Tamron Hall (born September 16, 1970 in Luling, Texas) is a day-side anchor for MSNBC and host of the program NewsNation with Tamron Hall.

Early career[link]

Hall received her Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Journalism from Temple University.^[1] Her first reporter position was as a general assignment reporter at KTVT in Dallas, Texas. From 1997 to 2007, she worked for WFLD-TV in Chicago. As a former Chicago resident, she frequently reported on issues related to Chicago politics.

MSNBC[link]

At MSNBC, Hall served as a general reporter and fill-in anchor, first achieving prominence as a substitute anchor for Keith Olbermann on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Hall then joined David Shuster as co-host of a new two-hour program, The Big Picture, which premiered June 1, 2009 and ended January 29, 2010.

Hall is currently the host of NewsNation with Tamron Hall. She is also a rotating news anchor and substitute anchor on Weekend Today and a fill-in news anchor/3rd-hour co-host on the weekday Today Show,

External links[link]

• Faces of MSNBC
• NewsNation with Tamron Hall, includes recent video

References[link]

This biographical article related to television in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2008)

The Marwar Hall at Umaid Bhawan Palace, Jodhpur, India

Hall in religious buildings : prayer hall of the Great Mosque of Kairouan, in Kairouan, Tunisia

A hallway at the Royal York Hotel

Hallway during and after construction in an apartment building in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

An outdoor passageway near the Alamo

In architecture, a hall is fundamentally a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age, a mead hall was such a simple building and was the residence of a lord and his retainers. Later, rooms were partitioned from it, so that today the hall of a house is the space inside the front door through which the rooms are reached....

This:

• Deriving from the above, a hall is often the term used to designate a British or Irish country house.
• In later medieval Europe, the main room of a castle or manor house was the great hall.
• Where the hall inside the front door of a house is elongated, it may be called a passage, corridor, or hallway.
• In a medieval building, the hall was where the fire was kept. With time, its functions as dormitory, kitchen, parlour and so on were divided off to separate rooms or, in the case of the kitchen, a separate building.

On the same principle:

• Many buildings at colleges and universities are formally titled "_______ Hall", typically being named after the person who endowed it, for example, King's Hall, Cambridge. Others, such as Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, commemorate respected people. Between these in age, Nassau Hall at Princeton University began as the single building of the then college. In medieval origin, these were the halls in which the members of the university lived together during term time. In many cases, some aspect of this community remains.
• At colleges in the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, Hall is the dining hall for students, with High Table at one end for fellows. Typically, at "Formal Hall", gowns are worn for dinner during the evening, whereas for "informal Hall" they are not.
• Many Livery Companies (e.g., in the City of London) have a Hall that is their headquarters and meeting place.

Similarly:

• A hall is also a building consisting largely of a principal room, that is rented out for meetings and social affairs. It may be privately or government-owned, such as a function hall owned by one company used for weddings and cotillions (organized and run by the same company on a contractual basis) or a community hall available for rent to anyone.
• In religious architecture, as in Islamic architecture, the prayer hall is a large room dedicated to the practice of the worship.^[1] (example : the prayer hall of the Great Mosque of Kairouan in Tunisia)

Following a line of similar development:

• In office buildings and larger buildings (theatres, cinemas etc.), the entrance hall is generally known as the foyer (the French for fire-place). The atrium, a name sometimes used in public buildings for the entrance hall, was the central courtyard of a Roman house.

Firehall (London, Ontario) in 1923

References[link]

1. ^ Stanford Anderson and Colin St. John Wilson, The Oxford companion to architecture, Volume 1, Oxford University Press, 2009, page 477

Look up Hall or hall in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

This article may be unbalanced towards certain viewpoints. Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints, or discuss the issue on the talk page. (December 2011)

Chris Matthews
Matthews at the 2011 Time 100 Gala.
Born	Christopher John Matthews (1945-12-17) December 17, 1945 (age 66) Somerton, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Ethnicity	Irish
Education	College of the Holy Cross
Occupation	News anchor and political commentator
Notable credit(s)	Hardball with Chris Matthews The Chris Matthews Show
Religion	Roman Catholic
Spouse	Kathleen Matthews
Relatives	Montgomery County, PA County Commissioner Jim Matthews (brother)

Christopher John "Chris" Matthews (born December 17, 1945) is an American news anchor and political commentator known for his nightly hour-long talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which is televised on the American cable television channel MSNBC. On weekends he hosts the syndicated NBC News–produced panel discussion program The Chris Matthews Show. Matthews makes frequent appearances on many other NBC and MSNBC programs. On March 22, 2009, Matthews renewed the contract for Hardball with Chris Matthews through 2012.^[1]

Early life and education[link]

Matthews was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Irish American parents and is a Roman Catholic.^[2] He attended La Salle College High School. He is a 1967 graduate of the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, and did graduate work in economics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.^[3][4]

Matthews served in the United States Peace Corps in Swaziland from 1968 to 1970^[5] as a trade development adviser.

Career[link]

Political career and views[link]

When Matthews first arrived in Washington, D.C., he worked as a police officer with the United States Capitol Police.^[6] Subsequently, he served on the staffs of four Democratic members of Congress, including Senators Frank Moss and Edmund Muskie. In 1974, he mounted an unsuccessful campaign for Pennsylvania's 4th congressional district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in which he received about 24% of the vote in the primary.^[7] Matthews was a presidential speechwriter during the Carter administration and later worked for six years as a top aide to longtime Speaker of the House of Representatives Tip O'Neill, playing a direct role in many key political battles with the Reagan administration.

Matthews in October 2007

Despite having worked for Democrats, Matthews has said, "I'm more conservative than people think I am.... I voted for George W. in 2000."^[8] Salon.com has called him the "most conservative voice" on MSNBC's primetime lineup.^[9] Matthews has been accused by media watchdogs^[10] of having panels of guests that skew to the right and of supporting Republicans in his own questions and comments.^[11][12] Conversely, he is also often criticized by conservatives for his opposition to the Iraq War among other stances he took against the Bush administration.

On the April 14, 2008, edition of The Colbert Report, Matthews alluded to a possible run for the United States Senate from Pennsylvania. When directly questioned by Stephen Colbert about his intentions, he stated that there is a difference between celebrities and those who work for the people, and it's a greater thing to work for the people. He also said that his boyhood dream was to be a senator. Four days later, on April 18, 2008, Matthews told Bill Maher that he has "made a commitment to covering politics in a liberal way, starting in 1987, and [he is] honoring that commitment, not getting involved in it."^[13] The seat in question was the one held by Sen. Arlen Specter, whose term in the Senate ended in January 2011. On November 28, 2008, Fivethirtyeight.com and The Politico reported that Matthews had been in contact with senior staffers of Barack Obama's campaign about a possible run.^[14][15] On January 7, 2009, The New York Times reported that Matthews told his staffers that he would not run for the Senate.^[16] On May 25, 2009 Chris Matthews appeared on Charlie Rose where he stated that he was intending to run for Specter's Senate seat in 2010, stating, "I could see myself winning the Democratic primary and I could see myself going on to face Arlen in the general [election]," but that he felt he had to decide between being a journalist and being a politician once Specter became a national figure by supporting the stimulus.

While discussing proposed healthcare reform on the December 17, 2009, edition of Hardball, Matthews stated, "The Republicans will know they have lost.... Let them keep score and it's easy. It's complicated when liberals get to keep score. We're always arguing. Well, I'm a liberal, too."^[17][18]

Author and talk show host[link]

Matthews during a special edition of Hardball

Matthews worked in print media for 15 years, spending 13 years as Washington, D.C. bureau chief for the San Francisco Examiner (1987–2000) and two years as a nationally syndicated columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle. Matthews covered the fall of the Berlin Wall, the first all-races election in South Africa, and the Good Friday Peace Talks in Northern Ireland. In 1997 and 1998, his research in the National Archives produced a series of exclusives on the Nixon presidential tapes. Matthews has covered American presidential election campaigns since 1988.

In 1997, Matthews began his own talk show, Hardball with Chris Matthews, which originally aired on CNBC but is currently on MSNBC. Hardball features pundits and elected officials as guests.

In 2002, The Chris Matthews Show began airing in syndication. The show is formatted as a political roundtable consisting of four journalists and Matthews, who serves as the moderator. He is estimated to earn more than $5 million a year. He also wrote a book called Hardball.^[19]

Personal life[link]

Matthews has been married since 1980 to Kathleen Matthews, who anchored News 7 on WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C., before accepting a position as an executive vice president with J.W. Marriott. The couple have three children: Michael, Thomas, and Caroline. His brother Jim Matthews, a Republican, is a county commissioner in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.

In 2002, Matthews was hospitalized with malaria, which he evidently contracted on one of his visits that year to Africa.^{[citation needed]} He has also had other health problems, including diabetes (which he acknowledged having on the Hardball broadcast of December 7, 2009) and pneumonia.^[20]

Criticisms and controversy[link]

Matthews and his wife Kathleen at the 2010 Time 100 Gala.

Liberal blogger Glenn Greenwald has called Matthews "the most vivid example of all that is wrong with political coverage," saying "[H]e’s endlessly obsessed with personality-based politics and likes to promote the strong, masculine tough guy who you can have a beer with, versus the nerdy loser. And he has a cast of characters who go on his show, like Newsweek’s Howard Fineman, who gush over the maleness of the Republican candidates and warn Democrats about how that has real appeal to American voters. Most political reporters judge candidates on the basis of the likeability factor—Matthews is just more explicit about it."^[21]

Others have criticized Matthews for talking too much on air, not letting his guests talk, and often talking over and interrupting them. One who also worked in the Carter Administration has written: "Generally in those days Chris was a relatively quiet person around the White House, and in meetings or briefings would frequently say very little, or nothing at all. I guess he's making up for lost time—or 'lost talk'—now. Nevertheless, I'm a big fan of his show, always fascinating without fail—at least if you're a political junkie."^[22]

The progressive media watchdog group Media Matters for America named Matthews its 2005 "Misinformer of the Year," citing statements he made in support of President George W. Bush.^[23]

On January 9, 2008, the morning after Hillary Clinton's surprise victory in the New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, Matthews appeared on MSNBC's Morning Joe program and said of Clinton,

The comments were criticized by such media figures as Bill O'Reilly, Joy Behar, and Gloria Steinem.^[24][26][27] They also resulted in protests outside NBC's Washington, D.C., studios as well as a joint letter of complaint to NBC from the National Organization for Women, Feminist Majority, and the National Women's Political Caucus. Matthews apologized for the comments on the January 17, 2008, edition of Hardball.^[27]

After Matthews and Keith Olbermann made controversial on-air comments during the 2008 Republican National Convention, NBC News correspondent David Gregory replaced them, but Matthews and Olbermann continued working as analysts.^[28] On November 4–5, he teamed with Rachel Maddow, Eugene Robinson, David Gregory, and Keith Olbermann to cover the presidential election.

On February 12, 2008, during MSNBC's coverage of the Potomac primary, Matthews had this to say about then presidential candidate Barack Obama:

This led some on the political right to assert that both he and MSNBC were biased toward Obama.^[30]

On November 6, 2008, he was a guest on the MSNBC television program Morning Joe, wherein he stated, "I want to do everything I can to make this thing work, this new presidency work." Host Joe Scarborough asked if that was his job as a journalist. "Yeah, that’s my job. My job is to help this country," Matthews replied.^[31]

On December 1, 2009, preceding Obama's speech announcing a troop increase in Afghanistan, Matthews criticized the president for choosing the United States Military Academy as his venue, referring to it as "the enemy camp."^[32] Soon after, Matthews apologized for his remarks, saying, "[To] the cadets, their parents, former cadets, and everyone who cares about this country and those who defend it: I used the wrong words and worse than that I said something that is just not right and for that I deeply apologize."^[33]

In January 2010, in Matthews's comments after President Obama's first State of the Union Address, he said, "You know, I forgot he was black tonight for an hour."^{[34][35][36][37][38]} The next day, on the Rachel Maddow show, Matthews clarified his remarks, saying, "I think he’s taken us beyond black and white in our politics, wonderfully so, in just a year."^[39]

Bibliography[link]

• Matthews, Christopher (2011). Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4516-3508-9. 
• Matthews, Christopher (2007). Life’s a Campaign: What Politics Has Taught Me About Friendship, Rivalry, Reputation, and Success (1st ed. ed.). New York: Random House. ISBN 978-1-4000-6528-8. 
• Matthews, Christopher (2002). American: Beyond Our Grandest Notions. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-7432-4086-3. 
• Matthews, Christopher (2001). Now, Let Me Tell You What I Really Think (1st ed. ed.). New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-684-86236-0. 
• Matthews, Christopher (1999). Hardball: How Politics Is Played, Told By One Who Knows the Game (1st Touchstone ed. ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-84559-8. 
• Matthews, Christopher (1996). Kennedy & Nixon: The Rivalry that Shaped Postwar America. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-684-81030-1. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Chris Matthews

• Hardball with Chris Matthews
• The Chris Matthews Show
• Appearances on C-SPAN
  • Booknotes interview with Matthews on Kennedy and Nixon: The Rivalry That Shaped Postwar America, June 9, 1996.
• Chris Matthews on Charlie Rose
• Chris Matthews at the Internet Movie Database
• Chris Matthews collected news and commentary at The New York Times
• Works by or about Chris Matthews in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Chris Matthews at the Notable Names Database

Michael Smerconish Esq.
Smerconish signing "smart bomb" during a Defense Department aircraft and weapons display in Southwest Asia, Oct. 20, 2006
Born	Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Residence	Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Lehigh University University of Pennsylvania Law School
Occupation	Radio host, columnist, author, political analyst
Years active	2002-present
Title	Regional Administrator for the Department of Housing and Urban Development
Political party	Independent
Website
http://www.smerconish.com/

Michael A. Smerconish is an American radio and television personality, newspaper columnist, author and MSNBC political analyst. His talk radio show is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at The Big Talker 1210 AM WPHT. He began his full time radio career in 2002.^[1] Since January 2009,^{[citation needed]} Smerconish's two daily nationally syndicated radio programs have been heard on 70 stations in the United States, including WOR News Talk Radio 710 in New York City and KFWB News Talk 980 in Los Angeles.^[2] Smerconish canceled the morning show in November 2010.^[3]

On August 20, 2009, Smerconish became the first talk radio host to broadcast live from the Obama White House, a show which included an interview with the President himself. The interview was held in the Diplomatic Reception Room, where President Franklin D. Roosevelt's fireside chats were held. The President took questions from Smerconish and his listeners on a variety of subjects including the recent debates on the pending Healthcare Reform Bill.

Smerconish has substituted for Bill O'Reilly on The O'Reilly Factor, Glenn Beck on his CNN Headline News television program, Chris Matthews on Hardball, and for Joe Scarborough on his former MSNBC show Scarborough Country. He is a regular contributor with MSNBC,^[2] and has appeared as a guest on NBC's Today Show, Larry King Live, The View, the Colbert Report and Real Time With Bill Maher, among others.^[4] He writes separate weekly columns in the Philadelphia Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer and is a regular contributor to The Daily Beast.^[5]

Talkers Magazine has consistently named him one of America's most important talk show hosts,^[4] and Radio & Records named him the nation's Local Personality of the Year in 2009.^[6] The Pennsylvania Report named him to the 2003 "The Pennsylvania Report Power 75" list of influential figures in Pennsylvania politics.^[7]

A simulcast of Smerconish's show aired on WPHT and MSNBC during the week of April 23–27, 2007. The program was broadcast live from the MSNBC studios in Secaucus, New Jersey as a replacement for Imus in the Morning on a trial basis.^[8] The program was originally intended to be a three-day trial from April 23 to 25 but was extended for the full week after the April 23 broadcast. In-studio guests included Jon Anderson of the musical group Yes and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Smerconish stated during his stint that he would stay on MSNBC "as long as they will have me." He said several days after the simulcast that he "wanted the call" to get the position permanently, but he wasn't expecting to land the position (he predicted David Gregory would get the job). If an offer had come, he stated he wasn't sure he would accept it, given he would have to travel to MSNBC's studios outside New York City.^[9] The MSNBC job instead went to Joe Scarborough, whose evening program Scarborough Country was retooled for the morning as Morning Joe.

On November 10, 2009 Smerconish's Philadelphia-based morning program was introduced to a Washington, D.C. area audience via simulcasting on The Big Talker 1580 AM WHFS.^[10] On February 2, 2009, WOR-AM became the first station to pick up Smerconish's midday program.^[11] Both shows – the original morning drive program as well as an additional three hour broadcast from noon to 3 p.m. eastern time – are syndicated by Dial Global in a partnership with CBS RADIO.

Born in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Smerconish is a graduate of Lehigh University and the University of Pennsylvania Law School. At age 29, he served as a federal housing coordinator in the Office of Housing and Urban Development of the administration of President George H.W. Bush.^[12] He is of Yugoslav descent and married to realtor Lavinia Smerconish.

Political positions[link]

Having voted for Republican candidates for president all his life, Smerconish endorsed Barack Obama for president on October 17, 2008.^[13][14]

He has urged the Republican Party to pursue "moderation on social issues in order to advance a suburban agenda for the GOP." ^[15]

On February 21, 2010, he announced that he had left the Republican Party.^[16]

Smerconish supports the use of torture as a "last resort."^[17]

He is an outspoken critic of political correctness, and has written two books on the subject:

• Flying Blind: How Political Correctness Continues to Compromise Airline Safety Post 9/11 (2004)
• Muzzled: From T-Ball to Terrorism – True Stories That Should Be Fiction (2006)

His other three books include:

• Murdered by Mumia – about slain Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner (co-written by Maureen Faulkner).^[18]
• Morning Drive: Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Talking, in which he discusses his political positions and his talk radio career. The book was released in April 2009.
• Instinct: The Man Who Stopped the Twentieth Hijacker (2009) about the story of Jose Melendez-Perez

Both Muzzled and Murdered by Mumia were New York Times bestsellers.^[6]

References[link]

External links and references[link]

• Smerconish's Home Page
• The Big Talker staff page for Smerconish
• Michael Smerconish at the Internet Movie Database

Savannah Guthrie
Guthrie at the 2012 Time 100 gala
Born	(1971-12-27) December 27, 1971 (age 40) Tucson, Arizona[1]
Residence	Washington, D.C.
Education	University of Arizona (B.A.), Georgetown University (J.D.)
Employer	NBC News
Known for	White House Correspondent, 2008–2011 The Daily Rundown co-anchor, 2010–11 Today co-anchor, 2011–present Chief Legal Analyst 2011–present
Home town	Tucson, Arizona
Spouse	Mark Orchard (m. 2005) «start: (2005)»"Marriage: Mark Orchard to Savannah Guthrie" Location: (linkback:http://en-wiki.pop.wn.com/index.php/Savannah_Guthrie) (separated)

Savannah Guthrie (born December 27, 1971) is an American journalist and attorney, working for NBC News.

After serving as a White House correspondent^[1] between 2008 and 2011 and as co-anchor of the MSNBC program The Daily Rundown between 2010 and 2011, Guthrie was announced as the co-host of Today's third hour alongside Natalie Morales and Al Roker. In that role she also substitutes as news anchor and main co-host, and appears as the Chief Legal Analyst^[2] across all NBC platforms.

Guthrie joined NBC in September 2007 as a legal analyst and correspondent, regularly reported on trials throughout the country.

Biography[link]

Savannah Guthrie is a native of Tucson, Arizona, and graduated from Amphitheater High School.

Guthrie received her undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Arizona before receiving her Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, where she graduated Magna Cum Laude. Guthrie is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and Arizona, having scored first place on the Arizona Bar Exam. Guthrie was a member of Order of the Coif and received the International Academy of Trial Lawyers' Student Advocacy award for her work with victims of domestic violence. She worked for the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, where she served as a litigation associate, specializing in white-collar criminal defense. Prior to serving in this capacity, Guthrie was a Law Fellow at Georgetown University Law Center, teaching a first-year Legal Research and Writing workshop on a weekly basis.

Before joining Court TV (now truTV), Guthrie worked at NBC affiliates WRC-TV in Washington, D.C. as a reporter and KVOA-TV in Tucson, Arizona as a reporter/anchor. Previously Guthrie worked as a reporter and anchor at KMIZ-TV in Columbia, Missouri.

Guthrie covered high profile legal proceedings including the Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearings of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, the abduction and murder trial of Carlie Brucia, the Martha Stewart case, and the Michael Jackson trial. Guthrie covered Sarah Palin in the 2008 presidential race from Fairbanks, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, Sioux City, Iowa and Washington. On December 18, 2008, Guthrie was named White House correspondent for NBC News. In this capacity she contributes to all NBC News properties.^[1] She has also substituted for David Shuster on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and Willie Geist on Way Too Early. She substituted for David Gregory on "Meet the Press" on August 21, 2011 and April 1, 2012.

Guthrie was the commencement speaker for the University of Arizona's 2011 graduation ceremony as well as for Hobart and William Smith Colleges' 2012 graduating classes.

[edit] Today

After substituting for both Meredith Vieira and Ann Curry on Today, it was confirmed on May 9, 2011, that Guthrie would become co-host of the 9am hour alongside Natalie Morales and Al Roker, as well as the show's Chief Legal Editor. The move came after Meredith Vieira announced her departure from the show as co-host of the main program, and the subsequent promotions of Ann Curry and Natalie Morales to main co-host and news anchor respectively. Guthrie departed The Daily Rundown for Today on June 8, 2011.^[3] She also became NBC News's Chief Legal Analyst, making her first appearance in this role on May 25, 2011.^[2]

Personal life[link]

While covering the trial of Michael Jackson, Guthrie met English-born BBC News presenter Mark Orchard. After Orchard divorced his first wife, journalist Anne Kornblut, the couple married in December 2005.^[4] The couple is now reportedly separated and Guthrie has since appeared on air without a wedding ring.^[5]

In an online news article she stated her height at 5'10"^[6]

References[link]