Where 20 Famous Journalists Went to College

Where journalists went to school.

Legendary CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite once said, “Journalism is what we need to make democracy work.” At a time when the general public is losing confidence in the media — a 2024 Gallup Poll found that only 31% of Americans trust the media — many agree that quality journalism is more important than ever. Though many prominent journalists studied the craft in their college days, some earned degrees in other fields, including CNN’s Anderson Cooper, who studied political science at Yale University. Others started college but never graduated, like NBC’s Lester Holt, who studied government at California State University–Sacramento. Here are 20 prominent journalists and what they studied in college.

Christiane Amanpour

Degree earned: Bachelor’s in journalism
College: University of Rhode Island
U.S. News rank: 152 (tie), National Universities

One of the foremost war reporters of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Christiane Amanpour began her journalism career at an NBC affiliate in Rhode Island before joining CNN in 1983. A native of London, England, she became CNN’s lead reporter during the 1989 pro-democracy uprisings in Eastern Europe and went on to cover major conflicts, including the Persian Gulf War and the Bosnian War. She is CNN’s chief international anchor, hosting “The Amanpour Hour” and the global affairs flagship “Amanpour,” and has led “Amanpour & Company” on PBS since 2018. Amanpour has won numerous Emmy Awards for her investigative journalism and news coverage, as well as a Lifetime Achievement Emmy and a Peabody Award.

Andrew Feinberg

Degree earned: Bachelor’s in history and history of science
College: University of Wisconsin–Madison
U.S. News rank: 39 (tie), National Universities

From his post in Washington, D.C., Andrew Feinberg covers the U.S. executive branch, Congress, political investigations and campaigns as White House correspondent for The Independent. In 2023, he was the first to report the exact timing of then-former President Donald Trump’s historic federal indictment. He also uncovered “the Trump White House social media monitoring operation that gave Mr Trump’s aides advance warning of plans” for the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to The Independent’s website. Feinberg made headlines in April 2025 for confronting Trump over his stock market claims after the U.S. Cabinet meeting marking the first 100 days of his second term. He has written for Newsweek, Politico Magazine and The Hill.

Carl Bernstein

Degree earned: None
College: University of Maryland
U.S. News Rank: 44 (tie), National Universities

Widely renowned as one of the best investigative journalists of all time, Carl Bernstein, then with The Washington Post, teamed up with fellow reporter Bob Woodward to uncover the Watergate scandal that ultimately led to President Richard Nixon’s resignation in 1974. Just a decade prior, Bernstein had dropped out of college to pursue a reporting career at age 19. He chronicled his early days of breaking into the news world in his 2022 memoir “Chasing History.” Over the decades, he and Woodward co-authored multiple bestselling books, including “All the President’s Men” and “The Final Days.” The Pulitzer Prize winner is a contributing editor for Vanity Fair and a political analyst for CNN.

Kaitlan Collins

Degree earned: Bachelor’s in political science and journalism
College: University of Alabama
U.S. News rank: 171 (tie), National Universities

Kaitlan Collins, CNN’s chief White House correspondent and anchor of “The Source with Kaitlan Collins,” is known for interviews with high-profile figures like Hillary Clinton, JD Vance, William Barr and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. She previously co-anchored “CNN This Morning” and has broken major stories on the Biden and Trump administrations since joining CNN in 2017. Described by colleague Wolf Blitzer as “relentless, in the best possible way,” Collins became CNN’s youngest ever White House correspondent at age 28. She was previously entertainment reporter then White House correspondent at The Daily Caller, covering the 2016 election and the early months of the first Trump presidency.

Jeffrey Goldberg

Degree earned: None
College: University of Pennsylvania
U.S. News rank: 10, National Universities

Jeffrey Goldberg broke the Signalgate story in March 2025, after top Trump officials accidentally included him on a group chat that exposed classified plans for U.S. strikes in Yemen. “I didn’t think it could be real,” he wrote. “Then the bombs started falling.” The scandal led to Mike Waltz’s reassignment from national security adviser to nominee as ambassador to the United Nations. Goldberg has served as editor-in-chief of The Atlantic since 2016, guiding the magazine to its first Pulitzer Prizes — three in three years. A former reporter for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, New York Magazine and The Washington Post, Goldberg began his journalism career at the Daily Pennsylvanian while at the University of Pennsylvania. He’s earned numerous reporting awards.

Michele Norris

Degree earned: Bachelor’s in journalism
College: University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
U.S. News rank: 54 (tie), National Universities

Michele Norris joined MSNBC as a contributing editor in November 2024 after resigning as a columnist for The Washington Post. She spent almost a decade as a Washington bureau correspondent for ABC News, winning an Emmy and a Peabody for her work on 9/11 and its aftermath. Norris joined NPR in 2002, becoming the first Black female host of “All Things Considered.” She won a 2014 Peabody for The Race Card Project in 2010, which she founded in 2010. A New York Times bestselling author, Norris worked as a staff writer for The Washington Post from 1988 to 1993, and has written for the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times.

Terry Moran

Degree earned: Bachelor’s in English
College: Lawrence University (WI)
U.S. News rank: 69 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges

ABC News senior national correspondent Terry Moran joined the network in 1997 and has served as chief White House correspondent and co-anchor of “Nightline.” He’s covered presidential elections, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and reported on Bosnian war crimes trials and the trials of O.J. Simpson and Eric and Lyle Menendez for Court TV. Moran’s exclusive April 2025 interview with Trump turned tense over tariffs and immigration. It made headlines after Trump insisted that Kilmar Abrego Garcia — a deported El Salvadoran migrant at the center of a highly publicized immigration battle — had “MS-13 (tattooed) on his knuckles” and said he chose Moran for the interview because “frankly I never heard of you.”

Rachel Martin

Degrees earned: Bachelor’s in political science; master’s in international affairs
Colleges: University of Puget Sound (WA); Columbia University (NY)
U.S. News rank: 95 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges; 13 (tie), National Universities

Rachel Martin is the co-creator and host of NPR’s interview game show “Wild Card,” and hosted NPR’s “Morning Edition” for six years. She also co-hosted “The Bryant Park Project” and helped launch the “Up First” podcast. Martin has served as national security correspondent, foreign correspondent and religion correspondent for NPR, reporting from Iraq, Afghanistan, Ukraine and Saudi Arabia, and covering the 2005 London terror attacks. She has won awards for reporting on racial bias in Hollywood, Islam in America and the effect of the opioid crisis on children. Martin began her career at public radio station KQED in San Francisco.

Matt Murray

Degrees earned: Bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism
College: Northwestern University
U.S. News rank: 6 (tie), National Universities

Matt Murray has served as executive editor of The Washington Post since June 2024. He was editor-in-chief of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires from 2018 to 2023, and oversaw WSJ’s investigations into the Stormy Daniels–Donald Trump hush money scandal that earned the newspaper a 2019 Pulitzer Prize. That same year, Murray was inducted into the Hall of Achievement at Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism, Media, and Integrated Marketing Communications. Murray started at WSJ as Pittsburgh bureau reporter in 1994. He is the author of “The Father and the Son” and co-authored “Strong of Heart.”

Lawrence O’Donnell

Degree earned: Bachelor’s in economics
College: Harvard University (MA)
U.S. News rank: 3, National Universities

Lawrence O’Donnell’s career has spanned Washington and Hollywood. Since 2010 he has hosted MSNBC’s “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell,” where his years of experience as a top U.S. Senate staffer help inform his political analysis. He was a writer and producer for the hit NBC political drama “The West Wing,” earning an Emmy for his work, and made a cameo appearance as himself in the film “The Campaign.” O’Donnell’s political work includes serving as a senatorial senior adviser and chief of staff for two Senate committees. His book “Deadly Force” was adapted into a CBS movie in 1986, a decade before he joined MSNBC as a political analyst.

Lesley Stahl

Degree earned: Bachelor’s in history
College: Wheaton College (IL)
U.S. News rank: 53 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges

Lesley Stahl has spent over 50 years with CBS News, including 35 seasons on “60 Minutes.” She was the first woman at CBS to serve as both White House correspondent and host of “Face the Nation.” Stahl has reported from Iran, China, Israel and Ukraine, covering major global events and interviewing world leaders and cultural figures. In 2020, her “60 Minutes” episode with Trump attracted more than 17 million viewers and drew headlines when he walked out on the interview. Her work has earned 13 Emmys, including a Lifetime Achievement Emmy, and the Edward R. Murrow Award. A bestselling author, Stahl was inducted into the New York Journalism Hall of Fame in 2015.

Bret Baier

Degree earned: Bachelor’s in political science and English
College: DePauw University (IN)
U.S. News rank: 50 (tie), National Liberal Arts Colleges

Bret Baier is Fox News Channel’s chief political anchor and host of “Special Report with Bret Baier.” Since joining the network in 1998, he’s covered major political events and interviewed world leaders including Trump, Zelenskyy, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and French President Emmanuel Macron. He also served as White House correspondent covering President George W. Bush’s second term, and in 2017 won the National Press Foundation’s Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism. Baier’s tense 2024 interview with then-presidential candidate Kamala Harris attracted 9.2 million viewers. He has reported from over 70 countries and is a New York Times bestselling author and host of “The Bret Baier Podcast.”

Connie Chung

Degree earned: Bachelor’s in journalism
College: University of Maryland
U.S. News rank: 44 (tie), National Universities

Connie Chung, the first woman to co-anchor “CBS Evening News” and the first person of Asian descent to anchor a newscast for a major American network, joined CBS in 1989 after anchoring several news programs at NBC. She won her first Emmy Award in that year and added two more the following year. Chung left CBS in 1995 but remained popular, working on “Good Morning America” for ABC and anchoring “Connie Chung Tonight” for CNN. She launched the Flathead Beacon newspaper in Montana in 2007 with her husband Maury Povich, and in 2024, she released the New York Times bestseller “Connie: A Memoir.” Early in her career, Chung worked as a correspondent for CBS News covering the Watergate scandal.

Jorge Ramos

Degree earned: Bachelor’s degree in communication
College: Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de Mexico
U.S. News rank: Unranked, Best Global Universities

Jorge Ramos came to the U.S. as a student in 1983 and became an anchor for Noticiero Univision in 1986. He has won 10 Emmys, including a Lifetime Achievement Emmy in 2012, and received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism in 2017. Ramos has authored more than a dozen books and writes a weekly column that appears in more than 40 newspapers in the U.S. and Latin America. He has reported from war zones in El Salvador and Kosovo, moderated U.S. presidential debates and is known for his interviews with world leaders. Ramos also hosts Univision’s public affairs program “Al Punto.”

Robin Roberts

Degree earned: Bachelor’s degree in communications
College: Southeastern Louisiana University
U.S. News Rank: 82 (tie), Regional Universities (South)

Robin Roberts rose to the top of the broadcasting ranks fast and never looked back. After 15 years as a “SportsCenter” anchor for ESPN, she began contributing to “Good Morning America” in 1995. Since 2005 she has co-anchored the show, consistently the top-rated morning newscast in total viewers. Roberts helped GMA earn a 2012 Peabody for chronicling her treatment for myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare blood disorder, and in 2014 received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. Accepting a 2013 ESPY Award, the breast cancer survivor quoted her mother, saying, “Make your mess your message.” Roberts also hosts “Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts” for Disney+.

Lisa Salters

Degree earned: Bachelor’s in broadcast journalism
College: The Pennsylvania State University–University Park
U.S. News rank: 63 (tie), National Universities

A veteran sports journalist and broadcaster, Lisa Salters is widely known for her sideline reporting on ESPN’s Monday Night Football since 2012, as well as NBA coverage. She also co-hosts ESPN’s film and documentary series “E:60,” and won an Emmy for her work in 2018. Salters joined ESPN in 2000 as a general assignment reporter and earned a Sports Emmy in 2023. She worked for a Los Angeles-based ABC News from 1995 to 2000 where she covered the O.J. Simpson murder trial, the Oklahoma City bombing trials and the crash of TWA flight 800. Earlier in her career she covered the conflicts in Rwanda and Somalia.

Steve Doocy

Degree earned: Bachelor’s degree in journalism
College: University of Kansas
U.S. News rank: 152 (tie), National Universities

Steve Doocy joined Fox News Channel as a weather reporter in 1996 and was promoted to co-host of “Fox & Friends” two years later. One of network’s longest-serving personalities, he announced in May 2025 that he would step away from hosting the top-rated morning show full-time and move to Florida, contributing part time as its “coast-to-coast host.” Doocy has won 11 local Emmy awards for feature coverage and written four New York Times bestselling books, including three cookbooks with his wife, Kathy. The Iowa native started his TV news career in Kansas City, Wichita and Topeka, Kansas, and became co-host of NBC’s “Wake Up America” in 1994.

Stephen A. Smith

Degree earned: Bachelor’s degree in mass communications and media studies
College: Winston-Salem State University (NC)
U.S. News rank: 220 (tie), National Universities

The man who many now consider the face of ESPN was typing out his bold sports takes long before he ever hit the air as a “First Take” co-host in 2012. Stephen A. Smith worked in various reporter and columnist roles for The Philadelphia Inquirer until 2010, after a stint as a high school sports reporter for the New York Daily News starting in 1993. His knack for debate developed when he played basketball in college, once urging his coach to retire in a column that ran in the school newspaper. He also hosts the “Stephen A. Smith Show,” a podcast that often tackles topics outside of sports.

Elizabeth Vargas

Degree earned: Bachelor’s degree in journalism
College: University of Missouri
U.S. News rank: 109 (tie), National Universities

In her illustrious run with ABC News, Elizabeth Vargas covered the deaths of two U.S. presidents — Ronald Reagan and John F. Kennedy, Jr. — and won an Emmy in 2000 for outstanding instant coverage of a news story. She became an NBC correspondent in 1993 and was a substitute co-anchor for “Today” and “NBC Nightly News.” Vargas joined ABC in 1996, eventually co-anchoring “20/20,” “Primetime Monday” and “World News Tonight” and winning a 2013 Peabody for coverage of Hurricane Sandy. Vargas left ABC in 2018, later hosting “A&E Investigates” and Fox’s “America’s Most Wanted” reboot. She anchors NewsNation’s “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” and the syndicated series “iCrime.”

Bob Costas

Degree earned: Bachelor’s degree in communications
College: Syracuse University (NY)
U.S. News Rank: 73 (tie), National Universities

Bob Costas’ name stands out on the long list of high-profile sportscasters who studied at Syracuse’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. Dubbed “one of the most respected minds and voices in the history of sports media” by the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, he covered seven Super Bowls and 12 Olympics. He has covered sports on TBS and NBC and hosted the HBO series “Back on the Record with Bob Costas” from 2021 to 2022. The Queens, New York, native began his professional broadcasting career at 22, calling games for the American Basketball Association’s Spirits of St. Louis for KMOX. He still commentates for MLB Network and TNT Sports.

Fredricka Whitfield

Degree received: Bachelor’s degree in journalism
College: Howard University (D.C.)
U.S. News rank: 86 (tie), National Universities

Since joining CNN in 2002, Fredricka Whitfield has reported on numerous groundbreaking events including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Beijing and London Olympics, the 2008 presidential inauguration and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She anchors “CNN Newsroom with Fredricka Whitfield” and “CNN Newsroom” on CNN Max. One of the network’s longest-serving anchors, Whitfield won a 2005 Peabody for live coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath and the 2007 Emmy for outstanding live coverage of a breaking news story. Her early broadcast career included stints in Florida, Texas, Connecticut and South Carolina before she joined NBC as a correspondent for “NBC Nightly News,” “Dateline” and “The Today Show.”

Where 20 Famous Journalists Went to Journalism School

— Christiane Amanpour: University of Rhode Island

— Andrew Feinberg: University of Wisconsin–Madison

— Carl Bernstein: University of Maryland

— Kaitlan Collins: University of Alabama

— Jeffrey Goldberg: University of Pennsylvania

— Michele Norris: University of Minnesota–Twin Cities

— Terry Moran: Lawrence University (WI)

— Rachel Martin: University of Puget Sound (WA); Columbia University (NY)

— Matt Murray: Northwestern University

— Lawrence O’Donnell: Harvard University (MA)

— Lesley Stahl: Wheaton College (IL)