Nightly’s Live Broadcast From Tiananmen Square

Brian Williams anchors Sunday’s NBC Nightly news from Beijing.

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams will originate live from Tiananmen Square tonight (Tuesday morning in Beijing), site of the 1989 uprising that led to the deaths of hundreds of Chinese students, activists and intellectuals. Williams will be joined live by Tom Brokaw who was Nightly News anchor during the weeks-long uprising. (Click continued to see one of Brokaw’s special reports from the Spring of 1989, with correspondent Keith Morrison in Beijing.) Tonight, Brokaw will report a “then and now” piece, while Williams reports on the Chinese government’s attempt to sensitize their people to Western habits and customs in preparation for Olympic tourists.

Perhaps the most notable U.S. evening news broadcast from the square occurred May 20, 1989 when Chinese authorities pulled the plug on the CBS Evening News as Dan Rather reported live.

(photo: Subrata De/NBC News)

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