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Dobyns To Be Inducted |
 Lloyd Dobyns
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March 31, 2003 -- Lloyd Dobyns, a former network broadcaster and Jacksonville State University's Ayers Chair in the Department of Communication, will be inducted into the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame on April 10 at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. Dobyns will be among eight mass communications professionals with ties to Virginia who will be recognized at the 16th induction ceremony, hosted by the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University. After reporting at two Virginia television stations, Dobyns joined NBC News in 1969 and worked in various positions as an editor, director, bureau chief, anchor-writer, international correspondent and co-anchor until 1986. People Magazine called Dobyns "one of TV's best reporters," and the Washington Post said he was "one of the best clarifiers, as well as one of the best communicators in broadcast journalism." Dobyns has won 28 national awards including a George Foster Peabody medal, a Depont-Columbia baton, a Humanitas prize and two Christophers. One of his most unusual honors was his selection as a clue in three national crossword puzzles. Dobyns has worked in 48 states and 47 foreign countries. At JSU, Dobyns teaches writing and Internet research. As part of his Ayers' responsibilities he also writes for The Anniston Star, Blue Ridge Press and other publications. From 1986 to 1996 Dobyns was a freelance writer who co-authored two books on quality management and wrote and narrated five documentaries for PBS. He was with NBC News from 1969 to 1986, where he started as assistant news director in New York before moving to WMAQ in Chicago, an NBC owned-and-operated station, where he ran the news department from 1970 to 1972. He went to Paris as bureau manager before he became a correspondent in 1973 to cover the Paris Peace Talks on Vietnam. His last assignment for NBC was as bureau chief and senior Asia correspondent in Tokyo. Between the two overseas postings, he wrote and reported nine documentaries, wrote and anchored two news magazine programs including "Weekend" from 1974 to 1979. In the summer of 1976 he was co-host on the "Today" program. In 1982 Linda Ellerbee and he did the daily news program "NBC News Overnight," which Time magazine rated one of the ten best television programs of the year. His documentary "If Japan Can ... Why Can't We?" set the NBC News record for the number of transcripts requested by the public. Before joining NBC News in 1969, Dobyns worked at local broadcast stations in Virginia, Maryland and New York City and was a lieutenant for two years in the U. S. Army. He was born in Newport News and educated in Virginia at Fork Union Military Academy and Washington and Lee University, where he graduated in 1957 with a B.A. in journalism. He holds the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of North Carolina. |
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