Chuck Todd

Last updated

Chuck Todd
Chuck Todd 2018 (cropped).jpg
Todd in 2018
Born
Charles David Todd

(1972-04-08) April 8, 1972 (age 51)
Miami, Florida, U.S.
OccupationJournalist
Title
Spouse
Kristian Denny
​
(m. 2001)​
Children2
Website Meet the Press Official Website

Charles David Todd (born April 8, 1972) is an American television journalist who was the 12th moderator of NBC's Meet the Press . He also hosted Meet the Press Now, its daily edition on NBC News Now and is currently the Chief Political Analyst for NBC News. Before taking the helm of Meet the Press, Todd was Chief White House correspondent for NBC as well as host of The Daily Rundown on MSNBC. He also serves as NBC News' on-air political analyst for NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt and Today .

Contents

In June 2023, Todd announced that Kristen Welker would replace him as the moderator of Meet the Press in September 2023. [1] She became the host on September 17, 2023. [2]

Early life and education

Todd was born on April 8, 1972 [3] in Miami, Florida, the son of Lois Cheri (née Bernstein) and Stephen Randolph Todd. [4] He is Jewish on his mother's side and was raised Jewish. [5] [6] He graduated from Miami Killian Senior High School in Kendall, an unincorporated suburban community in greater Miami. Todd attended George Washington University from 1990 to 1994. He declared a major in political science and a minor in music but did not earn a degree. [7]

Career

Political campaigns

Before entering the world of political reporting and analysis, Todd earned practical political experience on initiative campaigns in Florida and various national campaigns based in Washington, D.C. [8] While in college, Todd worked for the 1992 presidential campaign of Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and later started working part-time at National Journal's The Hotline.

The Hotline

From 1992 until March 12, 2007, Todd worked for National Journal's The Hotline, where he was editor-in-chief for six years. [9] As part of his position, Todd also co-hosted, with John Mercurio, the webcast series Hotline TV, consisting of a daily show lasting between three and seven minutes and a weekly show ranging between 20 and 30 minutes. He became a frequent guest on political discussion shows, such as Hardball with Chris Matthews and Inside Politics with Judy Woodruff.

NBC News

Todd covering the 2008 Democratic National Convention for MSNBC Chuck Todd (2797498698).jpg
Todd covering the 2008 Democratic National Convention for MSNBC

Tim Russert brought Todd to NBC from The Hotline in March 2007. [9] He became the NBC News political director at that time. In this role, Todd often provided on-air political analysis on political discussion shows, including Morning Joe , Hardball with Chris Matthews , Meet the Press , NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt , and The Rachel Maddow Show [9] and blogged for MSNBC.com at "First Read". [10] He also did a weekly Question and Answer ("Q&A") session with users at Newsvine.[ citation needed ]

After Tim Russert's death in June 2008, Todd was a candidate to replace him as the host of NBC's Meet the Press , [11] but David Gregory was ultimately selected for the job. On December 18, 2008, NBC announced [12] that Todd would succeed Gregory as NBC News Chief White House Correspondent, partnering with Savannah Guthrie on the news beat. He retained his title as NBC News Political Director and was also named Contributing Editor to Meet the Press. Todd was a focus of an August 2008 Los Angeles Times article paralleling Todd's rise to the rise of cable news networks in coverage of U.S. politics. [13] The article noted the emergence of Todd's fans, deemed "Chuckolytes".[ citation needed ]

On July 6, 2009, former MSNBC television personality Dan Abrams launched a website service, Mediaite, reporting on media figures. The site ranks all TV-based journalists in America by influence. Todd ranked, as of October 2009, right before Mike Wallace as number five. [14] Todd rose to number two as of December 21, 2011, but fell to 90 as of January 9, 2013. On January 11, 2010, Todd became co-host, with Savannah Guthrie, of The Daily Rundown on MSNBC, airing weekday mornings from 09:00 to 10:00 ET.[ citation needed ]

On August 14, 2014, NBC announced that Todd would take over as the host of Meet the Press beginning September 7, 2014. [15] While remaining as NBC News political director, Todd left his role as chief White House correspondent as well as anchor of The Daily Rundown .[ citation needed ]

On July 23, 2015, MSNBC announced Todd would return to the network with a daily political show called MTP Daily, which was airing weekdays at 17:00 ET. The show was an extension of Meet the Press. Todd continued moderating Meet the Press on NBC.[ citation needed ]

On January 22, 2017, Todd interviewed Kellyanne Conway on Meet the Press, the day after White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer accused the media of deliberately under-reporting the crowd size at President Trump's inaugural ceremony. In a response to Todd's question about the claims, Conway said:

"Our press secretary, Sean Spicer, gave alternative facts to that [i.e., Donald Trump's inaugural crowd size], but the point remains that..."

Todd interrupted her, saying:

"Wait a minute. Alternative facts? ... Alternative facts are not facts. They're falsehoods." [16] [17]

On June 26 and 27, 2019, Todd, along with Jose Diaz-Balart, Savannah Guthrie, Lester Holt, and Rachel Maddow, moderated the first pair of 2020 Democratic Party presidential debates. Todd's performance as a moderator, in which he ended up speaking more than all but four of the presidential candidates on the first night of the debates, was widely panned. Todd was also criticized for asking candidates lengthy questions and then requesting them to respond "in one or two words". [18] [19] [20] [21]

In a December 2019 interview with Rolling Stone , Todd discussed his belief about how disinformation overtook the media during the Trump administration. [22] However, although Todd had addressed "alternative facts" being lies in January 2017, PressThink—a project of the Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University—took Todd to task for failing to address the issues as they unfolded. [23]

On Sunday, June 4, 2023, at the end of Meet the Press, Todd announced he would be stepping down from his role as the program moderator later in the year, handing that role to Kristen Welker, as he had hoped—saying that his three decades in the news business had deprived his family, and indicating that he was delighted with the circumstances of his departure, saying it was just the way he had hoped. [24] [1]

Other professional ventures

Todd is an adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University. [25] He is the author of The Stranger: Barack Obama in the White House. Published in 2014, the Chicago Tribune described the book as "richly sourced and deeply informed," while Publishers Weekly called it "an even-handed, concise, and thorough account." [26] Todd is also co-author, with Sheldon Gawiser, of How Barack Obama Won: A State-by-State Guide to the Historic 2008 Presidential Election, published in 2009. [27] Todd picks NFL football games for Tony Kornheiser on his podcast The Tony Kornheiser Show. [28] Each week, Todd is pitted against Reginald, a monkey, who also picks NFL games. Since September 2016, Todd has hosted the weekly Chuck Toddcast. [29] [ better source needed ]

Personal life

Todd resides in Arlington, Virginia with his wife, Kristian Denny Todd, and their two children. Kristian Todd is a communications professional and co-founder of Maverick Strategies and Mail, which provides direct-mail and consulting services for Democratic candidates and progressive causes. [30] [31] She was the spokesperson for the successful U.S. Senate campaign of Jim Webb in 2006. [32] Although his wife is Christian, they are raising their two children in the Jewish faith. [33]

Todd is a congregant in the Reform congregation of Temple Rodef Shalom in Falls Church, Virginia. [31]

Todd is an avid Miami Hurricanes football fan. [34]

Awards and honors

Published works

Related Research Articles

MSNBC is an American news-based television channel and website headquartered in New York City. It is owned by NBCUniversal — a subsidiary of Comcast — and provides news coverage and political commentary. The network produces live broadcasts for its channel from studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, New York City, and aggregates its coverage and commentary on its website, msnbc.com.

<i>Meet the Press</i> American news/interview television program

Meet the Press is a weekly American television Sunday morning talk show broadcast on NBC. It is the longest-running program on American television, though its format has changed since the debut episode on November 6, 1947. Meet the Press specializes in interviews with leaders in Washington, D.C., across the country, and around the world on issues of politics, economics, foreign policy, and other public affairs, along with panel discussions that provide opinions and analysis. In January 2021, production moved to NBC's bureau on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NBC News</span> News division of NBCUniversal

NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations report to the president of NBC News, Rebecca Blumenstein. The NBCUniversal News Group also comprises MSNBC, the network's 24-hour general news channel, business and consumer news channels CNBC and CNBC World, the Spanish language Noticias Telemundo and United Kingdom–based Sky News.

NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network in the United States. First aired on August 3, 1970, the program is currently the second most watched network newscast in the United States, behind ABC's World News Tonight. NBC Nightly News is produced from Studio 1A at NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Center in New York City. Select Los Angeles–based editions broadcast from The Brokaw News Center in Universal City, California, or when broadcasting from Washington, D.C., either from the NBC News bureau based at WRC-TV in the Tenleytown neighborhood, or NBC's secondary studio overlooking Capitol Hill.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim Russert</span> American lawyer and TV journalist (1950–2008)

Timothy John Russert was an American television journalist and lawyer who appeared for more than 16 years as the longest-serving moderator of NBC's Meet the Press. He was a senior vice president at NBC News, Washington bureau chief and also hosted an eponymous CNBC/MSNBC weekend interview program. He was a frequent correspondent and guest on NBC's The Today Show and Hardball. Russert covered several presidential elections, and he presented the NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey on the NBC Nightly News during the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Time magazine included Russert in its list of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2008. Russert was posthumously revealed as a 30-year source for syndicated columnist Robert Novak.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrea Mitchell</span> American journalist and news anchor (born 1946)

Andrea Mitchell is an American television journalist, anchor and commentator for NBC News, based in Washington, D.C.

<i>Countdown with Keith Olbermann</i> American TV series or program

Countdown with Keith Olbermann is a weekday podcast that originated as an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program hosted by Keith Olbermann that aired on MSNBC from 2003 to 2011 and on Current TV from 2011 to 2012. The show presented five selected news stories of the day, with commentary by Olbermann and interviews of guests. At the start of Countdown, Olbermann told television columnist Lisa de Moraes:

Our charge for the immediate future is to stay out of the way of the news. ... News is the news. We will not be screwing around with it. ... As times improve and the war [in Iraq] ends we will begin to introduce more and more elements familiar to my style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lester Holt</span> American journalist and news anchor (born 1959)

Lester Don Holt Jr. is an American journalist and news anchor for the weekday edition of NBC Nightly News, NBC Nightly News Kids Edition, and Dateline NBC. On June 18, 2015, Holt was made the permanent anchor of NBC Nightly News following the demotion of Brian Williams. Holt followed in the career footsteps of Max Robinson, an ABC News evening co-anchor, and became the first Black male solo anchor for a major network newscast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Gregory (journalist)</span> American television journalist and presenter

David Michael Gregory is an American television personality and the former host of NBC News' Sunday morning talk show Meet the Press. Gregory has served as a CNN political analyst since 2016.

<i>Weekend Today</i> American morning television program on NBC; weekend broadcasts of "Today"

Weekend Today is currently the branding of the weekend editions of Today, an American morning news and talk program that airs daily on NBC. Weekend editions of Today began with the launch of the Sunday edition of the program on September 20, 1987.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Jansing</span> American TV news correspondent (born 1957)

Christine Ann Kapostasy-Jansing is an American television journalist. She anchors Chris Jansing Reports airing from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET weekdays on MSNBC, having replaced MTP Daily in May 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">José Díaz-Balart</span> Cuban-American journalist and television anchorman

José Díaz-Balart Caballero is a Cuban-American journalist and television anchorman. On September 7, 2021, Diaz-Balart stepped down as anchor of the weeknight editions of Noticias Telemundo. He is currently anchoring José Díaz-Balart Reports on MSNBC. He also continues to anchor NBC Nightly News Saturday, frequently substitutes for the weekday and Sunday broadcast, and will continue to anchor breaking news and special events coverage for Telemundo and host monthly specials.

Morning Joe is an American morning news talk show, airing weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on the cable news channel MSNBC. It features former US Representative (Independent) Joe Scarborough reporting and discussing the news of the day in a panel format with co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist, who regularly co hosts from Tuesdays to Fridays, along with recurring and special guests.

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is an MSNBC television program hosted by David Shuster that ended in 2009. The show is a panel discussion of news and trends in American politics among the panelists and anchor. It is a continuation of the show Race for the White House, which was originally hosted by David Gregory and aired in the same time slot from March to November 2008. Shuster became the host of the show when Gregory became moderator of NBC's Meet the Press.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lilia Luciano</span> Puerto Rican journalist

Lilia Luciano is a Puerto Rican journalist, filmmaker, podcaster and public speaker. She is currently a national correspondent and anchor at CBS News based in New York and host of the iHeart Radio podcast, El Flow. Before CBS News she worked as the investigative reporter at ABC 10 in Sacramento and was the chief investigative correspondent on Discovery Channel's Border Live. Her coverage of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas earned her and her CBS News team an Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Breaking News Coverage in 2023.

<i>The Rundown with José Diaz-Balart</i> American political news talk show

The Rundown with José Diaz-Balart is an American political news talk show that aired on MSNBC. The show premiered on January 11, 2010, and was hosted by Jose Diaz-Balart. The program aired in the 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. timeslot on weekdays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Edward R. Murrow Forum on Issues in Journalism</span> Annual event

The Edward R. Murrow Forum on Issues in Journalism is an annual event held at Tufts University. It is sponsored by the Film and Media Studies Program (FMS) at Tufts University, the Edward R. Murrow Center for the Advancement of Public Diplomacy, and the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service. Dedicated to illuminating aspects of the many contributions Edward R. Murrow made to journalism and public diplomacy, the Forum brings together interdisciplinary panels to reflect on Murrow’s legacy and relate it to contemporary issues in journalism. The Forum debuted in 2006 with former Nightline host Ted Koppel serving as the keynote speaker and moderator examining the contemporary state of the news business. In 2007 retired CBS News anchor Dan Rather led a panel discussing the coverage of war and conflicts. In 2008 former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw and panelists explored the current state of political coverage. The 2009 panel was headlined by MSNBC’s Hardball host Chris Matthews, along with former Massachusetts Governor and 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael S. Dukakis, and Janet Wu, WCVB-TV’s political reporter discussing the press’ role in encouraging or discouraging people from seeking public office. In 2010 panelists Casey Murrow, author Lynne Olson, and producer/Massachusetts ACLU Vice President Arnie Reisman discussed Murrow and his efforts to bring down Senator Joseph McCarthy after the blacklist and the contemporary state of blacklisting, self-censorship, and political redlines for the media. In 2011 panelists Katie Couric and Jonathan Tisch discussed Couric's career as well as the state of journalism in a social media and technology-driven world. In 2012 panelists Brian Williams and Jonathan Tisch discussed Williams's career and tactics, opportunities, and challenges of covering campaigns in 2012. The 2013 forum featured Christiane Amanpour discussing the evolving role of foreign correspondents, while Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington examined the changing face of journalism in the digital age for the 2014 forum. In 2015, ABC News' Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos discussed reliability in the 24-hour news cycle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Kornacki</span> American journalist

Stephan Joseph Kornacki Jr. is an American political journalist, writer, and television presenter. Kornacki is a national political correspondent for NBC News. He has written articles for Salon, The New York Observer, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, New York Daily News, New York Post, The Boston Globe, and The Daily Beast. Kornacki is the multimedia anchor and data analyst for much of MSNBC's The Place for Politics campaign coverage, which airs during Election Day in the United States since 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kristen Welker</span> American television journalist (born 1976)

Kristen Welker is an American television journalist working for NBC News. She serves as a White House correspondent based in Washington, D.C., and served as co-anchor of Weekend Today, the Saturday edition of Today, alongside Peter Alexander from 2020 to 2023. She took over hosting duties for the longest-running program in television history, Meet the Press, on September 17, 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yamiche Alcindor</span> American journalist (born 1986)

Yamiche Léone Alcindor is an American journalist who is a Washington correspondent for NBC News. In the past, she has worked as the host of Washington Week on PBS and as a reporter for PBS NewsHour, USA Today, and The New York Times. Alcindor writes mainly about politics and social issues.

References

  1. 1 2 Meet the Press [@MeetThePress] (June 4, 2023). "Chuck Todd Announces Departure from MTP After 9 Years" (Tweet). Retrieved June 7, 2023– via Twitter.
  2. ↑ Steinberg, Brian (August 25, 2023). "NBC Will Press Viewers to Meet Kristen Welker in Sunday-Morning News Battle". Variety. Retrieved September 5, 2023.
  3. ↑ "Hotline Says, "On Sunday, NBC's Political Director Officially Turns Old"". Fishbowl DC. Media Bistro. April 6, 2007. Archived from the original on October 1, 2009. Retrieved January 22, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Charles David Todd (b. 08 Apr 1972)". Familytreemaker.genealogy.com. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  5. ↑ Bloom, Nate (November 13, 2012). "Interfaith Celebrities: Nate Silver, Another Bond, and Happy End". InterfaithFamily . Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  6. ↑ Malul, Chen (August 24, 2014). "Former 'Meet the Press' host David Gregory writing book on his Jewish faith". Haaretz.com. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  7. ↑ "GWU Non-degree Alumni". Archived from the original on May 17, 2016. Retrieved September 14, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Chuck Todd Leaves Hotline, Joins NBC News As Political Director". Fishbowl DC. Media Bistro. February 14, 2007. Archived from the original on October 1, 2009. Retrieved July 29, 2009.
  9. 1 2 3 Barnhart, Aaron (June 14, 2008). "MSNBC's Chuck Todd and Rachel Maddow are young, geeky and hot". Kansas City Star.
  10. ↑ "First Read". MSNBC. Archived from the original on October 5, 2006. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
  11. ↑ Calderone, Michael (June 14, 2008). "Sundays after Russert". Politico.com.
  12. ↑ "Chuck Todd Named NBC News Chief White House Correspondent". NBC Press Release. December 18, 2008. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  13. ↑ Gold, Matea (August 17, 2008). "For political conventions, cable networks are the go-to channels". Los Angeles Times.
  14. ↑ "Chuck Todd". Mediaite . Archived from the original on September 9, 2009. Retrieved October 11, 2009.
  15. ↑ Carter, Bill (August 14, 2014). "NBC Chooses Chuck Todd to Replace David Gregory on 'Meet the Press'". The New York Times.
  16. ↑ Blake, Aaron (January 22, 2017). "Kellyanne Conway says Donald Trump's team has 'alternative facts.' Which pretty much says it all". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 22, 2017.
  17. ↑ "Meet The Press 1/22/17". NBC News . January 22, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  18. ↑ Bustillos, Maria. "MSNBC public editor: The Chuck Todd show". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  19. ↑ Peters, Justin (June 27, 2019). "It Was Almost a Good Debate Until Chuck Todd Mucked It Up". Slate. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  20. ↑ Mazza, Ed (June 27, 2019). "Chuck Todd Emerges As The Democratic Debate's Biggest Loser". HuffPost. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  21. ↑ Schramm, Molly (June 27, 2019). ""Chatty" Chuck Todd Spoke More Than Most of the Candidates During Night One of the Democratic Primary Debates". Paste Magazine. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
  22. ↑ Wade, Peter (December 20, 2019). "How Disinformation Spreads, According to Chuck Todd". Rolling Stone.
  23. ↑ Rosen, Jay (December 26, 2019). "The Christmas Eve Confessions of Chuck Todd". PressThink.
  24. ↑ Todd, Chuck (June 4, 2023). Chuck Todd to step down as Meet the Press moderator after nine years. Meet the Press. NBC News . Retrieved June 5, 2023.
  25. ↑ "Chuck Todd NBC News Political Director". MSNBC. June 12, 2007. Archived from the original on April 18, 2007.
  26. ↑ Chuck Todd (November 11, 2014). The Stranger: Barack Obama in the White House. Little, Brown. ISBN   9780316079570.
  27. ↑ Vintage Press ISBN   978-0-307-47366-0
  28. ↑ "Chuck Todd". TK. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  29. ↑ "The Chuck Toddcast". Spotify . Retrieved January 28, 2024.
  30. ↑ "Kristian Denny Todd large relationship map". Muckety. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  31. 1 2 Boorstein, Michelle (October 8, 2008). "D.C. Area's Take on Yom Kippur's Downtime". The Washington Post . Retrieved August 14, 2011.
  32. ↑ Craig, Tim (October 5, 2006). "Democratic Organizer Quits After Calling Allen 'Macacawitz'". The Washington Post .
  33. ↑ Bicks, Emily (December 9, 2022). "Kristian Denny Todd, Chuck Todd's Wife: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com .
  34. ↑ "Chuck Todd Quotes". BrainyQuote. Retrieved April 4, 2022.
  35. ↑ "Chuck Todd: Awards: News & Documentary Emmy Awards", Internet Movie Database, retrieved June 5, 2023
  36. ↑ "News Details". Marymount.edu. February 22, 2013. Archived from the original on December 27, 2013. Retrieved August 17, 2013.
  37. ↑ "SMPA National Council Members Dana Bash and Chuck Todd Received Honorary Degrees During 2022 Commencement," May 16, 2022, School of Media & Public Affairs, Columbian College of Arts & Sciences, George Washington University, retrieved June 5, 2023
  38. ↑ "Political Journalists Dana Bash, Chuck Todd to Receive Honorary Degrees," April 27, 2022, GW Today, Office of Communications and Marketing, George Washington University, retrieved June 5, 2023
  39. 1 2 "Biography: Chuck Todd" October 1, 2020, NBC News, retrieved June 5, 2023
  40. ↑ "Chuck Todd: Foreign Press Awardee 2022," The Association and the Club of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States, retrieved June 5, 2023
  41. ↑ Miami Coalition of Christians and Jews (MCCJ), May 13, 2019, SocialMiami, retrieved June 5, 2023
Media offices
Preceded by Meet the Press Moderator
September 7, 2014 – September 10, 2023		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.