Name N. Burkett | Role Correspondent | |
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Full Name Newton Jones Burkett, III Similar People Michelle Charlesworth, Lee Goldberg, Lisa Colagrossi, David Novarro, Sandra Bookman Profiles | ||
NJ Burkett takes the Ice Bucket Challenge
Newton Jones Burkett, III (born May 6, 1962), known as N.J. Burkett, is a correspondent for WABC-TV, the largest ABC television station in the United States. He joined the Eyewitness News team in July 1989 from WFSB-TV in Hartford, Connecticut where he had been a correspondent since 1986.
Burkett grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey, though he describes the choice to use the initials "N.J." as arising from the efforts of his agent and a station president to make him seem less "aristocratic" and not a tribute to his home state. He graduated from Elizabeth High School with the class of 1980 and attended Columbia University.
Burkett is best known for his coverage of the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001, for which he shared or was awarded-outright many prestigious honors including the George Foster Peabody Award, the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, the Edward R. Murrow Award and the Emmy Award for Outstanding On-Camera Achievement from the New York Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. He holds a BA in Political Science and a Master's in International Affairs, both from Columbia University.
In June 2016, Burkett was elected First Vice Chairman of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences by the academy's Board of Trustees. He served on the academy's Executive Committee from 2014–2016 and as President of the academy's New York Chapter from 2011–2015.
