Famous 20th Century Journalists

Hunter S. Thompson was an American author and journalist. He is credited with creating his own subgenre of New Journalism called the gonzo journalism. The author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which was later adapted into a film, Thompson was famous for his lifelong use of drugs and alcohol. His books have had a major impact on counterculture.

Barbara Walters is an American retired television personality and broadcast journalist. Renowned for her popularity with viewers, Walters appeared as the host of several popular TV shows. A pioneer for women in broadcasting, Walters became the first woman to co-host shows like Today and ABC Evening News. In 1996, she was named in TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Stars list.

Renowned British-American documentary filmmaker, Louis Theroux began his career as a journalist with Metro Silicon Valley, Spy magazine and TV Nation series. He gained recognition with his documentary series When Louis Met..., and Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends. The two time BAFTA Award winner has also received appreciation for his documentaries The Most Hated Family in America and My Scientology Movie.

Lester Holt is an American journalist who is the face of 'NBC News' since 2000. He hosts and co-hosts some of NBC's important programs, such as Dateline NBC and NBC Nightly News. In 1990, he was honored with the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for his work. In 2015, he was made an inductee of the California Hall of Fame.

Canadian-American journalist Peter Jennings is best remembered for his stint on ABC World News Tonight, as its sole anchor. A high-school drop-out, Jennings became one of the U.S.’s Big Three news anchors, along with Tom Brokaw and Dan Rather. He was known for his meticulous coverage of breaking news stories.

A former basketball and tennis player, Rubin Roberts began her career as a sports anchor and reporter for a Mississippi channel, WDAM-TV, eventually joining ESPN as sportscaster, concurrently serving as a featured reporter for Good Morning America. In 2005, she left ESPN to become a co-anchor for Good Morning America, currently serving as an anchor for the same program.

Jeremy Clarkson has come a long way from being a local journalist to becoming a recognized public personality, thanks to his appearance as a presenter in the popular TV show Top Gear. He is credited with making Top Gear one of the most successful shows in the UK. His tongue-in-cheek presenting style and writing often provoke a public reaction.

Hailing from a humble background, Gloria Steinem went on to become a celebrated journalist and an iconic feminist. Founder of the New York magazine and Ms Magazine, her life has been dedicated to writing, talking and fighting for women’s rights, gender equality, legalisation of abortion, among other things. She brought issues like female genital mutilation to the forefront in America.

James May is an English journalist and television presenter. May is known for co-presenting the popular factual television show Top Gear alongside Richard Hammond and Jeremy Clarkson. James May is credited with co-founding the independent TV production company W. Chump and Sons.

Known for her stints on Fox News and CBS News, TV journalist Gretchen Carlson made headlines when she accused Fox CEO Roger Ailes of having sexually harassed her earlier, eventually causing him to resign. The former Miss America is also a skilled classical violinist and a Juilliard alumna.

Fareed Zakaria is an Indian-American journalist, author, and political commentator. He has been serving as an editor-at-large for Time and editor for Newsweek International. He has also been serving as a columnist for Newsweek. His show, Fareed Zakaria GPS, which he hosts for CNN, has won a Peabody Award. 

The daughter of American publisher and financier Eugene Meyer, Katharine Graham later carried forward her family’s newspaper, The Washington Post. While the newspaper was initially handed over to her husband, Philip Graham, by her father, she took over as the owner, following Philip’s suicide. She later penned a Pulitzer Prize-winning memoir.

Stephen A. Smith is an American sports journalist, sports radio host, and sports television personality. Known for his use of popular catchphrases, such as stay off the weed and blasphemous, Smith has been playing a major role in the success of ESPN's First Take. He also appears on SportsCenter and hosts his own radio show, The Stephen A. Smith Show.

Jesse Watters is best known for his aggressive ambush journalism and for his vox pop interviews featured in the "Watters' World” segment of the show The O'Reilly Factor on Fox News. A seasoned political commentator, he has also hosted the talk shows The Five and Outnumbered.

Chris Hansen is an American YouTube personality and television journalist known for his work on the popular news magazine/reality legal show, Dateline NBC. The winner of eight Emmy Awards, Hansen's work on one of Dateline NBC's former segments To Catch a Predator, which focused on zeroing in on potential Internet sex predators, received much appreciation.

As one of the leading television journalists for the past 10 years, Anderson Cooper has played a prominent role in influencing several important events in the United States of America. An openly gay man, Anderson Cooper has also served as an inspiration to the entire LGBTQ community.

Regarded as “America’s Sweetheart”, Katherine Couric has been a familiar face on top US television networks for decades. The journalist and presenter had a long stint with NBC News before she switched over to CBS News and then to ABC News. She is also known for co-hosting programmes on Today. She co-founded multimedia news and production company Katie Couric Media.

Lara Logan is a South African radio and television journalist. She has also worked as a war correspondent; in 2001, she interviewed General Babajan after successfully infiltrating the American-British-backed Northern Alliance at the Bagram Air Base. Over the years Lara Logan has worked for popular news channels like CBS News and Fox Nation. 

Jamie Hyneman is an American television host and special effects expert. He achieved popularity as the co-host of the popular TV series MythBusters. He is also credited with inventing an unmanned firefighting robotic vehicle called Sentry. Jamie Hyneman also co-designed Wavecam, an aerial cable robotic camera system used in entertainment and sports events.

Anna Wintour is a British-American journalist. She has been working as Vogue's Editor-in-Chief since 1988. Known for having an eye for emerging fashion trends, Wintour is credited with reviving Vogue as it was viewed as a stagnating publication when she assumed control in 1988. Nicknamed Nuclear Wintour due to her demanding personality, Wintour inspired the story The Devil Wears Prada.

Bill O'Reilly is an American author, journalist, and former TV host. The host of Fox News Channel's The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly played a major role in the success of Fox News Channel during his time at the channel. He is also credited with founding the No Spin News podcast, which he has been hosting since 2017.

Ted Koppel is an American broadcast journalist who contributed immensely to the success of the popular late-night television news program Nightline, working as its anchor from 1980 to 2005. Considered one of the most remarkable among the serious-minded interviewers on TV, Ted Koppel has won several prestigious awards, including 42 Emmy Awards and nine Overseas Press Club awards.

Journalist, Chris Wallace ,is best known for his stint as the TV news anchor of the Fox News program Fox News Sunday. As an ambitious young man, he graduated from Harvard University and became a broadcast journalist. Over the years, he gained fame for his tough and wide-ranging interviews. He is the recipient of a Paul White lifetime achievement award.

A popular American journalist and media personality, Mike Wallace is credited with bringing important information to the household of several Americans during his illustrious career that spanned nearly 70 years; he interviewed prominent personalities like Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, Ayn Rand, and Salvador Dalí among others. His life and career inspired several films and he was portrayed by popular actors.

Phil Donahue is best known for his long stint as the host and creator of The Phil Donahue Show, later named Donahue, the first talk show that involved audience participation. He inspired iconic talk show host Oprah. He also hosted an MSNBC show and co-directed the documentary Body of War.

A popular legal commentator and television journalist, Nancy Grace has hosted many TV shows, including an eponymous nightly celebrity news show. An alumnus of the Walter F. George School of Law and New York University, she worked in a legal career before her stint in broadcasting. She is both praised and criticized for her outspoken style.

Kevin Carter was a South African photojournalist whose photograph titled the vulture and the little girl, which depicted the 1993 famine in Sudan, earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Photography in 1994. Carter committed suicide in 1994 after suffering from depression. A book titled The Bang Bang Club, which was later made into a film, depicts his story.

NBC News anchor and broadcast journalist Savannah Guthrie is best known for co-anchoring the show Today. She appeared in the series finale of 30 Rock. She has penned two children’s books, too. She is also a practicing lawyer and has worked with domestic abuse victims.

Freelance journalist and author Chuck Palahniuk specializes in what he calls transgressional fiction. His popular novel Fight Club was adapted into a film starring Brad Pitt and also won awards such as the Oregon Book Award for Best Novel. Though critics call his books nihilistic, he himself calls them romantic.

David Frost was an English media personality, journalist, television host, comedian, and writer. One of the most popular television interviewers of all time, Frost interviewed eight British prime ministers and seven American presidents in office. His interview with Richard Nixon was adapted into a play and film. He also played a key role in the establishment of TV-am in 1983.