Born September 2, 1952, Joseph Hugh Scott passed away on September 12, 2022, at his home in Sutton Place, New York City, where he resided with lifetime partner Marianne Mason, survived by one sister, Judith Cene Narr, of Oklahoma City. An autopsy performed by the New York City Medical Examiner determined cause of death to be Atherosclerotic and Hypertensive Cardiovascular Disease.
A proud US Army Ranger veteran, he served with the First Air Cavalry Airborne Special Operations Command in 1972 in Vietnam in the rank of Major. Afterward, he transferred to the Army reserves and was discharged honorably in 1978. After initial training for the elite Ranger corps, he was named most distinguished trainee. For this honor he was treated to a private lunch in the United States Military Academy Dining Hall at West Point with General Norman Schwarzkopf -the Desert Storm Commander who defeated the Iraqi army. He was a born hero, of Prussian ancestry. Bravely serving in combat in as a US Army Ranger was his most prized accomplishment.
After army service, Joseph Scott obtained a BA degree in journalism at Baylor University and continued to excel in a distinguished career as an American political commentator, journalist, host, documentary producer, winning multiple Emmy and other network journalism awards. He was accepted into and attended the Harvard Kennedy School of Government due to his keen grasp of politics and government, but he was only able to study for one year, leaving Boston to accept a TV broadcast assignment in a different city.
During his last network journalist tenure with ABC news, in addition to hosting the Weekend News in New York City, which had the highest ratings of the week, he served as ABC New Jersey bureau chief. He collaborated closely with many prominent New Jersey public servants, among them US Senator Bill Bradley, US Senator Frank Lautenberg, and New Jersey Governors Kane and Florio. He appeared frequently on Nightline in the 1980s when Ted Koppel was host.
Joseph (Jay) Scott began a television journalism career in the mid-seventies as a TV news anchor, producer and writer for KBTV (now KUSA) in Denver, Colorado. He moved to WNAC-TV (now WNEV-CBS) in Boston as TV news anchor and associate producer, then to Pittsburgh as a TV news anchor, reporter, mini-documentary producer, and radio commentator at KDKA-TV (CBS). His next assignment was in Sacramento, CA at KXTV-TV (CBS) as TV news anchor and chief political reporter. He moved to WCAU-TV (CBS) in Philadelphia where he worked as a TV news anchor, host of the public affairs program Newsmakers, chief political correspondent and collaborated closely with local police commissioner Frank Rizzo and Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell.
In the mid-80s he worked for Robert Gray & Co. public relations firm in Washington as a media consultant, speech writer, producer, documentary maker and assisted in government relations. He handled corporate media crisis intervention, US public relations positioning of foreign countries, trade unions and corporations. He co-founded the media division to prepare top corporate executives and heads of state such as Brian Mulroney, Prime Minister of Canada, and the Governor of Puerto Rico. He also trained John Denver and other celebrities on touring and professional image.
In the 80s and 90s, Joseph (Jay) Scott was a prominent TV news anchor, associate producer, special assignments producer and had his own award-winning show at KTTV-TV (Fox) in Los Angeles. His final major work in network anchoring, political reporter, producing, and writing was at ABC television in New York City. He worked as news anchor, New Jersey bureau chief, political correspondent, producer and managed Congressional relations. He also served as network liaison for community affairs and assisted ABC executive management to lobby in Washington.
In 1995, he retired from network journalism to become a novelist and wrote several novels including White Stone Days, the Clairvoyant Café, One Who is Listening, and Peck’s Bad Knife in which he coined unique concepts such as “the Max becomes the Min” (the maximum that you will do for anyone becomes the minimum that is required), and “the Law of the Perverse Nature of Inanimate Objects” (they act against your best intentions). His favorite literary genre was The Comedy of Humours. He penned numerous magazine pieces, essays and analyses on topics of the day, piercing observations of social mores and many cities he had come to know well while covering their news, including New Orleans and his favorite New York.
From 2000 until his death in 2022, he served as Communications Director, Management Consultant, and Current Affairs Advisor for the Cordell Hull Foundation for International Education in New York City. He also performed the duties of historian and archivist for the papers and memoirs of Nobel Peace Laureate Cordell Hull, producing annotations and writing treatments for a full-length documentary film on the life of this renowned statemen credited as “Father of the United Nations.” His broad understanding of government and politics served the Cordell Hull Foundation well in co-directing partner Marianne Mason on the development and success of its non-profit mission. She relied on his judgment on a broad range of policy and complicated international issues for over two decades. He insisted upon the Foundation's office move in 2015 to Rockefeller Center at Fifth Avenue and 50th Street, which enhanced its reputation. He had a voracious grasp of and thirst for knowledge and exquisite, unerring taste in all matters. He will be sorely missed as a sounding board.
Joseph Scott was a gifted visionary, known among journalism colleagues as “Father Scott.” He took time to mentor and develop and train young news journalists on the rise. He made it a point to befriend wounded veterans whenever and wherever he met them. Network (ABC and CBS) crew members, writers and interns clamored to cover election nights on his team. Armed with a photographic mind, ability to absorb the history of every candidate coupled with a veteran journalist’s instinct, he could predict the winning candidate for every election. Crews all wanted to be on the winning team! His uncanny ability to predict future events was bolstered by an enormous scope of reading since childhood and insatiable curiosity about people, the world, and events. Foremost in his mind was maintaining the highest standard of journalistic integrity, digging for truth, rooting out impersonators so as to fulfill his duty to share with the public only the pure essence and the truth. He won several Emmys and other awards for news coverage and for producing documentaries exposing corruption in multiple industries which inspired reform legislation.
Joseph Scott is predeceased by beloved parents Jack Sprott, Jr. and JoNan Stanton of Temple, Texas, and dear aunt, Judith Jean Stanton of Oklahoma City.
Written by Marianne Mason, September, 2022
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