Month: January 2017

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The management team of Face Activities extends our acknowledgement and best wishes to two leading broadcast journalists who are embarking on new adventures at new networks—-MSNBC and NBC, respectively. Both Greta Van Susteren and Megyn Kelly, formerly of Fox News, are leaving after many years of service. They both deserve a change, and have much to offer. They are popular, successful, and talented. It’s interesting to note that both are trained in the law, which makes their contributions and commentary all the more substantive.

Greta Van Susteren

Greta Van Susteren is a veteran television journalist, now leaving Fox News, where she stood out, for MSNBC, a surprising move that has both conservatives and liberals shocked. She prides herself on being concerned with the facts, not with her own agenda, and giving her interview subjects “a fair shake.” MSNBC, a network with a decidedly left of center reputation, is weak at getting interviews with high-profile conservatives, the holy grail being President Elect Donald Trump. That may change with Van Susteren on the team, an it likely factors in their decision to hire her.

Born in Appleton Wisconsin in 1954, Van Susteren’s father was an elected judge of Dutch descent, while her mother was a homemaker of Irish descent. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, having studied geography and economics, and then earned her J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center, in 1979. She enjoyed a full-time legal career, and served as an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown, and Stetson Law School awarded her an honorary Doctorate of Law Degree.

Van Susteren made the move to journalism, and worked as a legal analyst for CNN, commenting during the O.J. Simpson Trial. She remained at CNN for 10 years, and moved to Fox, with great Fanfare, enjoying a 14 year tenure, before resigning in September of 2016. She’s moving to MSNBC, hosting “For the Record,” which airs January 9.

 

Megyn Kelly

Megyn Kelly was a popular anchor and commentator at Fox News, sometimes beating out O’Reilly in ratings. She had a challenging time at Fox recently, running up against Donald Trump’s overt sexism and arrogance, when she hosted one of the Presidential Debates, pressing the candidate for answers to questions the candidate didn’t like. Tensions lasted throughout the 2016 campaign. And in July she confirmed that Fox News founder Roger Ailes had sexually harassed her, amidst an investigation. Ailes resigned two days later, but denied the allegations.

Kelly was born in Syracuse, New York in 1970. Her father taught education at SUNY Albany, and died of a heart attack when she was 15 years old, and her mother was a homemaker. She graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in political science, and attended Albany Law school, earning her J.D. in 1995. She worked in a Chicago Law Firm, and then the firm Jones Day, where she worked for 9 years.

Moving to Washington D.C., Kelly was ready for a change, and started a career in journalism as a general assignment reporter for an ABC affiliate station, in 2003. After covering a wide range of relevant news of the day, she applied for work at Fox News, and served in a variety of capacities, rising in the ranks quickly, participating in a number of programs over the years, growing rapidly in popularity, and achieving headliner status. She moderated a Presidential debate in 2012, and 2016 as well. She famously challenged Carl Rove when he refused to recognize President Obama’s second term win during election night coverage. And it’s interesting to note she sometimes filled in for Greta Van Susteren at Fox, when she was away. Now she’s starting a new role at NBC.

Note: when this article was posted yesterday we incorrectly reported that Kelly was starting at MSNBC, not NBC. We apologize for the mistake.

Photos:

• By MattGagnon – This is a photograph that I, myself, took on the floor of the convention on August 26, 2012, Public Domain, Link
• By Bbsrock – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link