John Harwood (journalist)

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John Harwood
John Harwood.jpg
John Harwood, June 24, 2007
Born (1956-11-05) November 5, 1956 (age 67) [1]
Education Duke University
Occupation Journalist

John Harwood (born November 5, 1956) is an American journalist who worked as White House Correspondent for CNN from February 2021 until September 2022. Harwood was formerly an editor-at-large for CNBC. [2] He was the chief Washington Correspondent for CNBC [3] and a contributor for The New York Times . He wrote a weekly column entitled "The Caucus" that appeared on Monday about Washington politics and policy. Before joining the Times, he wrote for The Wall Street Journal .

Contents

Early life and education

Harwood's father, Richard Harwood, was a reporter and writer for The Louisville Times and The Washington Post . According to John Harwood's article in The Washington Post (April 30, 2000, page B4), Harwood's mother was an active campaigner for the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968. Harwood, at age 11, appeared in a television ad for Kennedy's 1968 campaign.

Harwood graduated from Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School, where he edited the school newspaper, The Tattler. (Harwood was the commencement speaker for the high school's graduating class of 2010. [4] ) While in high school, Harwood served as a copy boy for the Washington Star, his first journalism job. [3]

Harwood attended Duke University, studying history and economics there. He graduated magna cum laude in 1978. [3]

Journalism career

Harwood and Howard Fineman appearing on Hardball with Chris Matthews (2008) John Harwood and Howard Fineman being interviewed on HARDBALL (2008).jpg
Harwood and Howard Fineman appearing on Hardball with Chris Matthews (2008)

After graduating from college, Harwood joined the St. Petersburg Times in Florida, working in Tampa Bay, Tallahassee, and Washington. He traveled to South Africa, covering developments in the final years of apartheid. He was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University from 1989 to 1990. He became the White House correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in 1991, covering the George H. W. Bush administration. He subsequently became a Capitol Hill correspondent and, in 1997, political editor and chief political correspondent for the newspaper. Harwood became chief Washington correspondent for CNBC in March 2006. [3]

Harwood frequently appears on Washington Week , a public affairs program on PBS formerly hosted by Gwen Ifill, [5] as well as NBC's Meet the Press , and MSNBC's Morning Joe . He and co-author Gerald Seib were Tim Russert's guests in Russert's last taped interview for Russert's MSNBC eponymous interview program, which was to air the weekend of June 14, 2008, just hours before Russert's death. [6]

Harwood was a moderator for CNBC's Republican primary presidential debate on October 28, 2015. Harwood was criticized by both the debate candidates, the media and his own CNBC colleagues for his performance as moderator. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Harwood saw further criticism after the personal email account of John Podesta, who was then chairman of the 2016 Hillary Clinton presidential campaign, was hacked and had its contents published by the website WikiLeaks in October and November 2016. Among the emails were several from Harwood that some critics said indicated an unprofessional level of closeness or collusion between the two, including an email from May 2015 in which Harwood warned Podesta that then-candidate Ben Carson could represent "real trouble" to the Clinton campaign. [12] [13] The emails also revealed that Harwood had asked Podesta which questions he should ask Republican candidate Jeb Bush during a debate. [14]

Harwood drew scrutiny from conservative critics on February 6, 2020, when he stated that President Donald Trump was in "deep psychological distress" following his press conference after the U.S. Senate voted to acquit him on both articles of impeachment. [15] [16] On 2 September 2022, Harwood announced his departure from CNN via Twitter which many sources believe was unplanned, following a meeting with CNN's then-new CEO/Chairman Chris Licht (who was later forced out) who attempted to "shift CNN into a more moderate voice", which some attributed to John Malone, described as "right-leaning" and an "influential shareholder in CNN's owner Warner Bros. Discovery Inc." Malone had told CNBC in 2021 that "he'd like to see CNN evolve back to the kind of journalism that it started with, and actually have journalists, which would be unique and refreshing." [17] [18] [19]

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References

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  4. "1974 Alum is B-CC's 2010 Graduation Speaker". Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School – Alumni News. Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School Educational Foundation. Retrieved October 29, 2015.
  5. "John Harwood - Chief Washington Correspondent, CNBC; Political Writer, The New York Times". Archived from the original on December 2, 2008 via The Internet Archive.
  6. "Tim Russert Set Standards". The Wall Street Journal . June 13, 2008.
  7. Peralta, Eyder (October 29, 2015). "5 Headlines: Media Consensus Is That CNBC Was GOP Debate's 'Biggest Loser'". NPR.
  8. Concha, Joe (October 29, 2015). "CNBC's Harwood Now Media Bias Poster Boy After Career-Altering 'Moderating' of GOP Debate". Mediaite.
  9. Chariton, Jordan (October 29, 2015). "Joe Scarborough Rips Sister Network CNBC's 'Horrible Debate', John Harwood's 'Embarrassing' Question". Yahoo! News.
  10. Noonan, Peggy (October 29, 2015). "The Not Ready for Prime Time Bush". The Wall Street Journal .
  11. "CNBC Staffers Divided on Whether 'Extremely Biased' John Harwood Was Fit to Moderate GOP Debate". October 30, 2015. Retrieved October 11, 2022.
  12. Derespina, Cody (October 11, 2016). "7 biggest revelations from WikiLeaks release of Podesta emails". Fox News.
  13. O'Reilly, Bill (October 13, 2016). "Bill O'Reilly: Corruption in American journalism (transcript)". Fox News. Archived from the original on October 19, 2016 via Internet Archive.
  14. Kulat, Cathi (November 7, 2016). "Campaign collusion: Is CNBC's John Harwood too close to the Clinton operation?". The Hill . Retrieved August 10, 2020.
  15. Wulfsohn, Joseph (February 6, 2020). "CNN's John Harwood: Trump's 'dark' acquittal remarks show he's in 'deep psychological distress'". Fox News . Retrieved February 7, 2020.
  16. Rosas, Julio. "CNN's John Harwood: Trump's Press Conference Was 'Dark' and Shows He's in 'Deep Psychological Distress'". Townhall. Retrieved February 7, 2020.
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