DAVID A. KLATELL ’70

DAVID A. KLATELL, a broadcast journalist, and a leader and professor at the Columbia University School of Journalism, died Aug. 11, 2016. He was 68. A member of Delta Tau Delta, he became a broadcast journalist after graduating with a degree in Film and Asian Studies. He won awards as an editor and producer of news and public affairs programs for WCBV-TV in Boston and as an independent documentary producer. From 1974 to 1993 he was the program director, department chair, and director of the School of Journalism at Boston University, at which time he joined the faculty of Columbia University, where he first was tasked with redesigning the School’s broadcast curriculum, among other responsibilities. During his 26 years at Columbia, he was at the forefront of training new journalists at the school and at institutes around the world in the changing ways of delivering information. He taught broadcast news reporting, digital reporting, new business models (especially focused on start-ups and mobile video platforms) in journalism, and ethics. His teaching in recent years had been on the disruption of the television news industry, and on converging media and the business models needed to sustain them. Most recently, he devised and taught a class, “Reinventing TV News,” where students worked with major broadcast and video enterprises on rethinking news formats, delivery systems and business models. In 2002 he was named acting dean of the journalism school and later served as vice dean. A recognized international expert on the development and management of journalism education and training programs, he advised schools and professional organizations in more than 20 countries, including new initiatives in Jordan, India, Kenya, Brazil, and Hungary. The co-author of two books about the business relationships between television and sports, his articles have also been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and other major newspapers and magazines. He served for many years as chairman of the jury for the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Awards in broadcast journalism. As a professional consultant he advised the development of television news organizations in Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, and China. He also served as director of international station development for New York Times Television and Video News International. In addition, he was a consultant to broadcast media throughout the United States. He died in New York City just days after being diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer. Among those who survive are his wife, Nancy Lauter; two daughters; three grandchildren; his nephews, James M. Klatell ’99 and Jeremy N. Klatell ’00; and a cousin, Benjamin H. Fuchs ’11.