NBC News announced today that it will mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington by re-broadcasting the August 25, 1963 episode of Meet The Press, that featured interviews with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and NAACP executive secretary Roy Wilkins.
The episode was originally broadcast three days before the March on Washington, during which King gave his famous “I have a dream speech.” He discussed many of the topics he covered in his call for civil rights, including jobs, freedoms and social equality in the U.S. The special, airing on Sunday, is titled Meet the Press’ Special Edition: Remembering the Dream and will include the unedited interviews.
“Dr. King’s message resonates as strongly today as it did fifty years ago,” David Gregory, the current moderator of Meet the Press, said in a statement. “This Sunday, we will relive this powerful moment in our nation’s history through the lens of the ‘Meet the Press’ archives as we reflect on the state of the American dream.”
The 30-minute episode will air on all 10 of NBC’s owned local stations, plus several affiliates and the New England Cable News network. NBC said that it will be shown before or after the previously scheduled regular Meet The Press episode.
PBS is also marking the anniversary with a Robert Redford-produced special that goes over the history fo the event and how it came together. It will air on Aug. 27. President Obama is also planning to give a speech in the very spot where King stood, at the steps of the Lincoln Monument.
image: NBC