Andrea Mitchell

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For the Australian politician, see Andrea Mitchell (politician).
Andrea Mitchell
Andrea Mitchell MSNBC mic crop.jpg
Andrea Mitchell, host of Andrea Mitchell Reports
Born (1946-10-30) October 30, 1946 (age 66)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Education University of Pennsylvania
Occupation News anchor
Years active 1967–present
Notable credit(s) NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Today, Andrea Mitchell Reports
Title NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Host, Andrea Mitchell Reports
Spouse(s) Gil Jackson (divorced 1970s)
Alan Greenspan (1997–present)
Website
NBC News Biography

Andrea Mitchell (born October 30, 1946) is an American television journalist, anchor, reporter and commentator for NBC News based in Washington, D.C.. She is the NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, and reported on the 2008 Race for the White House for NBC News broadcasts, including NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Today, and MSNBC. She anchors Andrea Mitchell Reports airing at 1pm–2pm ET weekdays on MSNBC, has appeared on and guest hosted Meet the Press, and is often a guest on Hardball with Chris Matthews and The Rachel Maddow Show.

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Early life[edit]

Mitchell was raised in a Jewish family,[1] in New Rochelle, New York, the daughter of Cecile and Sydney Mitchell. Her father was CEO and partial owner of a furniture manufacturing company in Manhattan; he was also the president of Beth El Synagogue in New Rochelle for forty years. Her mother was an administrator at the New York Institute of Technology in Manhattan.[2]

She graduated from New Rochelle High School.[3] She went on to receive a B.A. in English literature from the University of Pennsylvania in 1967, where she served as news director of student radio station WXPN. She stayed in Philadelphia after graduation, hired as a reporter at KYW radio. Mitchell rose to prominence as the station's City Hall correspondent, and also reported for sister station KYW-TV. She moved to CBS affiliate WTOP in Washington, D.C., in 1976. Two years later, Mitchell moved to NBC's network news operation, where she served as a general correspondent. In 1979, she was named the NBC News energy correspondent and reported on the late 1970s energy crisis and the Three Mile Island nuclear accident. Mitchell also covered the White House from 1981 until becoming chief congressional correspondent in 1988.[4]

NBC News and MSNBC[edit]

She has been the Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent for NBC News since November 1994.[5] Previously, she had served as Chief White House Correspondent (1993–1994) and Chief Congressional Correspondent (1988–1992) for NBC News.[4]

In 2005, Mitchell published a book entitled Talking Back... to Presidents, Dictators, and Assorted Scoundrels (ISBN 0-14-303873-7), chronicling her work as a journalist.

Mitchell hosts a program on NBC's news and commentary channel MSNBC entitled Andrea Mitchell Reports. It broadcasts weekdays from 1 PM ET/10 AM PT.

Controversies[edit]

Role in the Plame Affair[edit]

A report in The Washington Post ("Bush Administration Is Focus of Inquiry CIA Agent's Identity Was Leaked to Media" by Mike Allen and Dana Priest, Washington Post, September 28, 2003) that Mitchell was leaked Valerie Plame's identity led to her being questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. While Mitchell never appeared before the investigating grand jury or in I. Lewis Libby's trial, she was on the subpoena list as a person of interest. In October 2003, on "Capitol Report," Mitchell made a statement which Libby's defense construed to mean it was widely known among journalists that Joe Wilson's wife was in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a position she later clarified by answering the question of how widely known it was in Washington that Joe Wilson's wife worked for the CIA:[6] "It was widely known amongst those of us who cover the intelligence community and who were actively engaged in trying to track down who among the foreign service community was the envoy to Niger. But frankly I wasn't aware of her actual role at the CIA and the fact that she had a covert role involving weapons of mass destruction, not until Bob Novak wrote it"

Sudan Incident[edit]

During a July 2005 news conference in Khartoum, Mitchell was forcibly ejected from a room after asking Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir some pointed questions. They included: "Can you tell us why the violence is continuing?" (referring to genocide in Sudan's Darfur province) and "Can you tell us why the government is supporting the militias?" "Why should Americans believe your promises?" At this point two armed security guards grabbed her and forcibly shoved her out of the room.

After the incident Mitchell said: "It is our job to ask. They can always say 'no comment'… but to drag a reporter out just for asking is inexcusable behavior."

Prior to the incident, Sudanese officials expressed reservations about allowing American newspaper or television reporters to join the Sudanese press pool. Sean McCormack, the U.S. State Department's assistant secretary for public affairs, said to his Sudanese counterpart, "I'll convey your desires about not permitting reporters to ask questions, but that's all I'll do. We have a free press." McCormack's Sudanese counterpart replied, "There is no freedom of the press here." [7] [8]

Reference to rural Virginia as "redneck" country[edit]

During an appearance on MSNBC on June 5, 2008, Mitchell referred to the voters of the southwest Virginia region as rednecks.[9][10] On June 9, she apologized on air, saying "I owe an apology to the good people of Bristol, Virginia for something stupid that I said last week. I was trying to explain, based on reporting from Democratic strategists, why Barack Obama was campaigning in southwest Virginia, but without attribution or explanation, I used a term strategists often use to demean an entire community. No excuses, I'm really sorry."[11]

Romney Wawa remarks controversy[edit]

Having been led to believe that a clip showed that Mitt Romney was impressed by a commonplace device, Mitchell and contributor Chris Cillizza laughed after the clip aired on Andrea Mitchell Reports.[12] Alluding to an incident with George H.W. Bush in his failed 1992 campaign, she suggested this might be Romney's "supermarket scanner moment".[13] She also stated, "I get the feeling that Mitt Romney has not been in too many Wawas along the roadside of Pennsylvania." The full clip puts his comments in the context of his claim that Wawa's "touchtone keypads" (touchscreens) show efficiency in the private sector compared to his statement that it took multiple filings of a 33-page government form for an optometrist to change his address.[13][14][15][16]

Mitchell briefly addressed complaints from the RNC and Romney's campaign the following day. Introducing the full clip, Mitchell stated, "The RNC and the campaign both reached out to us, saying that Romney had more to say on that visit about federal bureaucracy and innovation in the private sector. We didn't get a chance to play that, so here it is now."[14]

Personal life[edit]

Mitchell was born in New York City. She married her second husband, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, twenty years her senior, in 1997 following a lengthy relationship. [17] Previously, she was married to Gil Jackson; that marriage ended in divorce in the mid-1970s. At the end of her show on September 7, 2011, Mitchell revealed that she was diagnosed with breast cancer during a doctor's visit a few weeks earlier. It was caught early and treated.[18]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Jewish Women International: "Interview with Andrea Mitchell" By Danielle Cantor retrieved August 11, 2012
  2. ^ New York Times: "Alan Greenspan, Andrea Mitchell" April 06, 1997
  3. ^ "List of Distinguished Alumni". New Rochelle High School. 
  4. ^ a b "Andrea Mitchell - NBCNightlyNews - About Us". NBCNews.com. Retrieved 5 February 2013. 
  5. ^ National Book Festival. "Andrea Mitchell". Library of Congress. Retrieved 5 February 2013. 
  6. ^ http://thenexthurrah.typepad.com/the_next_hurrah/files/030207_walton_evidentiary_opinion.pdf
  7. ^ "Daily Nightly: Brian previews Friday's newscast". NBC News. 21 July 2005. Retrieved 28 December 2012. 
  8. ^ "Sudanese scuffle symbolic of disregard for own". NBC News. 21 July 2005. Retrieved 28 December 2012. 
  9. ^ Linkins, Jason (June 13, 2008). "MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell Refers To Rural Virginians As 'Rednecks'". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 March 2013. 
  10. ^ Calderone, Michael (June 9, 2008). "NBC's Mitchell to address "redneck" comment". Politico. Retrieved 10 March 2013. 
  11. ^ MSNBC Live, MSNBC. June 9, 2008.
  12. ^ Byers, Dylan. 18 June 2012, Politico, "MSNBC mischaracterizes Romney remarks".
  13. ^ a b Wemple, Erik (June 19, 2012). "MSNBC faces pressure on Romney’s Wawa moment". The Washington Post. Retrieved 10 March 2013. 
  14. ^ a b Mirkinson, Jack (June 19, 2012). "MSNBC Romney Edit Draws Fire; Andrea Mitchell Briefly Addresses Controversy (VIDEO)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 10 March 2013. 
  15. ^ Fallows, James (June 18, 2012). "Wawa vs. the Post Office: Bus-Capade Update". The Atlantic. Retrieved 10 March 2013. 
  16. ^ Sullivan, Andrew (June 18, 2012). "A 33 Page Form To Change Your Address?". The Dish. Retrieved 10 March 2013. 
  17. ^ Alan Greenspan, Andrea Mitchell, April 6, 1997, New York Times.
  18. ^ "NBC's Andrea Mitchell reveals she has breast cancer". 2011-09-07. Retrieved 2011-09-07. 

External links[edit]

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