David Ushery
Encyclopedia
David Ushery is a veteran American television news anchor at WNBC
News 4 New York, NBC
’s flagship owned and operated station. Ushery co-anchors the weekend 6pm and 11pm broadcasts, and is the primary fill-in anchor for WNBC
’s weekday evening newscasts.
Ushery is also the creator and anchor of “The Debrief with David Ushery,” which airs on WNBC and the station’s New York Nonstop cable channel, as well as co-host of “Moms and the City and a Dad named David,” airing on New York Nonstop
.
Considered “a standout at the company—and in this market,” as well as an anchor willing to venture into uncharted territory and create innovative programming, the award-winning Ushery has been a trusted and respected journalist in New York City since 1993. He has also been lauded for his volunteer work and commitment to community.
, the only child of Solomon Ushery and Winifred Ushery. The journalism bug bit early.
At age 11, Ushery was selected from a state-wide search to host the local edition of “Kidsworld,” a nationally syndicated television show. One of his early interviews was with the late Walter Cronkite
, the former CBS
News anchor once ranked as the most trusted man in America. In what could be considered a prescient scene from that interview, young Ushery sits at the anchor desk. He asked Cronkite, “What kind of person should be a newscaster?”
Cronkite responded that a person should have a sense of curiosity. Ushery has said of the interview: “Many have asked if I think that's when the seed was planted for me to become a television reporter and anchor. I say, YES.” Connecticut audiences would see Ushery grow up on television. He hosted “Kidsworld” until he was 18.
Ushery graduated from the University of Connecticut
with a double-major in Political Science and Journalism. While at the university he was a staff writer for the Hartford Courant newspaper
, where he honed his skills for covering local politics and events. He also reported for the Los Angeles Times
. The CBS affiliate in Hartford, WFSB-TV, hired Ushery right after his graduation for its training program. But recognizing his talent, the station offered him a full-time general assignment reporting position within just a matter of months.
’s 11pm broadcast, Ushery covered many stories impacting the every day lives of the citizens of Connecticut
’s capital city. But one of these stories made an indelible impression on Ushery: the night he and his photographer spent with residents of New Britain who were being terrorized by arsonists. Within two years of starting at the station, Ushery traveled to Moscow
after the fall of the Soviet Union
for a story on policing. The overseas trip would become the first of many in Ushery’s career, as news directors recognized his talent for covering international stories.
In 1993, at the age of 25, Ushery was recruited by WABC-TV
in New York City
to join its staff as a general assignment reporter, covering news for the number one station in the top market in the nation.
Since then, Ushery has been a familiar face to New York City viewers reporting on the city’s tragedies and triumphs.
He was part of the station’s coverage of the police investigations into the shooting death of Amadou Diallo
and the torture of Abner Louima
, the deaths of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
and John F. Kennedy, Jr. and September 11th terrorist attacks. He was on the team of reporters for WABC’s extended coverage of the celebrations for the Yankees World Series wins and the installation of Edward Cardinal Egan to lead New York City’s Archdiocese.
WABC also sent Ushery on the road to cover world events including multiple reports from Haiti on the island’s political unrest, Pope John Paul II’s visits to Africa and Toronto, and the United Nation’s conference on racism in South Africa.
Three years after arriving at WABC, Ushery was named anchor of a new weekend show, “Eyewitness News This Morning.” He also anchored the weekday morning newscasts and the news at noon. Ushery was later named primary fill-in for the legendary anchor, the late Bill Beutel. Ushery spent 10 years at WABC.
In 2003, he joined WNBC-TV to become the anchor of its highly-rated morning newscast, "Weekend Today in New York." The show's format of hard news and features, interviews and sports, allowed Ushery to display his versatility as a newsman. One year later, Ushery was also named anchor of WNBC
's weekend 6pm and 11pm newscasts. These simultaneous appointments made Ushery in effect "the face" of WNBC during the weekend, anchoring all the station's morning and evening newscasts on Saturday and Sunday.
In 2006, Ushery was named co-anchor of WNBC's iconic "Live at 5" program, alongside legendary anchor Sue Simmons. After a change of programming, Ushery returned to anchor the weekend broadcasts for "News 4 New York."
As an anchor at WNBC, he has steered coverage of some of the most memorable events in recent memory including the "Miracle on the Hudson," the emergency landing of US Air Flight 1549 in the Hudson River, and the 2008 Presidential election of Barack Obama
.
Ushery has also represented NBC Universal
in national initiatives. He hosted the network's special program on its switch to digital in 2009 , as well as "Going Green at Any Age," which examined ways to help the environment.
In 2009, Ushery conceived and launched “The Debrief with David Ushery,” which has been called a must-watch program
that was nominated for a 2011 Emmy Award
. The weekly, half-hour broadcast gives viewers a unique perspective on important current events. According to the show’s opening lines, “Eight million stories in the naked city. And chances are you can only keep up with a fraction of them during your hectic day. Give us just a few minutes then to bring you up to speed on What New Yorkers are talking about.”
Ushery takes a high-energy, unscripted approach for his interviews with reporters and newsmakers. Viewers are meant to feel part of the conversation about major stories. The show has garnered attention and praise for breaking boundaries and challenging long-held tenets of being an anchor. In “The Debrief,” Ushery doesn’t sit behind an anchor desk but rather moves freely around the News 4 newsroom, giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the operation. He also often goes tie-less, an informal look he sometimes wears when he anchors the more traditional evening newscasts . Ushery was noted for boldly venturing into uncharted territory for not wearing a tie.
The no tie-look also caught the attention of other media, including the New York Times and NBC “Nightly News” Anchor Brian Williams
, who during a holiday television appearance with Ushery joked that viewers should consider giving Ushery a necktie. Even New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg joined in the fun. At the annual Gracie Mansion
holiday party for the press in December 2010 Mayor Bloomberg called Ushery to the podium saying he “was really excited by ‘The Debrief,’ your new show about New York.” The Mayor also remarked that Ushery seemed a “little underdressed.” The Mayor whipped off his own tie and presented it to Ushery as a gift.
In 2010, after a “Debrief” segment featuring blogging New York City mothers, Ushery developed and launched a spin-off program. “Moms and the City and a Dad named David,” features Ushery and three mothers offering a straight-forward look at life in the city from a parent’s point of view. Ushery has said the fourth mother on the program is New York City. The program airs on WNBC’s New York Nonstop cable channel.
In 1993, he won an award from the National Association of Black Journalists
for his series of reports on children and violence.
In 1999, The Network Journal, the Black Professionals and Small Business Magazine, named Ushery as one of its “40 Under-Forty” for his significant accomplishments. In 2000, the Israeli Consulate in New York City honored Ushery for his dedicated reporting. And in 2010, Ushery was honored as a recipient of McDonald’s Faces of Black History Award.
WNBC
WNBC, virtual channel 4 , is the flagship station of the NBC television network, located in New York City. WNBC's studios are co-located with NBC corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan...
News 4 New York, NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
’s flagship owned and operated station. Ushery co-anchors the weekend 6pm and 11pm broadcasts, and is the primary fill-in anchor for WNBC
WNBC
WNBC, virtual channel 4 , is the flagship station of the NBC television network, located in New York City. WNBC's studios are co-located with NBC corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan...
’s weekday evening newscasts.
Ushery is also the creator and anchor of “The Debrief with David Ushery,” which airs on WNBC and the station’s New York Nonstop cable channel, as well as co-host of “Moms and the City and a Dad named David,” airing on New York Nonstop
New York Nonstop
WNBC-DT2 is a 24-hour entertainment-oriented news service broadcasting on a digital television subchannel of WNBC in New York City...
.
Considered “a standout at the company—and in this market,” as well as an anchor willing to venture into uncharted territory and create innovative programming, the award-winning Ushery has been a trusted and respected journalist in New York City since 1993. He has also been lauded for his volunteer work and commitment to community.
Early Life
Ushery was born and raised in Bloomfield, ConnecticutBloomfield, Connecticut
Bloomfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,626 at the 2009 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and 0.2 square miles is water.Bloomfield is bordered by Windsor to the...
, the only child of Solomon Ushery and Winifred Ushery. The journalism bug bit early.
At age 11, Ushery was selected from a state-wide search to host the local edition of “Kidsworld,” a nationally syndicated television show. One of his early interviews was with the late Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
, the former CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
News anchor once ranked as the most trusted man in America. In what could be considered a prescient scene from that interview, young Ushery sits at the anchor desk. He asked Cronkite, “What kind of person should be a newscaster?”
Cronkite responded that a person should have a sense of curiosity. Ushery has said of the interview: “Many have asked if I think that's when the seed was planted for me to become a television reporter and anchor. I say, YES.” Connecticut audiences would see Ushery grow up on television. He hosted “Kidsworld” until he was 18.
Ushery graduated from the University of Connecticut
University of Connecticut
The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...
with a double-major in Political Science and Journalism. While at the university he was a staff writer for the Hartford Courant newspaper
, where he honed his skills for covering local politics and events. He also reported for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
. The CBS affiliate in Hartford, WFSB-TV, hired Ushery right after his graduation for its training program. But recognizing his talent, the station offered him a full-time general assignment reporting position within just a matter of months.
Career
As the lead reporter for WFSBWFSB
'WFSB, channel 3, is a CBS-affiliated television station located in Hartford, Connecticut, USA, owned by the Meredith Corporation. WFSB's studios and offices are located in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, and its broadcast transmitter is based on Talcott Mountain in Avon, Connecticut. Syndicated...
’s 11pm broadcast, Ushery covered many stories impacting the every day lives of the citizens of Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
’s capital city. But one of these stories made an indelible impression on Ushery: the night he and his photographer spent with residents of New Britain who were being terrorized by arsonists. Within two years of starting at the station, Ushery traveled to Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
after the fall of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
for a story on policing. The overseas trip would become the first of many in Ushery’s career, as news directors recognized his talent for covering international stories.
In 1993, at the age of 25, Ushery was recruited by WABC-TV
WABC-TV
WABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to join its staff as a general assignment reporter, covering news for the number one station in the top market in the nation.
Since then, Ushery has been a familiar face to New York City viewers reporting on the city’s tragedies and triumphs.
He was part of the station’s coverage of the police investigations into the shooting death of Amadou Diallo
Amadou Diallo
Amadou Diallo was a 23-year-old Guinean immigrant in New York City who was shot and killed on February 4, 1999 by four New York City Police Department plain-clothed officers: Sean Carroll, Richard Murphy, Edward McMellon and Kenneth Boss. The four officers fired a total of 41 shots...
and the torture of Abner Louima
Abner Louima
Abner Louima is a Haitian who was assaulted, brutalized and forcibly sodomized with the handle of a bathroom plunger by New York City police officers after being arrested outside a Brooklyn nightclub in 1997....
, the deaths of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Bouvier "Jackie" Kennedy Onassis was the wife of the 35th President of the United States, John F. Kennedy, and served as First Lady of the United States during his presidency from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. Five years later she married Greek shipping magnate Aristotle...
and John F. Kennedy, Jr. and September 11th terrorist attacks. He was on the team of reporters for WABC’s extended coverage of the celebrations for the Yankees World Series wins and the installation of Edward Cardinal Egan to lead New York City’s Archdiocese.
WABC also sent Ushery on the road to cover world events including multiple reports from Haiti on the island’s political unrest, Pope John Paul II’s visits to Africa and Toronto, and the United Nation’s conference on racism in South Africa.
Three years after arriving at WABC, Ushery was named anchor of a new weekend show, “Eyewitness News This Morning.” He also anchored the weekday morning newscasts and the news at noon. Ushery was later named primary fill-in for the legendary anchor, the late Bill Beutel. Ushery spent 10 years at WABC.
In 2003, he joined WNBC-TV to become the anchor of its highly-rated morning newscast, "Weekend Today in New York." The show's format of hard news and features, interviews and sports, allowed Ushery to display his versatility as a newsman. One year later, Ushery was also named anchor of WNBC
WNBC
WNBC, virtual channel 4 , is the flagship station of the NBC television network, located in New York City. WNBC's studios are co-located with NBC corporate headquarters at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in midtown Manhattan...
's weekend 6pm and 11pm newscasts. These simultaneous appointments made Ushery in effect "the face" of WNBC during the weekend, anchoring all the station's morning and evening newscasts on Saturday and Sunday.
In 2006, Ushery was named co-anchor of WNBC's iconic "Live at 5" program, alongside legendary anchor Sue Simmons. After a change of programming, Ushery returned to anchor the weekend broadcasts for "News 4 New York."
As an anchor at WNBC, he has steered coverage of some of the most memorable events in recent memory including the "Miracle on the Hudson," the emergency landing of US Air Flight 1549 in the Hudson River, and the 2008 Presidential election of Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
.
Ushery has also represented NBC Universal
NBC Universal
NBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media and entertainment company engaged in the production and marketing of entertainment, news, and information products and services to a global customer base...
in national initiatives. He hosted the network's special program on its switch to digital in 2009 , as well as "Going Green at Any Age," which examined ways to help the environment.
In 2009, Ushery conceived and launched “The Debrief with David Ushery,” which has been called a must-watch program
that was nominated for a 2011 Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
. The weekly, half-hour broadcast gives viewers a unique perspective on important current events. According to the show’s opening lines, “Eight million stories in the naked city. And chances are you can only keep up with a fraction of them during your hectic day. Give us just a few minutes then to bring you up to speed on What New Yorkers are talking about.”
Ushery takes a high-energy, unscripted approach for his interviews with reporters and newsmakers. Viewers are meant to feel part of the conversation about major stories. The show has garnered attention and praise for breaking boundaries and challenging long-held tenets of being an anchor. In “The Debrief,” Ushery doesn’t sit behind an anchor desk but rather moves freely around the News 4 newsroom, giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the operation. He also often goes tie-less, an informal look he sometimes wears when he anchors the more traditional evening newscasts . Ushery was noted for boldly venturing into uncharted territory for not wearing a tie.
The no tie-look also caught the attention of other media, including the New York Times and NBC “Nightly News” Anchor Brian Williams
Brian Williams
Brian Douglas Williams is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004...
, who during a holiday television appearance with Ushery joked that viewers should consider giving Ushery a necktie. Even New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg joined in the fun. At the annual Gracie Mansion
Gracie Mansion
thumb|250px|Western sideGracie Mansion is the official residence of the mayor of the City of New York. Built in 1799, it is located in Carl Schurz Park, at East End Avenue and Eighty-eighth Street in Manhattan...
holiday party for the press in December 2010 Mayor Bloomberg called Ushery to the podium saying he “was really excited by ‘The Debrief,’ your new show about New York.” The Mayor also remarked that Ushery seemed a “little underdressed.” The Mayor whipped off his own tie and presented it to Ushery as a gift.
In 2010, after a “Debrief” segment featuring blogging New York City mothers, Ushery developed and launched a spin-off program. “Moms and the City and a Dad named David,” features Ushery and three mothers offering a straight-forward look at life in the city from a parent’s point of view. Ushery has said the fourth mother on the program is New York City. The program airs on WNBC’s New York Nonstop cable channel.
Awards & Honors
During his long career in New York City, Ushery has been recognized for his contributions to the community.In 1993, he won an award from the National Association of Black Journalists
National Association of Black Journalists
The National Association of Black Journalists is an organization of African American journalists, students, and media professionals. Founded in 1975 in Washington, D.C...
for his series of reports on children and violence.
In 1999, The Network Journal, the Black Professionals and Small Business Magazine, named Ushery as one of its “40 Under-Forty” for his significant accomplishments. In 2000, the Israeli Consulate in New York City honored Ushery for his dedicated reporting. And in 2010, Ushery was honored as a recipient of McDonald’s Faces of Black History Award.