David Burke

David Burke was a former executive vice president at ABC News who assembled a noteworthy team of journalists and broadcasters and was instrumental in lifting the network’s ratings and creating well-received news shows.

Burke became vice president of ABC News in 1977 and was later named executive vice president. During his career at the station, he played a pivotal role in generating programs including World News Tonight with Peter Jennings, Nightline with Ted Koppel, 20/20 with Barbara Walters and Prime Time Live with Diane Sawyer and Sam Donaldson.

After honing success at ABC, Burke served as the CBS News president between 1988 and 1990 and oversaw the channel’s coverage of the first Gulf War, Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait and the Tiananmen Square protests. He was the first president in the division’s history to not have been promoted from within.

A graduate of Tufts University and the University of Chicago, where he received his MBA, Burke initially worked at the Lever Brothers plant in Cambridge before entering politics and entertainment. He was interested in labor unions and at age 25 became the executive secretary for the Advisory Committee on Labor-Management Policy under President John F. Kennedy. 

Beginning in 1963, Burke served as Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s legislative aide and eventual chief of staff. He also worked as New York Gov. Hugh Carey’s secretary in 1971 and helped New York City to navigate the 1970s fiscal crisis.

In 1994, President Clinton appointed Burke to serve as the first chairman of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. The Board was created to oversee Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia and awards journalists annual honors “for exceptional integrity, bravery and originality in reporting” in Burke’s name.

Burke died on April 18, 2014, in Medford, Mass. He was 78.