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Michelle Kosinski is an American journalist, host, and public speaker. She most recently wrote and hosted the podcast ''The Perfect Scam''. Previously she was a Senior Diplomatic Correspondent for
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
and White House Correspondent for CNN until 2019. She was a foreign correspondent for
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 ...
based 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 ...
(2010–2014); before that, she was a correspondent based in
Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...
(2005–2009). She has covered numerous international news stories, including the US war in Afghanistan, the Arab Spring, the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, the Haiti earthquake, the BP
oil spill An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...
, the Virginia Tech shootings, the Obama White House, and the tenure and firing of
Rex Tillerson Rex Tillerson is an American energy executive who served as the 69th United States secretary of state from 2017 to 2018 in the first administration of Donald Trump. From 2006 to 2016, he was chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Exxon ...
.


Career

Kosinski began work in
broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...
in
Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, Winnebago and Ogle County, Illinois, Ogle counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Located in far northern Illinois on the banks of the Rock River (Mississippi River tributary), Rock River, Rockfor ...
for WIFR while earning her BA and MA from the
Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism (branded as Northwestern Medill; formally the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications) is the journalism school of Northwestern University. It offers both undergraduate and graduat ...
at
Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
. Leaving WIFR, she moved to
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
at
WSOC-TV WSOC-TV (channel 9) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with American Broadcasting Company, ABC and Telemundo. It is owned by Cox Media Group alongside Kannapolis-licensed independent station WAXN-TV ...
and founded the Piedmont Bureau. In 2001, she was voted the Best Reporter in Charlotte by readers of the city's arts and entertainment magazine. In Fall of 2001, she left WSOC-TV for WTVJ in Miami. She is a 2003 Suncoast Regional Emmy Awards Craft Winner for reporting on Haitian immigrants and was named Woman of the Year in 2005 by
Women in Communications The Association for Women in Communications (AWC) is an American professional organization for women in the communications industry.Kopecki, Dawn (1996). "Makeover gives group new identity, no staff". The Washington Times. It was formed as Theta ...
of South Florida. Kosinski has covered such world events as the
War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...
, terrorist plots in
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, international court cases, and the
2010 Haiti earthquake The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (departm ...
. In 2005, Kosinski did an on-air report for NBC while covering flooding in New Jersey, paddling a canoe as she spoke, in what she claimed were deep floodwaters, whereupon two pedestrians walked through the shot, exposing the water to only be a few inches deep. Kosinski declared at the time "O.K., this probably looks a little bad". News reports from the time showed waist-deep water and people using boats. Kosinski explained to ''
The New York Observer ''The New York Observer'' was a weekly newspaper established in 1987. In 2016, it ceased print publication and became the online-only newspaper ''Observer''. The media site focuses on culture, real estate, media, politics and the entertainment ...
'' that while the shot was originally in the deeper water, the crew insisted on moving the boat to the edge of the water, so that they could light and mic it properly. The crew was also concerned for safety, as the water was moving quickly. This was visible in the taped piece that ran with the live element. In 2009, she won a national
Emmy award 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 ...
for live reporting during NBC News' special coverage of the
2008 U.S. presidential election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of John Mc ...
. In 2010, Kosinski was named a foreign correspondent and moved from NBC's Southeast Bureau to London. In 2014, she became a
White House correspondent The White House Correspondents' Association (WHCA) is an organization of journalists who cover the White House and the president of the United States. The WHCA was founded on February 25, 1914, by journalists in response to an unfounded rumor ...
for
CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...
.


NBC News

In 2005, Kosinski worked as a
foreign correspondent A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...
for
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 ...
based in London. She covered numerous international events such as the
2010 Haiti earthquake The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (departm ...
, the aftermath of the
Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...
, the
assassination of Benazir Bhutto The assassination of Benazir Bhutto () took place on 27 December 2007 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan and then-leader of the opposition party Pakistan People's Party, had been campaigning ahead o ...
, terrorist plots and bombings in Europe, US-Russia relations, as well as the
Virginia Tech shooting The Virginia Tech shooting was a spree killer, spree shooting that occurred on Monday, April 16, 2007, comprising two attacks on the campus of the Virginia Tech, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksbu ...
.


Other

In August 2005, while covering the
Natalee Holloway Natalee is a female given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other me ...
disappearance in
Aruba Aruba, officially the Country of Aruba, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, in the southern Caribbean Sea north of the Venezuelan peninsula of Paraguaná Peninsula, Paraguaná and northwest of Curaçao. In 19 ...
, NBC arranged an interview with the director of Aruban prisons and a tour of suspect
Joran van der Sloot Joran Andreas Petrus van der Sloot (; born 6 August 1987) is a Dutch murderer who was convicted in the 2010 killing of Stephany Flores Ramírez in Lima, Peru. He first came to public attention as the prime suspect in the disappearance of Natal ...
's prison. During the tour, she ran into van der Sloot and conducted an off-camera interview. Prison director Fred Maduro appeared live on
MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...
and admitted that he offered her the tour. After Van der Sloot's attorneys called for a hearing on the matter,
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
declined to air the footage. In 2009, Kosinski purchased a $5.6 million, home in
Coral Gables, Florida Coral Gables is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida and is located southwest of Greater Downtown Miami, Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...
.


Education

Kosinski attended St. Charles Borromeo School and graduated from Holy Cross High School as valedictorian. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the
Medill School of Journalism The Medill School of Journalism (branded as Northwestern Medill; formally the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications) is the journalism school of Northwestern University. It offers both undergraduate and graduat ...
at
Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
. Originally in the magazine writing program, she later switched to the broadcasting division.


Personal life

Kosinski was born in
Willingboro Township, New Jersey Willingboro Township (known from 1959 to 1963 as Levittown and Levittown Township) is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia and part of the state's South Jersey region. The township, a ...
, and grew up in nearby
Cinnaminson Township, New Jersey Cinnaminson Township is a township in Burlington County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Cinnaminson Township borders the Delaware River, and is an eastern suburb of Philadelphia. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population ...
. She is one of four children of Jeanette, a chemist, and Robert, a retired biologist who worked for the
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is a government agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is responsible for managing the state's natural resources and addressing issues related to pollution. NJDEP now has a staf ...
. While working as a television news photographer and reporter in
Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...
, she also performed with the award-winning Piedmont Players theater group, in roles such as Elvira in ''Blithe Spirit'' and Suzanne in ''Don't Dress for Dinner''. she began living in London. In August 2013, Kosinski announced her engagement to retired
investment banker Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by unde ...
and
philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
Kimbell Duncan, a widower twelve years her senior. They married on August 9, 2014. ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'' of London reported allegations about a 2018 "passionate affair astingat least several months" with the UK's ambassador to the US, which "resulted in impressive scoops for Kosinski." Kosinski denied that the scoops originated with the ambassador, and hired a high profile British lawyer to combat reports of the affair.


Community

Kosinski has volunteered for and supported numerous community organizations. She has sought out and highlighted innovative charitable work around the United States, as a regular contributor to Nightly News' "Making a Difference" series, which has in turn positively impacted those efforts.


References


External links


Official CNN bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kosinski, Michelle Living people American expatriates in the United Kingdom American television journalists NBC News people CNN people Holy Cross Academy (New Jersey) alumni Medill School of Journalism alumni People from Cinnaminson Township, New Jersey People from Willingboro Township, New Jersey American women television journalists Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women