Karen Travers (journalist)

Karen Travers
Born	Blue Bell, Pennsylvania
Nationality	American
Education	Georgetown University
Occupation(s)	Washington, D.C. based Correspondent
Years active	2000-present
Employer	ABC News
Spouse	John Milles Anderson (married 2011)
Children	3, including twins Kelly and Matthew

Karen Travers is an American journalist currently working at ABC News. She is a correspondent for the network based in Washington, D.C.. She's been with the network since 2000. She covers national political news from the nation's capital, including 2 presidential elections and the Obama, Bush, Biden, and Trump administrations. ^[1]

Early life and education

Born in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, Travers went to college at Georgetown University and graduated with a degree in American government and also earned a master's degree in liberal studies from Georgetown. ^[2]

Career

She joined ABC News in 2000, starting as an intern working as Ted Koppel's researcher for Nightline, working her way up by reporting on the September 11 attacks, Iraq War, national and international stories, among other reports.^{[ citation needed ]}

She eventually started to cover national politics in Washington, which included 5 presidential campaigns, 4 administrations, traveling to 49 states with each president, and more than 60 countries. She reported on the ground in every important battleground state in each election, particularly caucuses and primaries in every Republican and Democratic convention, along with presidential debates for every election cycle.^{[ citation needed ]}

She held other positions with ABC News, such as a White House producer, Deputy Political Director, and White House Reporter, before she got her big break and was promoted to correspondent based in Washington, D.C. in 2011. In this position, she led coverage of the 2012 and 2016 presidential debates and campaigns, ^[3] especially live reporting from Democratic and Republican conventions, all general election debates, and reporting international news, sports, and culture.^{[ citation needed ]}

She also led coverage of the 2012 United States fiscal cliff, the 2013 government shutdown, the health care law implementation, and the Washington Navy Yard shooting. ^{[4] [5]}

In 2015, Travers was promoted to multi-platform reporter of ABC News. ^[6] She covered the 2015 Philadelphia train derailment, the Ferguson unrest in 3 states, and key Supreme Court decisions.^{[ citation needed ]}

In 2017, ABC News promoted her to a White House Correspondent and covered breaking news such as former President Trump testing positive for COVID-19 and his hospitalization in 2020 that led her to win 2 Edward R Murrow Awards in 2021 and did in-depth reporting on childcare industry, school closings and reopening, paid family leave, the race to find vaccines and the challenges for families that had unvaccinated children under age 5.^{[ citation needed ]}

Awards and recognition

She serves on the board of the White House Correspondents' Association. ^[7] She received an Emmy Award as deputy political director for ABC's coverage of the First inauguration of Barack Obama in 2009. She was recently honored with a Gracie Award for Outstanding Radio News Anchor by the Alliance for Women in Media.^{[ citation needed ]}

References

1. "Karen Travers - ABC News". ABC News. April 28, 2022.
2. "Karen Travers (C '00, MA '03) Institute of Politics and Public Service". Georgetown University Institute of Politics and Public Service.
3. "Presidential Debate 2012: Full Recap". YouTube. October 3, 2012.
4. "Government shutdown continues for second day". Yahoo News. October 2, 2013.
5. "Multiple deaths in Washington DC Navy Yard shooting". Yahoo News. September 16, 2013.
6. "Karen Travers, Mary Bruce, and Stephanie Ramos become multiplatform reporters for ABC News". ABC News. April 23, 2015.
7. "Karen Travers White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA)". White House Correspondents' Association.