David Shuster

David Shuster
Born	July 22, 1967 (1967-07-22) (age 44) Bloomington, Indiana
Nationality	American
Religion	Jewish[1]
Spouse	Julianna Goldman (separated)
Awards	Disabled American Veterans, Bugle Award (2006) Emmy (1996)

David Martin Shuster (born July 22, 1967) is an American television journalist who has been an anchor for MSNBC and who has also worked for Fox News and CNN. He anchored MSNBC Live weekdays from 10-11am and 3-4pm ET and filled in for Keith Olbermann, Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz and Rachel Maddow on their respective shows. Shuster was MSNBC's lead "breaking news anchor," and anchored prime time coverage of several stories including the death of Michael Jackson, congressional votes for health care reform, and the earthquake in Haiti. Shuster's high profile career has included some controversies; the most recent, an indefinite suspension on April 6, 2010, came from MSNBC after he auditioned for a new political show on CNN. He did not appear on MSNBC again, as his contract expired while serving his suspension. On June 6, 2011, it was confirmed that Shuster was hired by Keith Olbermann and Current TV to serve as "primary substitute anchor" for the network's re-launch of Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

Personal life

Shuster was born in Bloomington, Indiana. He is the son of Arnold Shuster of Bloomington and Susan Klein of Nashville, Indiana, and stepson of Robert Agranoff, married to his mother, and Rose Mahern-Shuster, married to his father; he has one brother, Jonathan. As a child, he was part of the Zionist Youth Leadership Training movement Young Judaea. He graduated in 1985 from Bloomington High School South, and with honors from the University of Michigan. He is in the process of completing a Master of Arts degree in International Affairs at Georgetown University. He was married on May 27, 2007 (at age 39) to journalist Julianna Lee Goldman, at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, in Washington, D.C..^[2][3] On January 10, 2011, the Washington Post published a report that Goldman and Shuster had separated.^[4] The couple had no children.^[4]

Career

Early career

Shuster started his journalism career at CNN's Washington, D.C. bureau. He was an assignment editor and field producer from 1990 to 1994, covering both the Persian Gulf War and the 1992 presidential election campaign. Shuster left CNN in 1994 to become a political reporter for the ABC affiliate KATV in Little Rock, Arkansas, covering the Whitewater scandal. During this period, Shuster led KATV's coverage of the indictment, trial, conviction, and resignation of Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker. At KATV, Shuster won a regional Emmy Award for investigative journalism for his reporting on a manufactured housing scandal.

Fox News

From 1996 to 2002, Shuster was a Washington, D.C.-based correspondent for the Fox News Channel. He was at the Pentagon at the time of the September 11, 2001 attacks and led Fox's coverage of U.S. military operations in Afghanistan. During the Clinton Administration, Shuster led Fox's coverage of the Clinton investigations including Whitewater, the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the Starr Report and the Senate impeachment trial.

Shuster was also a member of Fox's "You Decide 2000" political team. He spent four months on John McCain's "Straight Talk Express" bus and was Fox's lead correspondent for McCain's presidential campaign.

MSNBC

Shuster left Fox News for MSNBC/NBC in 2002. In early 2003, he traveled to Qatar, where he provided coverage from the United States Central Command during Operation Iraqi Freedom for hourly live reports in prime time. Later, he was in California for two months for MSNBC's television program Hardball with Chris Matthews as lead correspondent on the 2003 California recall election, in which Governor Gray Davis was recalled and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger was elected. In 2004 he led the show's coverage of the presidential campaign, including leading the "ad watch team," which analyzed 150 campaign ads. In all, he has filed more than 700 correspondent reports for the show.

Occasionally, Shuster filled in for Chris Matthews on Hardball.His daily reporting on the Valerie Plame affair drove the story into the mainstream press. During the trial relating to the Plame affair, Shuster blogged for Hardball on Hardblogger about the Lewis "Scooter" Libby trial and about other political matters. In addition to this, Shuster has also filled in for commentator Keith Olbermann on Countdown.

In August 2005, Shuster reported from the eye of Hurricane Katrina as it made landfall in Biloxi, Mississippi; Shuster’s reports aired on MSNBC and NBC Nightly News. Shuster also spent several weeks reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina from New Orleans.

On September 24, 2007, Shuster interviewed Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn while filling in on Tucker Carlson's show. When Shuster asked about her response to the MoveOn.org ad campaign concerning General David Petraeus's Iraq war testimony, he followed up by then asking her the name of the last soldier from her congressional district who had been killed in Iraq; she was not able to name the soldier. Shuster mentioned that it was 18-year-old Jeremy Bohannon, and asked Blackburn why she was not able to recall the name. Blackburn's office soon claimed that Bohannon was not actually from Blackburn's congressional district, but was from the congressional district of Rep. John Tanner. However, while Bohannon did grow up in Tanner's district, his legal residence for the year prior to his enlistment was in Blackburn's district. After the promotion of David Gregory to Meet the Press, Shuster was named interim host of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue before being announced as the permanent host.^[5]

Chelsea Clinton remark and suspension

On February 7, 2008, while guest hosting on Tucker, Shuster discussed Chelsea Clinton's campaigning for her mother Hillary Clinton, her efforts to influence superdelegates, and her refusal to answer any questions by the media. When his guest, Bill Press, pointed out that Bush's daughters campaigned for their father, Shuster noted the different access rules in each case and responded, "There's just something a little bit unseemly to me that Chelsea's out there calling up celebrities, saying support my mom … doesn't it seem like Chelsea's sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?"

The Clinton campaign demanded an apology and stated that Clinton might not participate in any further debates on MSNBC.^[6] Shuster was temporarily suspended from all NBC News and MSNBC appearances for his comments.^[7] Before the suspension Shuster had engaged in a heated e-mail exchange with a Clinton staffer in which he defended his remarks.^[8] Shuster's two-week suspension^[9] from on-air duties ended on February 22, 2008.^[10]

Indefinite suspension from MSNBC

On April 6, 2010, MSNBC announced that it had suspended David Shuster for an "indefinite period" after they learned from press reports that Shuster and Michel Martin of National Public Radio had shot a pilot episode for a new show on CNN, without the knowledge or permission of MSNBC.^[11][12]

Current TV

Starting July 29, 2011, David Shuster became a regular guest-host of Countdown with Keith Olbermann on Current TV.

Internet venture

Shuster announced in February 2011 that he is seeking to launch a website for investigative journalism.^[13]

Awards

Shuster won an Emmy Award as well as a Bugle Award awarded in August 2006 by the Disabled American Veterans for his coverage of the 2005 National Disabled Veterans Sports Clinic and the hour-long special that accompanied it on MSNBC.

References

1. ^ Bloom, Nate (April 18, 2008). "Cable news Jews". J Weekly. http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/34806/celebrities/. Retrieved April 6, 2010. 
2. ^ "Julianna Goldman, David Shuster". Weddings/Celebrations (The New York Times). May 27, 2007. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/fashion/weddings/27goldman.html. Retrieved December 22, 2008. 
3. ^ "Julianna Lee Goldman and David Martin Shuster". Weddings/Celebrations. HoosierTimes Inc. May 27, 2007. http://www.bloomingtonbrides.com/srch/?task=dt&rd=203. Retrieved January 27, 2009. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Love, etc.". The Washington Post. January 10, 2011. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/09/AR2011010904498.html. Retrieved January 10, 2011. "Separated: Broadcaster David Shuster, 43, and journalist Julianna Goldman, 29, after 3 1/2 years of marriage." 
5. ^ "Tennessee Rep. Marsha Blackburn Flustered by MSNBC Host". Memphis Flyer Online. 2007-09-24. http://www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/Content?oid=oid%3A33919. Retrieved 2008-02-10. 
6. ^ Fouhy, Beth (February 8, 2008). "MSNBC's Chelsea Comment Angers Clinton". Associated Press. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8UMAS3O0&show_article=1. Retrieved February 10, 2008. "I, at this point, can't envision a scenario where we would continue to engage in debates on that network." 
7. ^ "Shuster Suspended For "Pimped Out" Comment". medibistro.com TVNewser. 2008-02-08. http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/politics/shuster_suspended_for_pimped_out_comment_77059.asp. Retrieved 2008-02-10. ^{[dead link]}
8. ^ Calderone, Michael (2008-02-09). "Reporter initially defended Chelsea comment". politico.com. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0208/8408.html. Retrieved 2008-02-10. "By slamming any reporter who seeks to chat with chelsea while simultaneously having chelsea do campaign tasks such as trying to convince super delegates to support her mom, that's the reference. Chelsea is polite and does a fine job of saying 'I don't want to talk.'. But for campaign staff to then jump down the throat of a reporter who seeks to talk to chelsea...that's an issue." 
9. ^ "MSNBC reporter suspended for "pimp" remark". Hollywood Reporter. 2008-02-14. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080214/tv_nm/msnbc_dc_1. 
10. ^ "NBC VP Wanted to Fire Shuster 'On the Spot'". 2008-02-09. Archived from the original on 2008-02-11. http://web.archive.org/web/20080211111156/http://bigheaddc.com/2008/02/09/nbc-vp-wanted-to-fire-shuster-on-the-spot/. Retrieved 2008-02-10. "Griffin threatened to fire Shuster "on the spot,' and it was only with intervention from Tim Russert that Shuster didn't lose his position." 
11. ^ Gillette, Felix (April 2, 2010). "Inside the CNN Stockroom: Network Recently Shot Pilot Starring MSNBC's Shuster and NPR's Martin". The New York Observer. http://www.observer.com/2010/media/inside-cnn-stockroom-network-recently-shot-pilot-staring-msnbcs-shuster-and-nprs-martin. Retrieved April 6, 2010. 
12. ^ Stelter, Brian (April 6, 2010). "MSNBC Suspends David Shuster ‘Indefinitely’". The New York Times. http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/msnbc-suspends-david-shuster-indefinitely/. Retrieved April 6, 2010. 
13. ^ Sargent, Greg (February 1, 2011). "David Shuster launching new investigative Web site". The Plum Line (The Washington Post). http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-line/2011/02/david_shuster_launching_new_in.html. Retrieved November 4, 2011. 

External links

• David Shuster at the Internet Movie Database
• David Shuster on Twitter

Persondata
Name	Shuster, David
Alternative names
Short description	American television journalist
Date of birth	April 18, 1967
Place of birth	Bloomington, Indiana
Date of death
Place of death