Alex Benson, reporter and NBC News producer, was born in 1928 and raised in the New York City area. In 1944 he enlisted in the Army Air Force and, after completing a specialized training reserve program, was stationed in Germany until his discharge in 1946.
He received his B.A. in history from Queens College in 1949. While still a student, he began working for a local news agency, and after his graduation he was employed by the Standard News Association, a wire service that covered Brooklyn for the major New York daily newspapers.
In 1953 Benson joined the New York World-Telegram and Sun, and in subsequent years he distinguished himself as a talented and aggressive journalist, rising from the rank of district reporter to chief city hall reporter. In 1961 he won the Page One Award for Crusading Journalism for his exposé of a ghostwriting syndicate that marketed papers for college students.
After the demise of the World-Telegram and Sun, Benson was named chief political reporter for its successor, the New York World Journal Tribune. When this paper also failed in 1967, Benson joined the National Broadcasting Company. He worked at first with WNBC radio as assignment editor, but in 1969 he moved to NBC television as writer and coordinator for feature stories for the program Sixth Hour News. He returned to the production of radio news in 1973.
During his career Benson made numerous personal appearances on radio, television, and the lecture platform. He was also a contributor to various publications, the editor of The 48-Hour War (1967), a member of the executive board of the Newspaper Guild of New York, and a member of the Newspaper Reporters Association.
Alex Benson died at age 46 on March 12, 1974.
