WASHINGTON (January 2, 2023) — The Washington Association of Black Journalists (WABJ) congratulates Geoff Bennett and Amna Nawaz who today officially start their historic new roles as co-anchors of PBS NewsHour.
Bennett is the first African American man to be in the anchor seat at PBS NewsHour, while Nawaz becomes the first Muslim American woman to head a national newscast.
Bennett and Nawaz will succeed Judy Woodruff who has solo-anchored PBS’s flagship nightly news program, airing on nearly 350 local member stations around the United States, since 2016. She previously served as a co-anchor with the late Gwen Ifill.
“Geoff Bennett and Amna Nawaz are exceptional storytellers with decades of experience that will serve them well as they walk into history,” said WABJ President Khorri Atkinson. “I commend the leadership of WETA & NewsHour Productions for their boundary breaking appointments that have once again recognized incredible journalists of color at a time when newsrooms struggle to reflect an increasingly diverse America.”
Bennett, an Edward R. Murrow Award recipient, began his career in journalism at ABC News. He joined NewsHour as its chief Washington correspondent and weekend anchor in 2022 from NBC News, where he served as a White House correspondent and substitute anchor for MSNBC. He previously worked for NPR and has reported from the White House under three presidents and covered five presidential elections.
Nawaz joined PBS NewsHour in April 2018 and has since then served as the show’s primary substitute anchor and chief correspondent. The Peabody Award recipient previously served as an anchor and correspondent at ABC News and as foreign correspondent and Islamabad Bureau Chief at NBC News. In December 2019, Nawaz became the first Asian American and the first Muslim American to moderate a Presidential debate.
Read more about Bennett and Nawaz’s appointments here.
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Founded in 1975, the Washington Association of Black Journalists is an organization for African American journalists, journalism professors, public relations professionals and student journalists in the Washington, D.C., metro area. WABJ provides members with ongoing professional education opportunities and advocates for greater diversification of the profession.
