Norah O'Donnell
Norah O'Donnell
Norah O'Donnell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Norah Morahan O’Donnell[1] January 23, 1974 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Education | Douglas MacArthur High School |
| Alma mater | Georgetown University[2][3] |
| Occupation | Television journalist |
| Years active | 1996–present |
Notable credit(s) |
|
| Title | Anchor |
| Spouse(s) | Geoff Tracy (m. 2001) |
| Children | 3 |
Norah Morahan O’Donnell (born January 23, 1974) is an American television journalist and anchor of the CBS Evening News. She is the former co-anchor of CBS This Morning, Chief White House Correspondent for CBS News, and a substitute host for CBS's Sunday morning show Face the Nation.
Norah O'Donnell | |
|---|---|
| |
| Born | Norah Morahan O’Donnell[1] January 23, 1974 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Education | Douglas MacArthur High School |
| Alma mater | Georgetown University[2][3] |
| Occupation | Television journalist |
| Years active | 1996–present |
Notable credit(s) |
|
| Title | Anchor |
| Spouse(s) | Geoff Tracy (m. 2001) |
| Children | 3 |
Early life and career
O'Donnell was born in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Francis O'Donnell, a doctor and commander in the US Army. Her parents are both of Irish descent.[1] When Norah was 3, her family moved to San Antonio, Texas.[4] When she was 10, the family spent two years in Seoul, living in Yongsan Garrison as her father was assigned to work there. While an elementary student, she started her career in broadcasting giving videotaped English lessons for the Korean Educational Development Institute.[5] The family moved back to San Antonio where she graduated from Douglas MacArthur High School.[6] She holds a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and a master's degree in liberal studies from Georgetown University.[3][7]
O'Donnell worked as a staff writer for Roll Call, where she covered Congress.[8] She spent twelve years of her career at the NBC networks. A commentator for the Today Show, Chief Washington Correspondent for MSNBC, and a White House correspondent for NBC News, O'Donnell was also a contributing anchor for MSNBC Live and an anchor on Weekend Today. O'Donnell reported for various NBC News broadcasts, including NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, Dateline NBC, and MSNBC. O'Donnell filled in for Chris Matthews as host of Hardball with Chris Matthews and was a regular pundit for The Chris Matthews Show.
Since joining CBS, she has served as anchor in several of its highest-rated shows, filling in for Scott Pelley on the CBS Evening News multiple times, the first being October 10, 2011. She was chief White House correspondent in 2011 and 2012, and became a co-anchor on CBS This Morning in fall of 2012. On May 6, 2019, Susan Zirinsky, president of CBS News, announced that O'Donnell had been named anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News beginning on July 15, 2019,[9] will also be the lead anchor of political events for the network and continue as a contributing correspondent for 60 Minutes.[10] She becomes the third woman after Connie Chung and Katie Couric to serve as the program's weeknight anchor. Her last broadcast of CBS This Morning was on May 16, 2019.[11]
Career timeline
1984: Language instructor for the Korean Educational Development Institute[12] [13]
1994-1996: Panelist, Youngbloods (show) National Empowerment Television
1999–2011: NBC News/MSNBC 1999–2011: Washington Bureau correspondent 1999–2011: Weekend Today rotating news anchor 1999–2011: MSNBC Live fill-in anchor 2000-2011: Dateline NBC contributing correspondent 2003–2011: NBC News White House correspondent 2005–2011: MSNBC Chief White House correspondent
2011–present: CBS News 2011–2012: Chief White House correspondent 2011– May 2019: CBS Evening News fill-in anchor 2012– May 2019: CBS This Morning co-anchor 2011–present: Face the Nation fill-in host and correspondent 2013–present: 60 Minutes correspondent 2019–present: CBS Evening News anchor and managing editor
Charlie Rose allegations
On November 20, 2017, hours after veteran journalist Charlie Rose was accused of sexual misconduct by nearly a dozen women, his CBS This Morning co-anchors Gayle King and Norah O'Donnell addressed the situation. O'Donnell applauded the "courage" of these women to come forward with their stories in both The Washington Post and Business Insider, then took a moment for a "frank and honest assessment."
"Let me be very clear, there is no excuse for this alleged behavior," she said. "It is systematic and pervasive and I've been doing a lot of listening ... Women cannot achieve equality in the workplace or in society until there is a reckoning and a taking of responsibility ... This will be investigated, this has to end, this behavior is wrong."
Personal life
O'Donnell lives in Washington, D.C. and New York City's Upper West Side neighborhood with her husband,[14] restaurateur Geoff Tracy (owner of D.C. restaurant Chef Geoff's), whom she married in June 2001. They met while attending Georgetown together. On May 20, 2007,[15] O'Donnell and Tracy became the parents of twins, whom they named Grace and Henry.[16] Their third child, daughter Riley Norah Tracy, was born on July 5, 2008; O'Donnell noted that her daughter's first name had been suggested by Tim Russert, who died three weeks prior to Riley's birth. O'Donnell and Tracy made a cookbook for parents titled Baby Love: Healthy, Easy, Delicious Meals for Your Baby and Toddler, released on August 31, 2010.[17] O'Donnell is a Roman Catholic.[18]
Awards and recognition
Washingtonian Magazine has named O'Donnell as one of Washington's 100 most powerful women. O'Donnell has also been named to Irish American Magazine's 2000 "Top 100 Irish Americans" list.
O'Donnell won the Sigma Delta Chi Award for Breaking News Coverage for the Dateline NBC story "DC In Crisis," which aired on the night of September 11, 2001.[19]
She won an Emmy as part of NBC News' Election Night coverage team in 2008 for the category Outstanding Live Coverage of a Breaking News Story – Long Form.[20] She was also awarded an Emmy in 2018 for her six-month investigation and report on "Sexual Assault in the Air Force Academy" for "CBS This Morning" in the category "Outstanding Investigative Report in a Newscast." That same year, this story was given an honorable mention from the White House Correspondents' Association for the Edgar Allen Poe Award.[21]
Criticism
Several conservative hosts and bloggers, most notably Glenn Beck, took issue with O'Donnell's interview of a Sarah Palin supporter during a 2009 book signing. O'Donnell (then with MSNBC) pointed out that Jackie Seal was wearing a shirt against the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, which Palin actually supported during the 2008 campaign. Beck ridiculed O'Donnell for "singling out a 13-year-old, and catching her off guard"; O'Donnell responded that Seal was 17 years old, and that she simply "walked the line and asked who wanted to talk on camera", and Seal volunteered.[22] Washington Post reporter David Weigel, and others, felt that O'Donnell asked a fair question. "It’s not O’Donnell’s fault", wrote commentator Steve Benen, "[that] the young woman has a limited understanding of her hero’s record."[23]