ABC News - July 1969

[vitoduval]

5:26 Sam Donaldson he should have started yelling at Nixon after Watergate

[dmine45]

Thanks for uploading. This aired 2 months before I was born. Great to see what was happening during that timeframe.

[nonix81]

Great historical video, thanks for uploading!

[jimbobubbadj]

Makes me nostalgic.

[deakon452876]

the israel would have been dead less than a year without the support of the United States. Israel is led by power greedy zionists, who only cares about Zionism and the New World order.

[lsmftymf]

Boston 6, Baltimore 5? RATS! At least the Orioles eventually won the American League pennant...but lost the World Series to the Mets.RATS AGAIN!

[matthewelync]

Peter Jennings was a stud, you are dearly missed sir.

[spacepatrolman]

@matthewelync 00:57 always mr. nice guy he sponsered jazz concerts in his house here he is saying the usual tv news pro israel propaganda too bad he started smoking again and died of cancer

[MamaMario13]

Vietnam was the worst war we ever went into

[efan2011]

ABC News needs another Frank Reynolds or another Peter Jennings. Diane Sawyer is just awful

[68lincoln]

Intelligent, straight foward, professional news broadcasting with meaningful news as the content and not celebrity gossip and scandals as in the news broadcasts of today. And look at that TV screen, corners and bottom of screen are nice and clean, free of all the logos and other garbage they clutter up in the corners and on the bottom of the screen today. I remember great news reporting in the late 1960s by Frank Reynolds, Walter Cronkite and Huntley-Brinkley and it was far better than today.

[davehutchinson67]

look how young Peter Jennings is...lol...he went too soon too.

[rleary1]

Wow, about 40 years ago & there's War in Egypt Israel. Boy, I'm sure glad these people get along now! It is nice to hear someone only 'reporting' the News. Has anyone seen that air head Contessa Brewer? God, that bitch is always inserting her stupid ass opinions in the reporting. It's horrible.

[wannawatchu66]

@rleary1 A thousand amens, brother! Don't get me started on Contessa Brewer.

[rleary1]

@wannawatchu66 Don Imus once claimed that she had a big Ass.He was fired shortly thereafer for a 'Nappy-Head' comment.David Gregory also turned on Imus.After Imus firing the following Monday Steve Kapus(NBC news Prez)received a manilla envelope from 'Cho' who murdered 30 students/teachers@Virginia Tech. Kapus pasted it all over TV & the Web (thus glorifying terrorism but not liking Nappy Heads) Contessa (horse-face) isn't even a reporter. Does she even have a Journalism degree?I don't think so.

[eekoutasignal]

@rleary1 As a matter of fact, Contessa holds a BS in Broadcast Journalism from the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, where she graduated magna cum laude.

[Onneff69]

WOW what a contrast with today! What it was like before the news division becaome part of the network's entertainment division. Even the damn *inflection* was 100% more mature - juts like the whole damned society.

[MAinsworth0375]

Back when news was news.

[endthedrugwar]

Creeps. Main Stream Media is a whore for mass murderers.

[geofbrit59]

How refreshing ! They just read the news. No opinions, no advise on how to eat, how to act, how to be safe.

Some one should do this again.

[68lincoln]

@geofbrit59 Yes, it was intelligent, straight forward reporting in those days on network TV. I agree with you that someone should do this again but now they prefer to make the news more like a silly, gossip show riddren with scandals, advice to the love lorn, telling us to stop smoking, stop drinking, stop eating LOL news broadcasts are awful today. I actually cancelled my cable TV a few years ago because it's all garbage on TV these days.

[IconOfSin24148]

What a time

Who knew that 72 would be the Great Easter Offensive in Vietnam, or how it was so heroically pushed back

Or that 73 would see the Yom Kippur War

Or 75 the Fall of Saigon. This must have been the lull before the storm

[corrupt200]

That's Peter Jennings??? He looked way different than he did before his passing....

[Zolega89]

how many t and radiso stations were in the UK at that time?

[PhuckHue2]

great times. all the women had bush, no AIDS, no comdoms. the good ole days

[Dhfalcon62]

Good response, MSTS1

[MSTS1]

@Dhfalcon62 - Thanks for that.

I periodically get a complaint about that, but this one made it personal. I guess they think these videos appear on YT by magic. Never considering the many hours of work it takes to make these available from old videotapes to the YT screen.

[Ungadewey]

@MSTS1 I for one thank you for posting these clips. This was three months before i was born, and i totaly enjoy watching such type clips for the historical perspective.

[MSTS1]

@Ungadewey - Thanks for the comment, it's nice to know that you and others enjoy watching these old broadcasts.. And because of that, I'm glad I posted them.

[1969pontiac1]

@MSTS1 Thanks for your hard work, I enjoy and thank you for you doing this. It is great work. Billy

[MSTS1]

@1969pontiac1 - You are welcome, and thank you for your nice comment, glad to know you enjoy them. M.

[TheJoeyzxc]

Because you watermarked this video, I gave it a thumbs down.

You did not create this news report.

Youtube was not around during the time of this news report.

And watermarking an old video with something as high tech as a username ruins it's authenticity.

You are truly a shameful man.

[MSTS1]

@TheJoeyzxc - Yes, "truly shameful". Ranks right up there with Auschwitz, September 11th and the Manson murders- combined. Oh, and Pearl Harbor and Jonestown too. Thanks for setting me straight, professor!

[FrsBigeasy]

The Middle East conflict was just as important 40 years ago if not more as its now

[ACLTony]

Wow! Something no longer seen today. News delivered without the broadcaster hinting his political biases.

[MamaMario13]

@ACLTony (Cough) Fox News

[brtherjohn]

Frank Reynolds and Peter Jennings were first class acts. Miss them both.

[vince065us]

THese are the anchors that I grew up with.

No teleprompters,they were a jack of all trades.

[Superbatfan]

I was only two years old when this aired. I remember watching all of the main anchors later in life. The network newscasts back then were no nonsence newscasts, unlike the ones today that obsese on one story to the point where the viewer doesn't want to hear about it again.

[catworld4]

Amazing...technologies change so much dramatically. I was 1 and half years old that time. There was captioned in 1981 when I started watch Peter Jennings and Frank Reynolds. That was how I learn to watch the news. :)

[charlie8575]

More NEWS in ten minutes than in half an hour now. I, for one, wouldn't mind watching some of the investigative journalism now (some of which is actually journalism) turned back over to shows like Dateline and 20/20, both nationally and locally, the yellow-dog screaching eliminated, and the side-shows banned from the airwaves, or moved to an Idiots-R-Us channel, instead of being the main focus, as they are now. Howard K. Smith's words ring as true today as they did on this momentous occasion.

[curea229]

You can't do that until you tar and feather Rupert Murdoch and run him out of the country. Damned phony American.

[Boobdepot1977]

@curea229 Became an American citizen so he could control american media interests. Marries a chinese woman to get his foot in the door in China. Now there's a soulless corporate whore.

[curea229]

@Boobdepot1977 A few scumbags are ruining our system... our country and our history.

[proken58]

All 3 networks were on the air with the moon landing story from 20-21 July 69. During lulls in events, they had to fill time, and they cut away for for a brief "other news" broadcast. Since this was to be a break for Reynolds, they brought in their former "anchor boy" Peter Jennings (he was ABC Evening News anchor from 1965-67). This was a Sunday and ABC didn't have regular weekend newscasts until the early 1970's.

[MikeChuk21]

And probably no one at the network at that time realized, as they combed the CBS roster for talent, that it would be these two very anchors that finally gave their evening newscast a presence, albeit eight years down the line.

It's hard to believe that Reynolds, Jennings and Koppel were already in place in '69. It always seemed like ABC News came out of nowhere after Roone Arledge took the reins.

[60sThru80s]

The very concept of "other news" has long gone. Today, on any cable network, they obsess over 1 to 3 stories and saturate with those stories for 24 hours.

In 69, they would have killed for just an extra 5 minutes.

Watch uploaded YT vids of those 45 second "news updates" from the 70s and 80s. More solid "grown-up" news in those 45 seconds than you can get on any channel today in 24 hours.

[hormelinc]

Thor Heyerdahl -- that's a name I have not heard in many many years! They are obviously reporting on his first try at sailing a papyrus boat, called "Ra" (which didn't make it as being reported -- a second boat, "Ra II" made it just fine). Thor was one of the great modern adventurers -- about as great and adventuresome as they come.

[David9788]

boy peter jennings was between the age 30 or 31 in july 1969

[mcpbap]

Jennings was from Canada and dated my Aunt for a while

[vividwatch47]

His father was C.B.C. commentatpr Charles Jennings, and another one of the announcers was Lorne Greene (yes, Ben Cartwright himself!)

[232323C]

sound familiar? Iraq? Afghanistan? on and on.....

[miamad]

Americans are amazing. They have done so much for the world, and deserve more credit.

[dcbandnerd]

@miamad Thanks! We do what we can. Cheers from the US of A!

[wannawatchu66]

@miamad It's nice to see someone *appreciating* America for a change.

[tbilisijeff]

Is it true, though, that you could get away with saying "SHeduled" in 1969 America?

[diamonddog13]

It was nice to hear him pronounce Montreal properly.

[jgrab1]

National news did SPORTS?!?!

I'm sure Jennings thought this beneath him. ;-)

[ASKconard]

Everybody talks about how bad ABC News was prior to 1978, but this broadcast looks very clean and well produced.

[rayjr62]

I do, too. But when you consider the fact that many Americans have been so dumbed down by stupid, moronic television shows, "gotcha" type journalism both on TV and in newsprint and "talk wrestling" type talk shows (masquerading as point - counterpoint debate), I seriously doubt that a show presented in such a clear, lucid, intelligent fashion would garner positive ratings. In fact, I doubt that it would even appear on TV at all.

[gwg5640]

There has become this necessity for a news operation to make "a profit". Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Peter Jennings, and many others never had a concern of making money for the network. It was to tell the "story". To inform the public. We could get back to telling the story, but only if the people demand the FCC and this administration take action. Our media is vital to our democracy.

[BlacksAreBeautiful]

and the thing is...EVERYONE does it...like the old saying goes, always three sides to a story, and the truth is the third side...

[BlacksAreBeautiful]

it is....they still lie when they report news...

[myrnaturner]

Peter's voice makes me moist. :)

[murielsartre]

I was 15 days old on the evening of this broadcast. My goodness. It looks *so* old-fashioned to me.

[peremeesz]

Television newscasts have worsened year by year especially in America. I can't stand their endless self-promotion, cinematic pomp and circumstance with short and shallow reporting.

[Barnstormer1969]

I always wanted to know what the broadcast news look like when I was born. Thanks for the posting the video.

[KevinRexrod]

I was 4,5 years old and living in Bedford Hills NY at the time

[steadfastcoward]

About 40 years later and only the names have been changed to protect the innocent (past).

[Joeydback]

"It could have happened to anyone."

[proken58]

Listening to Howard K. Smith's commentary reminded me of a great line. After the astronauts returned, they read newspaper and magazine accounts of their journey and watched video tape of network TV coverage. Buzz Aldrin looked at Neil Armstrong and said "Neil, we missed all the excitement!".

[tomloft2000]

Chappaquidick still fascinates me.that's the real Kennedy mystery.

[jgrab1]

What's the mystery? He panicked, she drowned, he lied, she got the short end. The moral: Don't go to bed with politicians. It always ends up badly.

[barofsolitude]

(chortle) "Lie-detector team." I gotta remember that trick if I ever find myself in a similar situation.

[Omgitszztop]

Peter Jennings was around in fuckin 1969???

Jesus H. Christ.....now I've seen everything.

[micmac99]

Call me when you turn 30.

[steadfastcoward]

Somebody explain to this cat that all the skinny dippers at Woodstock are now around 60 and Grace Slick is 69.

Being old can be a positive thing too.

[proken58]

Peter Jennings was made ABC News anchor in 1965 age 26. However, after two years, it was obvious he was too young at the time. He stayed with ABC News as a correspondant and took over as World News Tonight's chief anchor in 1983 when Frank Reynolds died.

[werrrt0]

Thank you for posting. Does any one have the historic broadcast of the Apollo 11 moon landing 1969.

[MSTS1]

Check my Channel, you'll find it there..

[drsnk]

The good old Middle East. Always a black sucking hole of depression.

[jv299]

That we have an example of how unchanging the middle-east crisis still is, evidence of how difficult the Vietnam War truly had to have been for our soldiers(U.S. guards being posted to watch our 'allies,' at the Special Forces camp), and a wonderful editorial by Howard K. Smith reminding adult children that this Apollo 11 coverage might just be a bit more important than that missed episode of "Gomer Pyle," and all anybody here can do is comment about the commentators themselves?

[ade425mxy]

are these from the "spacecraft Films" DVD of apollo 11 comes with 8 hrs of TV like this?

[unnst]

wow, is that my Peter Jennings???!!! so hot! RIP

[SailorCallie]

I recalled that August 2005 night when I learned of Peter Jennings' passing. I had a bad case of insomnia that night I was about to play Runescape when I saw the news posted on Yahoo's front page. I told my Dad (R.I.P.) about it, and he was bummed as well.

[DeeDonner]

Drive-By Media.. Peter Jennings...Know it all ..college/beauty school drop-out

[aussiebeachut]

Simply the BEST.. Reynolds and Jennings.

In the TOP 10 BEST EVER TV News Anchors of all time.

Great too to see them working together a decade before "World News Tonight".

Thanks for posting !!

[canyagrabmiaz]

An absolutely stunning news excerpt from 40 years ago! Great to see these ABC News legends in action (in color nonetheless.......rare to see such gems from 1969 in color)

[case139]

Great find from the archives. If you have more, keep them coming.

[brithgob]

There was a WXYZ Detroit promo that must have been made around this time, in which Bill Bonds quotes those conflicting Israeli/Egyptian reports, and responds, "Sweetheart, someone's lying."

[quicksite]

These are so fantastic to have recordings of. This looks like is was during those interim years before Roone Arledge took over as Executive Producer -- and ushered in the eventual age of "News as Sports" ... finally putting ABCnews out front for first time ever.

[tkaye2]

This was many years before Roone Arledge came anywhere near the news division. He took over in 1977, following the Reasoner/Walters disaster.

The ABC Evening News was a revolving door of anchors in the '60s... Reynolds had been anchoring for a little over a year when this was recorded and Smith had only joined him two months earlier. This era was the beginning of ABC News as a respectable operation. Reasoner affirmed this when he left CBS (at the the peak of his career) to join ABC in 1970.

[quicksite]

tkaye2 - thanks for the reply. I used to watch ABC news as a kid due to Jules Bergman their science reporter... & somehow I got into an early fascination with how they were perpetually 3rd place.. I watched as Election Returns on CBS began to have those flip-numbers, like airport departure signs still in use today, which updated as returns came in. I remember ABC *NETWORK* Election returns still had pads of paper with latest #s written in marker pen. Watching them advance has been fascinating.

[RolloSmokes]

I'm not sure what's more interesting: The simple state of network news back then, or Peter Jennings reading baseball scores.

[wmbrown6]

Well, there was the matter of Mr. Jennings pronouncing one word as "territry."

[PeerlessPaavo]

And there's Peter's proper, British Empire pronunciation of the word "scheduled."

It truly is wonderful to be able to watch this. Thank you for posting.

[tkaye2]

I was struck more by Ted Koppel's strange affectations in his report with the "special foh-ces." He almost sounds like a different person... much more patrician than even Peter Jennings.

[elfdog100]

A baby faced Sam Donaldson when he had real hair.

[mediadude08]

ABC was with channel 7 in those days.

[wmbrown6]

Which would obviously be what in those days was called WNAC-TV in Boston.