Alison Stewart (born July 4, 1966) is an American journalist and author. Stewart first gained widespread visibility as a political correspondent for

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

in the 1990s.

Early life and education

Stewart was born in

Glen Ridge, New Jersey Glen Ridge is a borough in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough’s population was 7,802, reflecting an increase of 275 (+3.7%) from the 2010 census count of 7,527,

. Stewart attended

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and American literature. She began her broadcasting career there, where she was the music director for the school's radio station,

WBRU WBRU is an internet radio station based in Providence, Rhode Island. The station is owned and operated by Brown Broadcasting Service, an independent non-profit organization, and is primarily staffed by students from Brown University. Formerly an ...

Career

20th century

In 1988 Stewart began her career as an assistant at MTV. In 1991, she joined MTV News as a segment producer when she was hired by MTV News Director Linda Corradina. She began reporting and producing during MTV's first "Choose or Lose" campaign, which covered the 1992 presidential race. Her coverage earned her a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

. Stewart remained at MTV for much of the 1990s, contributing segments to other MTV News shows including ''Megadose'' and ''MTV News: Unfiltered''. She also hosted specials including '' the Real World Reunion'' in 1995. Stewart left MTV and moved to

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the '' CBS Evening News'', '' CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 4 ...

in December 1996. While there, she reported for several of the network's news programs, including ''

CBS News Sunday Morning ''CBS News Sunday Morning'' (normally shortened to ''Sunday Morning'' on the program itself since 2009) is an American news magazine television program that has aired on CBS since January 28, 1979. Created by Robert Northshield and original hos ...

'', '' 48 Hours'', and '' Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel''.

21st century

Moving to

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...

, she co-anchored its early morning news program, ''

World News Now ''World News Now'' (or WNN) is an American overnight news broadcast seen on ABC. Airing during the early morning hours each Monday through Friday, the program features a mix of general news and off-beat stories, along with weather forecasts, sp ...

'' with

Anderson Cooper Anderson Hays Cooper (born June 3, 1967) is an American broadcast journalist and political commentator from the Vanderbilt family. He is the primary anchor of the CNN news broadcast show '' Anderson Cooper 360°''. In addition to his duties a ...

, and also contributed reports to ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...

'' and '' 20/20 Downtown''. In 2003, Stewart moved from ABC News to

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

where she was a daytime anchor and primary substitute host for ''

Countdown with Keith Olbermann ''Countdown with Keith Olbermann'' is an hour-long weeknight news and political commentary program hosted by Keith Olbermann that aired on MSNBC from 2003 to 2011 and on Current TV from 2011 to 2012. The show presented five selected news stories ...

'' and ''The Rachel Maddow Show''. She occasionally filled in as newsreader on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

's '' Weekend Today''. From May 2006 to April 2007, she hosted a daytime news program ''

The Most with Alison Stewart ''The Most'' is an American television news program on MSNBC. Broadcast live at 12:00 PM ET daily, the program focused on the top news stories of the day people are looking at on MSNBC.com. In addition, the program also aired "the most watched o ...

'' on MSNBC. Stewart married MSNBC Vice President of Programming Bill Wolff in November 2006. Stewart joined NPR in May 2007 to host (along with Luke Burbank) a morning drive show called '' The Bryant Park Project'', which targeted adults between ages 25 and 44. The program premiered October 1, 2007 and was canceled effective July 25, 2008. She returned from maternity leave to host the show's last week, starting Monday, July 21, 2008. Stewart served as a panelist on NPR's '' Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me!'' and served as fill in host of NPR's ''

Talk of the Nation ''Talk of the Nation'' (''TOTN'') is an American talk radio program based in Washington D.C., produced by National Public Radio ( NPR) that was broadcast nationally from 2 to 4 p.m. Eastern Time. It focused on current events and controversial i ...

'' and ''

Weekend Edition ''Weekend Edition'' is a set of American radio news magazine programs produced and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). It is the weekend counterpart to the NPR radio program ''Morning Edition''. It consists of ''Weekend Edition Saturday ...

''. On May 7, 2010 she became the co-host of the new show ''

Need to Know The term "need to know", when used by government and other organizations (particularly those related to the military or espionage), describes the restriction of data which is considered very sensitive. Under need-to-know restrictions, even if ...

'' on PBS. She left the show on September 9, 2011; in her departure announcement she said she would be finishing a book she had "been working on for years."PBS.org
Alison signs off
pbs.org, September 9, 2011. In late 2011, Stewart went back to CBS News and reported a story for ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique st ...

'' that aired on January 1, 2012. In 2012, she hosted the first season of the ''

TED Radio Hour ''TED Radio Hour'' is a weekly, hour-long radio program and podcast, produced as a co-production between TED (conference) and National Public Radio. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internationally, and ...

'', a radio program (with podcast) produced by TED and NPR. In 2013, her book ''First Class'', a history of

Dunbar High School (Washington, D.C.) Paul Laurence Dunbar High School is a public secondary school located in Washington, D.C. The school was America's first public high school for black students. The school is located in the Truxton Circle neighborhood of Northwest Washington, tw ...

, was published. It was named one of the best books of 2013 by ''Mother Jones'' and ''Essence'' magazines. Her second book, ''Junk: Digging Through America's Love Affair with Stuff'', was published in April 2016. Stewart returned to PBS as a special correspondent and as a fill-in anchor for '' NewsHour Weekend'' and ''

Charlie Rose Charles Peete Rose Jr. (born January 5, 1942) is an American former television journalist and talk show host. From 1991 to 2017, he was the host and executive producer of the talk show '' Charlie Rose'' on PBS and Bloomberg LP. Rose also co- ...

''. She is also a contributor for ''The Atlantic LIVE.'' In September 2018, Stewart was added to the

WNYC WNYC is the trademark and a set of call letters shared by WNYC (AM) and WNYC-FM, a pair of nonprofit, noncommercial, public radio stations located in New York City. WNYC is owned by New York Public Radio (NYPR), a nonprofit organization that ...

line up hosting a midday show called ''All of It with Alison Stewart''. She is the host of the book club live event series, ''Get Lit With All Of It''.

Works

References

External links

Official website

"Biography: Alison Stewart"
PBS ''Need to Know'' website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stewart, Alison 1966 births Living people African-American television personalities American broadcast news analysts American radio journalists American television reporters and correspondents NPR personalities Brown University alumni Peabody Award winners People from Glen Ridge, New Jersey African-American women journalists African-American journalists American women radio journalists American women television journalists MSNBC people CBS News people 60 Minutes correspondents PBS people 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists Journalists from New Jersey 21st-century American women