Alexandra Wallace (born ) is an American news media executive. Currently the Head of Media and Content at

Verizon Media Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

, she previously worked at

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio broadcaster CBS. It is headquartered in New York City. CBS News television programs include ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs ''CBS News Sunday Morn ...

and

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Media Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which is itself a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's various operations r ...

. While at NBC News, she became the first woman to be in charge of the ''Today Show'' in November 2012.

Career

Wallace graduated from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where she majored in English literature. After college, she spent a year in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. Wallace started her news career at

's London bureau. With CBS, she worked on ''

CBS Evening News The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featu ...

'' and ''48 Hours'', before working as a senior producer for ''

The Early Show ''The Early Show'' is an American morning television show that aired on CBS from November 1, 1999, to January 7, 2012, replacing the original incarnation of '' CBS This Morning'', and the ninth attempt at a morning news-talk program by the n ...

''. After 17 years with CBS, Wallace joined

in March 2005 working on ''

Weekend Today Weekend editions of '' Today'', an American morning news and talk program that airs daily on NBC, began with the launch of the Sunday edition of the program on September 20, 1987. After NBC expanded ''Today'' to seven days a week in the 1990s ...

'' as executive producer. In June 2006, Wallace was promoted, becoming deputy to NBC News president

Steve Capus Stephen Allan "Steve" Capus (born October 4, 1963) is a news executive, producter, and journalist. He has been president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty since January 2024. Previously, he was an Executive Editor of CBS News. He is the former p ...

In spring 2007, she began working with

Brian Williams Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American journalist and television news anchor. He was a correspondent for ''NBC Nightly News'' starting in 1993, before his promotion to anchorman, anchor and managing editor of the broadcast in ...

as executive producer on ''

NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas'' for its weeknight broadcasts ) is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network in the United States. First a ...

''. She was tasked with improving the show's loss of viewership to its rival

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

show ''

World News with Charles Gibson ''ABC World News Tonight'' (titled ''ABC World News Tonight with David Muir'' for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014) is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting ...

''. In October 2012, Wallace transitioned from serving another stint as Capus's deputy to being executive producer for ''

Rock Center with Brian Williams ''Rock Center with Brian Williams'' is an American weekly television newsmagazine that was broadcast on NBC from October 31, 2011, to June 21, 2013 and hosted by former ''NBC Nightly News'' anchor Brian Williams. It aired on Mondays until January ...

.'' In November 2012, Wallace was put in charge of ''Today'' to try and reverse a ratings decline after the dismissal of former anchor

Ann Curry Ann Curry (born November 19, 1956) is an American journalist, who has been a reporter for more than 45 years, focused on human suffering in war zones and natural disasters. Curry has reported from the wars in Kosovo, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palest ...

. She became the first woman executive to run ''Today''. In 2014, Wallace took over running ''

Meet the Press ''Meet the Press'' is a weekly American television Sunday morning talk show broadcast on NBC. It is the List of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running program on American television, though its format has changed since th ...

'' during a period of poor ratings with former anchor David Gregory. By the time of her departure in July 2015, Wallace was deputy to NBC News president

Deborah Turness Deborah Mary Turness (born 4 March 1967) is an English journalist, CEO of BBC News and of ITN (2021). Prior to this she was president of NBC News (2013–2017) and then president of NBC News International. Before NBC, Turness was editor of ITV ...

. In 2020, in her role as head of media and content for

, Wallace took operational control of ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'' after

Lydia Polgreen Lydia Frances Polgreen (born 1975) is an American journalist. She was editorial director of NYT Global at ''The New York Times'', and the West Africa bureau chief for the same publication, based in Dakar, Senegal, from 2005 to 2009. She also repo ...

's resignation as editor-in-chief. Wallace has won 11

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

, 2 Dupont Awards, a

Gracie Award The Gracie Awards are awards presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWM) in the United States, to celebrate and honor programming created for women, by women, and about women, as well as individuals who have made exemplary contr ...

, a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

, as well as a

John Jay Award The John Jay Award is presented annually by Columbia College of Columbia University to its alumni for distinguished professional achievement. It is named for Founding Father of the United States John Jay, Columbia College Class of 1764. The first ...

for distinguished professional achievement from the Columbia College Alumni Association, for which she is a member of the Board of Directors. Wallace is a member of

The Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with longstanding ties to pol ...

as well as a CUP board member.

Personal life

Wallace's husband is a private school administrator in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

; , they had two children, a son and a daughter, together.

References

External links

Biography at NBC Nightly News
Living people American television news producers Columbia College (New York) alumni Place of birth missing (living people) Emmy Award winners NBC News people Date of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-tv-bio-stub