a new way of looking at themselves,
how he views the mainstream media as a character,
and what he believes the average U.S. character
needs from the political figures within the
nation's capital. Here's a look at our brief
time with Tom on the call.
BROKAW:
What I think, as much as anything, is straight
answers. I think a lot of the anxieties that
exist out there right now - and a lot of people
who are holding their bank accounts tight, and
there’s some manifestation of some real anxiety
- is that almost everything they’ve been told
over the last nine months to a year has turned
out not to be true.