Famous American Journalists

Hunter S. Thompson was an American author and journalist. He is credited with creating his own subgenre of New Journalism called the gonzo journalism. The author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which was later adapted into a film, Thompson was famous for his lifelong use of drugs and alcohol. His books have had a major impact on counterculture.

Barbara Walters is an American retired television personality and broadcast journalist. Renowned for her popularity with viewers, Walters appeared as the host of several popular TV shows. A pioneer for women in broadcasting, Walters became the first woman to co-host shows like Today and ABC Evening News. In 1996, she was named in TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Stars list.

Renowned British-American documentary filmmaker, Louis Theroux began his career as a journalist with Metro Silicon Valley, Spy magazine and TV Nation series. He gained recognition with his documentary series When Louis Met..., and Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends. The two time BAFTA Award winner has also received appreciation for his documentaries The Most Hated Family in America and My Scientology Movie.

Hailing from a humble background, Gloria Steinem went on to become a celebrated journalist and an iconic feminist. Founder of the New York magazine and Ms Magazine, her life has been dedicated to writing, talking and fighting for women’s rights, gender equality, legalisation of abortion, among other things. She brought issues like female genital mutilation to the forefront in America.

Lester Holt is an American journalist who is the face of 'NBC News' since 2000. He hosts and co-hosts some of NBC's important programs, such as Dateline NBC and NBC Nightly News. In 1990, he was honored with the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for his work. In 2015, he was made an inductee of the California Hall of Fame.

A former basketball and tennis player, Rubin Roberts began her career as a sports anchor and reporter for a Mississippi channel, WDAM-TV, eventually joining ESPN as sportscaster, concurrently serving as a featured reporter for Good Morning America. In 2005, she left ESPN to become a co-anchor for Good Morning America, currently serving as an anchor for the same program.

Known for her stints on Fox News and CBS News, TV journalist Gretchen Carlson made headlines when she accused Fox CEO Roger Ailes of having sexually harassed her earlier, eventually causing him to resign. The former Miss America is also a skilled classical violinist and a Juilliard alumna.

Canadian-American journalist Peter Jennings is best remembered for his stint on ABC World News Tonight, as its sole anchor. A high-school drop-out, Jennings became one of the U.S.’s Big Three news anchors, along with Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather. He was known for his meticulous coverage of breaking news stories.

Broadcast journalist and television talk show host Tamron Hall is best known for her eponymous award-winning syndicated daytime talk show. She has previously worked for NBC News and MSNBC. An alumnus of Temple University, she is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists. She is actively involved in anti-domestic violence campaigns.

Stephen A. Smith is an American sports journalist, sports radio host, and sports television personality. Known for his use of popular catchphrases, such as stay off the weed and blasphemous, Smith has been playing a major role in the success of ESPN's First Take. He also appears on SportsCenter and hosts his own radio show, The Stephen A. Smith Show.

Jesse Watters is best known for his aggressive ambush journalism and for his vox pop interviews featured in the "Watters' World” segment of the show The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News. A seasoned political commentator, he has also hosted the talk shows The Five and Outnumbered.

Chris Hansen is an American YouTube personality and television journalist known for his work on the popular news magazine/reality legal show, Dateline NBC. The winner of eight Emmy Awards, Hansen's work on one of Dateline NBC's former segments To Catch a Predator, which focused on zeroing in on potential Internet sex predators, received much appreciation.

Nellie Bly was an American industrialist, journalist, inventor, and charity worker. She is remembered for her circumnavigation of the world in 72 days. She is also known for pioneering a new kind of investigative journalism as she worked undercover from within a mental institution to report on the institution. Nellie Bly’s life and work have inspired several works of art.

Kaitlan Collins is one of the most popular and influential American journalists of the current generation. As a White House correspondent for CNN, Collins traveled to at least six different countries with Donald Trump. She made headlines when she questioned Trump about Vladimir Putin, for which she was forbidden from attending a Trump administration press conference in 2018.

Jamie Hyneman is an American television host and special effects expert. He achieved popularity as the co-host of the popular TV series MythBusters. He is also credited with inventing an unmanned firefighting robotic vehicle called Sentry. Jamie Hyneman also co-designed Wavecam, an aerial cable robotic camera system used in entertainment and sports events.

Megyn Kelly is a well-known American journalist and political commentator. She had a successful career at Fox News and NBC News, where she did reporting and anchored many shows. She quit television and launched her media production company in 2020. She hosts the The Megyn Kelly Show podcast. She has also written an autobiography titled Settle for More.

Bill O'Reilly is an American author, journalist, and former TV host. The host of Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly played a major role in the success of Fox News Channel during his time at the channel. He is also credited with founding the No Spin News podcast, which he has been hosting since 2017.

Lawyer-turned-TV journalist Shannon Bream had worked with WBTV and WRC-TV, before she began hosting Fox News @ Night. She has also won several beauty pageants earlier, such as the Miss Virginia 1990 and the Miss Florida USA 1995 titles. She has also interned under Florida congressman Bill McCollum.

A popular American journalist and media personality, Mike Wallace is credited with bringing important information to the household of several Americans during his illustrious career that spanned nearly 70 years; he interviewed prominent personalities like Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Ayn Rand, and Salvador Dalí among others. His life and career inspired several films and he was portrayed by popular actors.

Phil Donahue is best known for his long stint as the host and creator of The Phil Donahue Show, later named Donahue, the first talk show that involved audience participation. He inspired iconic talk show host Oprah. He also hosted an MSNBC show and co-directed the documentary Body of War.

Pete Hegseth is an American author and television host. Before starting his TV career, Hegseth was an accomplished US Army National Guard officer and was honored with the prestigious Army Commendation Medal for his services. Also a skilled swimmer, Pete Hegseth swam across the Hudson River in support of military veterans in 2019 and 2020.

Fareed Zakaria is an Indian-American journalist, author, and political commentator. He has been serving as an editor-at-large for Time and editor for Newsweek International. He has also been serving as a columnist for Newsweek. His show, Fareed Zakaria GPS, which he hosts for CNN, has won a Peabody Award. 

The daughter of American publisher and financier Eugene Meyer, Katharine Graham later carried forward her family’s newspaper, The Washington Post. While the newspaper was initially handed over to her husband, Philip Graham, by her father, she took over as the owner, following Philip’s suicide. She later penned a Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir.

NBC News anchor and broadcast journalist Savannah Guthrie is best known for co-anchoring the show Today. She appeared in the series finale of 30 Rock. She has penned two children’s books, too. She is also a practicing lawyer and has worked with domestic abuse victims.

Freelance journalist and author Chuck Palahniuk specializes in what he calls transgressional fiction. His popular novel Fight Club was adapted into a film starring Brad Pitt and also won awards such as the Oregon Book Award for Best Novel. Though critics call his books nihilistic, he himself calls them romantic.

Newscaster and TV host, Harris Faulkner, is currently associated with  Fox News Channel.  She hosts her own prime time political franchise called Town Hall America with Harris Faulkner and also a daily daytime show The Faulkner Focus. A much-respected figure in the TV industry, she is the recipient of six Emmy Awards and the Amelia Earhart Pioneering Lifetime Achievement Award. 

Shepard Smith is a broadcast journalist who played a major role in upholding the reputation of Fox News Channel during his 23-year career at Fox. He currently works for CNBC, serving as the chief general news anchor of the channel. An openly gay man, Shepard Smith serves as an inspiration to the LGBT community.

Erin Burnett is an American news anchor. Dubbed the International Superstar, Burnett has hosted her own show Erin Burnett OutFront from the borders of Afghanistan, Israel, and the United Arab Emirates; she has also worked on a number of documentaries filmed inside India, Nigeria, Russia, and Libya. She has also reported from countries like Pakistan and China.

Born to a Japanese mother and an American father, journalist Ann Curry is best known for her extensive war reporting and has covered disturbances from areas such as Syria and Afghanistan. The Emmy Award-winning journalist has had a long stint on NBC. She also supports cancer research.

A popular legal commentator and television journalist, Nancy Grace has hosted many TV shows, including an eponymous nightly celebrity news show. An alumnus of the Walter F. George School of Law and New York University, she worked in a legal career before her stint in broadcasting. She is both praised and criticized for her outspoken style.

As one of the leading television journalists for the past 10 years, Anderson Cooper has played a prominent role in influencing several important events in the United States of America. An openly gay man, Anderson Cooper has also served as an inspiration to the entire LGBTQ community.

Katie Pavlich is an American author, podcaster, blogger, and conservative commentator. A Fox News contributor, Pavlich has been an alternate co-host for shows like The Five and has appeared on local and national radio shows on channels, such as CNN, CNBC, and Fox News. In 2014, she was named Woman of the Year by the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute.