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.
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.
Linda Adams – Dayton Nevada
June 08, 2009 - 15:18
Subject: First Gold Discovery in Dayton 1849
In July Dayton NV will be celebrating 160 of gold discovery in Nevada. We are still a "Boom & Bust" town along Hwy 50 East.
Tom I'm a member of the Historical Society of Dayton Valley. Our old town Dayton hasn't changed much since the discovery of gold.
How can our town be included on your tour of hwy 50 East. When is the deadline for applying.
Thank you for assisting us. Linda Adams, President, Historical Society of Dayton Valley.
Barb Van Brunt – Pollock Pines, CA
June 01, 2009 - 17:48
Subject: My dream trip
Your doing the trip I wanted to do, but starting in California. We moved from Bay Area to the mountains. Every trip from the Bay Area, I would see this road sign 'Ocean City, MD 3073' miles and laugh. I thought is would be a fun trip take HWY 50 all the way to Maryland. When are you getting to the west coast HWY 50 start? I know the sign well!
An allied medical professional who relieves pain and disabling conditions of the feet and lower extremities (almost always hips & back are also relieved) through footwear. We're the shoe-fitting experts of the medical community. We expanded our pedorthic facility Comfort Shoe Specialists, reopening in October 2006 in our new digs, right as the recession hit St. Louis and mid-west. It's been a TOUGH 2 years! A committed and passionate staff that helps people walk with less or no pain will always thrive and that's where we are again...see how our staff of American characters have stayed the course during these hard times to serve other American characters to our most basic form of exercise, walking. We care for clients from ages 4 to 104!
Sharon Miller
June 01, 2009 - 07:43
Subject: Incredible woman in N.C.
How about a story of a 55 yr old single woman who gets a million dollar loan to build a brand new B & B in Asheville area from the ground-up. Her life- long dream.Opens this weekend.
robert j. LeChot – Gunnison, colorado
May 31, 2009 - 20:57
Subject: tom brokaw's hwy 50 roadtrip
Hi Tom, When will you be in gunnison, colorado? I live 2 blocks from hwy 50. You will be invited for lunch/dinner.
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.