Bio
Steve Capus
In November 2005, Steve Capus was named president of NBC News. Capus has served as the arbiter of issues involving ethics, style, standards, safety and other matters that affect the Division’s journalistic bearing. Capus reports to Steve Burke, chief executive officer of NBC Universal.
James Fallows
James Fallows is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and has worked for the magazine for more than 30 years. In that time he has been based in various sites within the United States and in Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Shanghai, and Beijing. He has written ten books, of which the latest, China Airborne, was published in May. He won the American Book Award for his book National Defense, the National Magazine Award for his writings about the Iraq war, and a New York Emmy for his role as host of a documentary series on China. During the Carter administration, he worked in the White House as the president’s chief speechwriter.
David Rhodes
David Rhodes was named President of CBS News in February 2011. As President, he oversees all network newsgathering and breaking news coverage including programs such as the "CBS Evening News," "The Early Show," "CBS Sunday Morning," "Face the Nation, "48 Hours Mystery," and content for CBSNews.com and CBS News Radio.
Prior to joining CBS News, Rhodes worked at two fast-growing news organizations, holding senior roles at Bloomberg and at Fox News. He began his career in electronic journalism in 1996 as a Production Assistant with the newly-launched Fox News Channel, remaining at Fox as the upstart network surpassed cable competitors to become number one in the category, where it has remained since 2002.
Over 12 years at Fox, Rhodes held various positions in newsgathering and management, rising to Vice President of News in charge of the network's day-to-day spot news coverage, domestic news bureaus, and hard-news programs. In his time at the channel, he ran political reporting, beginning in 2000, and took part in election-night decision teams from 2002 to 2008. Rhodes edited foreign coverage including coordination of the channel's resources in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Gulf region. He directed the network's coverage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and other major events. Rhodes was Fox News Channel's assignment manager and was on the desk in New York on the morning of September 11, 2001 when the World Trade Center, Pentagon, and Pennsylvania came under attack.
In November 2008, Rhodes joined Bloomberg's Multimedia group as Head of U.S. Television. As Bloomberg launched a new approach to its global TV product, he assumed responsibility for the U.S. channel's programming, development, editorial, newsgathering, production, and operations, directing a staff of more than 200 people. During this time he launched an all-new look and feel for the channel's programming and made significant changes in the channel's on-air talent and overall positioning.
Rhodes holds a Bachelor of Arts in economics and political science from Rice University in Houston, Texas. He is a native of New York City and lives in Brooklyn with his wife, Emma, and sons Ethan and Oliver.
Ben Sherwood
Ben Sherwood was named president of ABC News in December 2010. He is responsible for all aspects of ABC News' broadcasts, including World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer, Nightline, Good Morning America, 20/20, and This Week with George Stephanopoulos. In addition, Sherwood oversees ABC News Radio, ABCNEWS.com, satellite service NewsOne, and ABC News NOW. Under Sherwood's leadership the News division is enjoying journalistic success and significant audience growth. In addition, during Sherwood's tenure the News division has won some of the most prestigious honors in the industry, including George Polk, George Foster Peabody, Overseas Press Club, SPJ Sigma Delta Chi, and Investigative Reporters and Editors Awards. Sherwood launched his journalistic career in earnest when he joined ABC News in 1989, serving as an investigative associate producer and producer for ABC News' PrimeTime Live with anchors Diane Sawyer and Sam Donaldson. In 1997 he joined NBC's Nightly News with Tom Brokaw as broadcast producer responsible for "In Depth" reports, then senior producer, and ultimately senior broadcast producer, where he helped guide coverage of the September 11th attacks and the controversy in Florida during the 2000 presidential election. Sherwood returned to ABC News in April 2004 as executive producer of the network's award-winning morning program, Good Morning America. he guided GMA to two of the most successful seasons in its history, while overseeing prize-winning coverage of the tsunami in Southeast Asia, the devastation of hurricane Katrina, and the presidential election of 2004. Over the years Sherwood's journalism and non-fiction essays have been published in many respected publications, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, New Republic, Washington Monthly, Parade, and O magazine. He is the author of two critically acclaimed best-selling novels, The Man Who Ate the 747 (2000) and The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud (2004). His fiction has been published around the world in more than 15 languages. In July 2010, The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud was adapted as a feature film starring Zac Efron and was released by Universal Pictures under the title Charlie St. Cloud. Sherwood's latest book, The Survivors Club, is a non-fiction exploration of the science and secrets behind who bounces back from everyday adversity and who doesn't; who beats life-threatening disease and who succumbs; and who triumphs after economic hardship and who surrenders. The book became an instant New York Times bestseller, has been featured widely in print and on television and has been published around the world. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Harvard College in 1986, Sherwood earned a BA degree in American government and history. From 1986 to 1989, as a Rhodes Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford, he earned master's degrees in British imperial history and development economics. Sherwood is a member of the advisory board of City Year Los Angeles and a member of the advisory board of the Center for Public Integrity in Washington, DC. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He and his wife, Karen, live in New York with their two young boys.
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Encyclopædia Britannica Articles
- ABC
Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. To avoid a communications monopoly, NBC was forced to sell the Blue network in 1941. Its buyer, Edward J. Noble, maker of Life-Savers candies, gave the company its present name. After merging with United Paramount Theaters in 1953, ABC expanded into the emerging television industry and soon became one of the three top networks. It specialized in sports broadcasting and developed the instant replay in 1961. It was bought by Capital Cities Communications in 1985 and by the Walt Disney Co. in 1995.
- ABC on britannica.com
- Atlantic Monthly, The
Monthly journal of literature and opinion, one of the oldest and most respected of U.S. reviews. Published in Boston, it was founded in 1857 by Moses Dresser Phillips. It soon became noted for the quality of its fiction and general articles, contributed by distinguished editors and authors such as James Russell Lowell, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry W. Longfellow, and Oliver Wendell Holmes. In the early 1920s it expanded its scope to political affairs, featuring articles by figures such as Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Booker T. Washington. In the 1970s increasing costs nearly shut down the magazine; it was purchased in 1980 by Mortimer B. Zuckerman and was sold to the National Journal Group in 1999.
- Atlantic Monthly, The on britannica.com
- CBS Television Network
Major U.S. broadcasting company and network. It began in 1928 as the Columbia Broadcasting System, a small radio network directed by William S. Paley. By offering programming free to affiliated stations in return for their agreement to broadcast sponsored shows, Paley built the network from 22 stations to 114 in 10 years. Such stars as Fred Allen, Bing Crosby, and Kate Smith increased audience ratings into the 1940s. Jack Benny, Ed Sullivan, Lucille Ball, Mary Tyler Moore, and Walter Cronkite made CBS the dominant television network into the 1970s. The company diversified into several other fields, but only Columbia Records was successful, and the corporation sold all its other divisions in 1985 to concentrate on broadcasting. A decline in ratings and in the number of affiliated stations led to its sale to Westinghouse Electric Corp. in 1995. CBS Corp. was purchased by Viacom Inc. in 2000.
- CBS Television Network on britannica.com
- NBC
Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. Directed by RCA's president David Sarnoff, it became wholly owned by RCA in 1930. NBC was initially divided into the semi-independent Blue Network, based on station WJZ, and the Red Network, based on WEAF, each with links to stations in other cities. By 1938 the Red Network carried 75% of NBC's programs. The Blue Network was sold in 1941 and became the American Broadcasting Co. (ABC). NBC entered television broadcasting in a weakened position, and by 1952 it trailed CBS in audience ratings, though it gradually regained its leading position. In 1986 RCA was sold to GE; in 1987 NBC sold its radio networks. In the 1990s NBC expanded its cable television programming, creating MSNBC (an alliance with Microsoft) and CNBC (an alliance with Dow Jones).
- NBC on britannica.com
© 2010 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
