Savannah Guthrie


Savannah Clark Guthrie is an American broadcast journalist and attorney. She is a main co-anchor of the NBC News morning show Today, a position she has held since July 2012.
Guthrie joined NBC News in September 2007 as a legal analyst and correspondent, regularly reporting on trials throughout the country. After serving as a White House correspondent between 2008 and 2011 and as co-anchor of the MSNBC program The Daily Rundown in 2010 and 2011, Guthrie was announced as the co-host of Today's third hour alongside Natalie Morales and Al Roker. In that role, she substituted as news anchor and main co-host and appeared as the chief legal analyst across all NBC platforms. Guthrie ceased to be the third hour co-host and chief legal analyst in 2012 when she replaced Ann Curry as co-anchor of Today.

Early life and education

Savannah Clark Guthrie, named for her great-grandmother, was born in Melbourne, Australia, where her father was stationed for work. Her family returned to the United States and moved to Tucson, Arizona two years later. She graduated from Amphitheater High School in Tucson in the same class as Michael Bates, an NFL player and Olympic medalist athlete in track.
Guthrie received a B.A. in journalism from the University of Arizona, graduating cum laude in 1993. She was a member of the Arizona Alpha chapter of Pi Beta Phi. In 2002, Guthrie graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center with a Juris Doctor degree and was inducted into the Order of the Coif.

Career

Her first job in broadcasting was at ABC affiliate KMIZ, in Columbia, Missouri, where she worked for two years before returning to Tucson and a job with NBC affiliate KVOA in 1995. After five years in Arizona, she took a job at WRC-TV, Washington, D.C. where she covered major stories including the September 11, 2001, attack on The Pentagon and the 2001 anthrax attacks.
After working several years as a broadcast journalist, Guthrie chose to resume her higher education, receiving a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, where she graduated magna Cum Laude in 2002. She is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and Arizona, having scored first place on the Arizona Bar Exam. She also was a member of Order of the Coif and received the International Academy of Trial Lawyers' Student Advocacy award for her work with victims of domestic violence.
She worked for the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, where she served as a litigation associate, specializing in white-collar criminal defense. In 2004, she became a national trial correspondent for CourtTV. She covered high-profile legal proceedings including the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, the abduction and murder trial of Carlie Brucia, the Martha Stewart case, and the Michael Jackson trial.

NBC News (2007–present)

Guthrie became a correspondent for NBC News in September 2007. She covered Sarah Palin's 2008 vice-presidential race from Fairbanks, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, Sioux City, Iowa, and Washington. On December 18, she was named White House correspondent for NBC News. In this capacity, she contributed to all NBC News properties. Guthrie is also an NBC News anchor and substitute anchor on NBC Nightly News.

''The Today Show'' (2011–present)

After Guthrie substituted for both Meredith Vieira and Ann Curry on Today, it was confirmed on May 9, 2011 that she would become co-host of the 9 a.m. hour, alongside Natalie Morales and Al Roker, and the show's Chief Legal Editor. The move came after Vieira announced her departure from the show as co-host of the main program, and the subsequent promotions of Curry and Morales to main co-host and news anchor, respectively. Guthrie departed The Daily Rundown for Today on June 9, 2011. She also became NBC News's Chief Legal Analyst, making her first appearance in this role on May 25, 2011. On June 29, 2012, it was announced that Guthrie would co-anchor Today, replacing Curry. Her first day as co-anchor, alongside Matt Lauer was on July 9, 2012.
During her time on Today, she has become known for her highly regarded interviews. In 2011, she conducted an interview with Donald Trump in which he discussed his role in the Barack Obama "birther" controversy. Later that same year, she interviewed Dr. Conrad Murray after he was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of Michael Jackson. She also reported exclusive details about the Death of Osama bin Laden. On November 29, 2017, Matt Lauer left Today due to sexual misconduct allegations making Savannah Guthrie then become the host of Today alongside Hoda Kotb to this day.
Since 2012, she has hosted the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on NBC, and the annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting.

Other work

Guthrie appeared as herself in the 2013 series finale of the NBC sitcom 30 Rock and the 2015 film .
In 2018, she played alongside compatriot Jack Sock in an exhibition tennis match against Swiss Roger Federer and American Bill Gates. Savannah and Jack suffered a loss, the final score being 3-6.

Personal life

While covering the trial of Michael Jackson, Guthrie met English-born BBC News presenter Mark Orchard. After Orchard divorced his first wife, journalist Anne Kornblut, he began dating Guthrie and the couple married in December 2005. Guthrie and Orchard divorced in 2009, and later that year she began a relationship with Democratic political and communications consultant Michael Feldman. They became engaged in May 2013 while vacationing on Turks and Caicos. They married on March 15, 2014 in Tucson, with Guthrie announcing two days later she was four months pregnant. Guthrie gave birth to their first child, a daughter, Vale Guthrie Feldman in August 2014. On June 7, 2016, Guthrie announced she and her husband were expecting their second child. She gave birth to their son, Charles Max Feldman that December. In November 2019, Guthrie suffered a torn retina and vision loss in her right eye after her son hit her in the eye with a toy train. In December 2019, she underwent extensive eye surgery to fix the issue and was able to return to work in January 2020.