{{distinguish|Tom Aspaul}} {{Infobox person | name = Tom Aspell | image = Tom-aspell.jpg | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = 1950 | birth_place = New Zealand | death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|02|11|1950||}} | death_place = | nationality = | other_names = | occupation = Television journalist | title = News Producer/Correspondent<ref name=NBC-bio/> | known_for = | employer = NBC News | awards = | years_active = 43 | spouse = Nujud Dabbagh | children = 2 sons (Peter and Tiger) }}

'''Tom Aspell''' (1950&nbsp;– February 11, 2013) was a New Zealand-born U.S. television news producer, foreign correspondent, and cameraman.<ref name=NBC-bio>{{cite web|title=Tom Aspell NBC News Producer/Correspondent|url=http://www.nbcumv.com/mediavillage/networks/nbcnews/nbcnewscorrespondents/biographies?bio=contents/biographies/Talent%20Bios/NBCNews/NBCNewsCorrespondets/Aspell_Tom.xml|work=NBC News Correspondents - Biographies|publisher=NBCUniversal|accessdate=February 13, 2013}}</ref><ref name="NBC death">{{cite news|last=Williams|first=Brian|title=Longtime NBC News correspondent Tom Aspell dies|url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/12/16941549-longtime-nbc-news-correspondent-tom-aspell-dies|newspaper=NBC News|date=February 12, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Mediabistro death"/> He was employed by NBC News for 28 years and previously worked for ABC News, CBS News, and Visnews.<ref name=NBC-bio/><ref name="NBC death"/><ref name="Mediabistro death"/>

==Career== Aspell began his career as a scriptwriter and cameraman in 1970 with Visnews.<ref name="NBC death"/><ref name="Mediabistro death"/> He was among the few foreign journalists who remained in Southeast Asia when Saigon fell to communist forces on April 30, 1975.<ref name=NBC-bio/><ref name="Mediabistro death"/> From 1975 to 1978, he was a freelance cameraman in the Middle East.<ref name=NBC-bio/> In 1978, he joined CBS News as a cameraman covering Beirut, where he then worked as a producer for ABC News from 1981 to 1983.<ref name=NBC-bio/><ref name="Mediabistro death"/>

In 1985, he was hired by NBC News as a producer based in Cyprus.<ref name="NBC death"/><ref name="Mediabistro death"/> He then became a foreign correspondent covering major events around the world.<ref name="NBC death"/> His first on-air report for NBC was from Baghdad in August 1990 after Iraq invaded Kuwait.<ref name=NBC-bio/> From 1992 on, he spent considerable time covering the war-torn region of Bosnia.<ref name=NBC-bio/>

==Personal life== Aspell lived on Cyprus with his wife Nujud Dabbagh and their two sons.<ref name=NBC-bio/><ref name="NBC death"/> He loved sailing.<ref name="NBC death"/>

==Death== Aspell died on February 11, 2013, after two years suffering from lung cancer.<ref name="NBC death"/><ref name="Mediabistro death"/> He was 62.<ref name="NBC death"/><ref name="Mediabistro death"/> Brian Williams, the anchor and managing editor of ''NBC Nightly News'', said Aspell was a journalist with "an intense brand of cool under fire".<ref name="NBC death"/><ref name="Mediabistro death">{{cite news|last=Knox|first=Merrill|title=Longtime NBC News Foreign Correspondent Tom Aspell Dies|url=https://www.adweek.com/tvnewser/longtime-nbc-news-foreign-correspondent-tom-aspell-dies/|newspaper=Mediabistro.com/TV Newser|date=February 13, 2013}}</ref> NBC News president Steve Capus described Aspell as "understated, selfless, perpetually cool, shrewd, wry, curmudgeonly, and a damn good reporter".<ref name="Mediabistro death"/>

==Awards== *National Press Photographers Association Award for coverage of the Iranian Revolution (1979)<ref name=NBC-bio/> *Emmy Award for coverage of the Romanian Revolution (1989)<ref name=NBC-bio/> *National Headliner Award for coverage of Yugoslavia (1993)<ref name=NBC-bio/>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb name|1519449}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aspell, Tom}} Category:1950 births Category:2013 deaths Category:NBC News people Category:American television reporters and correspondents Category:American people of New Zealand descent Category:New Zealand emigrants to the United States Category:American expatriates in Cyprus