Brian Thompson

New Jersey Correspondent

Updated 4:13 PM EST, Tue, Nov 10, 2009

Print Email Share TWITTER FACEBOOK

Brian Thompson has served as a New Jersey reporter for News 4 New York since 1998 based at the station’s New Jersey Bureau in Moonachie.

Thompson has broken multiple stories including the news that then-New Jersey Governor James McGreevey would resign in a sex scandal. Two hours later, the Governor went on national TV to announce what Thompson had first reported. It was the departure of Governor McGreevey and his replacement by acting Governor Richard Codey that led to one of the most significant stories of Thompson’s career, a 45-minute sit-down interview with the First Lady of New Jersey and Governor Codey regarding her life-long struggle with depression.

A year after 9/11, Thompson was the first and only reporter to listen to and air the New Jersey police recordings of the attack on the World Trade Center, a story later nominated for an Emmy award. Thompson was also the only TV reporter to be present at New Jersey's first gay wedding; first to break the report that State Police Superintendent Joseph Santiago would resign and the first to score a TV interview with him; the first to report that Frank Lautenberg would leave retirement to return to the U.S. Senate, and then a few days later, the first to find out and report that the New Jersey Supreme Court would allow his name to replace that of Robert Torricelli on the ballot.

Known for his tenacity and follow-through, Thompson pulled an all-nighter to ensure full-coverage of a crucial legislative debate over a new state budget. Thompson was instrumental in WNBC’s decision to carry live New York State's legislative debate on extending rent controls for New York City, a story Thompson field anchored from Albany.

Prior to joining WNBC, Thompson worked for five years in Washington, D.C., covering the White House, Capitol Hill, Supreme Court and federal agencies for two-dozen TV stations around the nation. During that time, he traveled to Normandy to report on the 50th Anniversary of the invasion, to Hawaii for the 50th Anniversary of the end of World War II, and to Bosnia-Herzogovina to report on America's involvement in the Balkan conflict less than a month after the first U.S. troops entered that country.

Before that, Thompson spent 17 years in Charlotte, NC covering many types of stories and traveling around the world on various assignments.

In 2005 Thompson earned a New York Emmy-award for his work on WNBC’s political series “What Matters.” He has been cited six times by the Associated Press for Best Coverage by a New Jersey-Based Correspondent and was awarded the first Environmental Journalism Award by the NY/NJ Baykeeper for a pair of reports on an illegal development on the edge of New York's Harbor.

Thompson began his career working at radio stations in Charlotte, North Carolina and Gainesville, Florida.

Thompson received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Broadcast Journalism from the University of Florida. He resides in New Jersey with his two children.

You can follow Brian Thompson on Twitter.