Andrea Mitchell

Infobox Person
name = Andrea Mitchell


imagesize = 176px
caption =
birth_name =
birth_date = birth date and age|1946|10|30
birth_place = New York, New York
death_date =
death_place =
death_cause =
residence =
other_names =
known =
employer = NBC Universal
occupation = Journalist, television commentator, and writer
title =
salary =
networth =
term =
predecessor =
successor =
party =
boards =
religion =
spouse = Gil Jackson (divorced 1970s) Alan Greenspan (1997-present)
partner =
children =
parents =
relations =
website =
footnotes =

Andrea Mitchell (born October 30, 1946 in New York, NY) is a Washington, D.C.-based American television journalist, anchor, reporter, and commentator for NBC News. She is the NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent, and has recently 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 the 1 p.m. hour of MSNBC Live, has appeared on "Meet the Press", and is often a guest on "Hardball with Chris Matthews".

Career

Mitchell graduated with 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 joined Philadelphia then-NBC affiliate KYW radio and KYW-TV as a reporter that same year.

After several years at KYW, 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.

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

In 2005, Mitchell published a book entitled "Talking Back... to Presidents, Dictators, and Assorted Scoundrels" (ISBN 0143038737), chronicling her work as a journalist.

Role in the Lewis Libby trial

A report in "The Washington Post"Fact|date=August 2008 that Mitchell was an original recipient of the leak of Valerie Plame's identity led to her being questioned by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the case. While Mitchell never appeared before the grand jury in the indictment or in the trial of Lewis Libby, she was on the subpoena list as a person of interest. In October 2003, on the Capitol Report, Mitchell made a statement which Libby's defense construed to mean that it was widely known among journalists that Joe Wilson's wife was in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), a statement that she later recanted.Fact|date=August 2008

MURRAY: And the second question is: Do we have any idea how widely known it was in Washington that Joe Wilson's wife worked for the CIA?
MITCHELL: 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.

As a reporter, Mitchell has covered the case without acknowledging her own involvement. As a guest on Don Imus's radio program, Mitchell answered a number of his questions about the case and her involvement. She jokingly called the sharp-tongued radio personality her "personal terrorist".Fact|date=August 2008

udan incident

During a news conference in Khartoum in July, 2005, 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." Fact|date=August 2008

McCain's "cone of silence"

Following a forum at the Saddleback Church in August 2008 on values and ethics conducted by Christian pastor and author Rick Warren between the presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, Mitchell reported that the Obama campaign accused McCain of overhearing the questions asked of Obama, when McCain was supposed to be in a secluded "cone of silence."

According to the "New York Times", Warren assured the audience that “we have safely placed Senator McCain in a cone of silence” and that he could not hear the questions. However, McCain was not in the building at the time; he was still in transit, without supervision by the forum staff. [http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/us/politics/18mccain.html Despite Assurances, McCain Wasn’t in a ‘Cone of Silence’] , August 17, 2008, "New York Times".] According to CNN, Warren said "we flat out asked him" if he heard any of the questions. The McCain campaign asserted "that McCain did not hear or see any of the broadcast" in the motorcade or after he arrived. [ [http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/08/18/mccain-camp-fires-at-nbc-insists-candidate-observed-cone-of-silence/ McCain Camp Fires At NBC] , August 18, 2008, FOX News.] The accusation provoked the McCain campaign into writing a letter to NBC News, complaining of biased news coverage. [ [http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12594.html McCain protests NBC coverage] , August 17, 2008, Politico.] The dispute expanded, including reports on other networks such as CBS noting that there were allegations McCain had access to "communications devices" which may have advised him of the questions even if he was not listening directly to the broadcast itself. [http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/08/18/politics/horserace/entry4358523.shtml McCain's "Cone Of Silence" At Saddleback] , August 18, 2008, CBS News.]

Personal life

Mitchell married her second husband, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, in 1997. [ [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A01E0DE133DF935A35757C0A961958260 Alan Greenspan, Andrea Mitchell] , April 6, 1997, New York Times.] Her husband, first appointed Chairman in August 1987 by President Ronald Reagan, retired in 2006. Previously, she was married to Gil Jackson; that marriage ended in divorce in the mid-1970s.

References

External links

* [http://www.upenn.edu/assets/images/videos/mitchell.mpg Andrea Mitchell - University of Pennsylvania video]
* [http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3688874/ Official biography] at MSNBC
* [http://www.infoplease.com/ipea/A0880183.html biography] at infoplease almanac
* [http://polnews.50webs.org/andreamitchell.htm Andrea Mitchell]