John Roberts (journalist)
| John Roberts | |
|---|---|
 Roberts in 2004 | |
| Born |
John D. Roberts November 15, 1956 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Other names | J. D. Roberts |
| Education | University of Toronto at Mississauga, 1978 |
| Occupation | News reporter, television anchor, journalist |
| Years active | 1977–present |
| Spouse(s) | Kyra Phillips (m. 2010) |
| Children | 2 |
John D. Roberts (born November 15, 1956) is a Canadian-born television journalist for the Fox News Channel as a national correspondent based in Atlanta.
He joined Fox News in January 2011. Prior to Fox News, Roberts was at CNN where he was an anchor and Senior National Correspondent. He worked at various radio and television jobs before joining CTV in 1990, CBS News in 1992 and CNN in 2007. On March 12, 2009, Roberts was inducted into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame.
Early life
Roberts was born in Toronto, Ontario and grew up in Mississauga, Ontario. He attended Erindale Secondary School and later the University of Toronto at Mississauga.
Career
Local radio
Roberts first started working in radio at the local college station, CFRE-FM in Mississauga. His first professional job was as reporter and news anchor with CFOS in Owen Sound, Ontario in 1975. From there, he went to CHYM in Kitchener, where he worked as a newsman and DJ, then worked on-air for radio station CJBK in London, Ontario in 1977, before moving back to Toronto to join top-40 powerhouse CHUM later that year as a weekday evening disc jockey. 1050 CHUM and CITY-TV gave him the on-air name J.D. Roberts.
CITY-TV and MuchMusic
In 1979, he branched out from his radio work to co-host with Jeanne Beker the music newsmagazine The NewMusic on CITY-TV until 1985. The New Music was a pioneering program that pre-dated MTV. Roberts, Beker and the New Music team won many awards for their work. During that time, Roberts also served as Entertainment reporter for CITY-TV and on occasion filled in for John Majhor - and later Brad Giffen on CITY-TV's local music video show Toronto Rocks. In 1984, Roberts was tapped to front Canada's music channel MuchMusic. He and Christopher Ward appeared as the first on-air personalities when the network launched in 1984. At MuchMusic he hosted many programs, including a one-hour heavy metal video show called The Power Hour.
In 1987, Roberts left MuchMusic to anchor CITY-TV's CityPulse, and became anchor of the 22:00 CityPulse Tonight when Anne Mroczkowski moved from anchoring that newscast to join Gord Martineau on the 18:00 edition.
WCIX
Between 1989 and 1990 Roberts was an anchor/reporter for WCIX (now WFOR-TV), the CBS-owned and operated television station in Miami, Florida.
CTV
Roberts returned to Canada in September 1990 to co-host the national CTV morning show Canada AM, initially with Deborah McGregor, and later with Pamela Wallin.
CBS
In 1992, Roberts moved to CBS News in New York. His initial assignment was anchoring the CBS Morning News with co-anchor Meredith Vieira. Roberts was also the substitute anchor for Harry Smith on CBS This Morning. From 1994 to 1995 Roberts anchored the 17:00 and 23:00 newscasts at CBS's flagship station in New York, WCBS-TV. In 1995, he moved back to the CBS Network as anchor of the CBS Sunday Evening News when Connie Chung was elevated to co-anchor of the CBS Evening News.
Roberts served as Chief White House Correspondent at CBS from 1999 to 2006, and regularly anchored a Sunday-afternoon 15:00 ET newscast for the CBS Radio Network. He had been widely considered a potential replacement for CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather after Rather stepped down from the anchor desk in March 2005, but Bob Schieffer was chosen on an interim basis to be the next CBS Evening News anchor, and in subsequent months, it became clear that Roberts was not under consideration for the job.
In March 2003, Roberts was embedded with the 2nd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion of the U.S. Marines during the initial invasion of Iraq.
On July 19, 2005 he introduced CBS's coverage on the announcement of the nomination of John G. Roberts, Jr. for the Supreme Court of the United States. He once joked in a newspaper column that he asked to be referred to as "Your Honor" because he and Justice Roberts bear the same name.
During his time at CBS, Roberts received three national Emmy awards as well as a Gracie award for his coverage of a groundbreaking surgery to repair neural tube defects.
CNN
In February 2006, Roberts left CBS and joined CNN. In July 2006 and August 2006, Roberts reported from the front lines in the Israel/Hezbollah war and at one point, embedded with an Israeli infantry unit, marching 10 miles into Lebanon. Roberts was recognized with a Headline Award for that embed. CNN's coverage of the war was recognized with an Edward R. Murrow Award.
In October 2006, he returned to Iraq as the first anchor of This Week at War and served as the Senior National Correspondent based in Washington. He has also substituted for Anderson Cooper on Anderson Cooper 360°. Roberts was co-anchor of CNN's morning program American Morning from 2007 to 2010. He anchored from New York. In 2010, American Morning was nominated for "best morning program" at the Daytime Emmy Awards, losing to Good Morning America.
The New York Post reported on December 7, 2010, that Roberts would depart American Morning and become a national correspondent based out of CNN's headquarters in Atlanta.[1] The Associated Press reported that Roberts' departure was at his request so he could move closer to fiancée and CNN anchor Kyra Phillips.[2]
Fox News
Executives at CNN confirmed on January 3, 2011 that Roberts would be leaving CNN to join Fox News as a national correspondent, based in Atlanta.[3]
In an August 2016 sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News, Andrea Tantaros claimed that Roberts, Scott Brown, and Bill O'Reilly sexually harassed her.[4]
Personal life
Divorced since 2008, John Roberts announced his engagement to CNN anchor Kyra Phillips on April 25, 2010.[5] They have twin children named Sage Ann and Kellan Clay.[6]
References
- ↑ "John Roberts to leave 'American Morning' in the new year". New York Post. 2010-12-07. Retrieved 2010-12-07.
- ↑ "CNN morning show loses Roberts, executive producer". Associated Press. 2010-12-14. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
- ↑ Carter, Bill (January 3, 2011). "John Roberts Leaves CNN for Fox News". The New York Times.
- ↑ Sutton, Kelsey (August 23, 2016). "Former Fox News host Andrea Tantaros sues for sexual harassment". Politico. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
- ↑ TV Newser
- ↑ http://celebritybabies.people.com/2011/03/15/kyra-phillips-john-roberts-welcome-twins-sage-and-kellan/
External links
- What's In A Name? – Commentary by John D. Roberts on the Supreme Court nomination of John Roberts, and his opinion on the name.
- John Roberts, anchor, CNN's American Morning, inducted Broadcast Industry Hall of Fame during the Canadian Music Industry Awards Canadian Music Week, March 11–14, 2009