Beyond the broadcast: Covering the 2024 elections

Geoff Bennett, co-anchor, PBS NewsHour
Geoff Bennett is an award-winning political correspondent who has reported from the White House under three presidents and has covered five presidential elections. His exclusive interviews with many influential political figures have grabbed national headlines.

Bennett joined PBS from NBC News, where he was a White House correspondent and substitute anchor for MSNBC.

At NBC, he earned recognition for his in-depth and exclusive reporting. He is part of the team that in 2022 won the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award for Overall Excellence. Bennett also worked for NPR, as an editor and reporter.

Bennett has appeared as a political analyst on ABC News and CBS News and has also hosted C-SPAN’s Washington Journal public affairs program. He began his journalism career at World News Tonight on ABC after graduating from Morehouse College.

Major  Garrett, chief Washington correspondent, CBS News
Major Garrett was named CBS News chief Washington correspondent in December 2018. He also serves as anchor for America Decides on CBS News Streaming and hosts The Takeout, a weekly multi-platform interview show on politics, policy and pop culture available on CBS News Streaming, top radio stations across the country and all podcast platforms. Garrett also hosts Agent of Betrayal: The Double Life of Robert Hanssen, a multi-part and incisive podcast investigation into the most damaging spy scandal in FBI history.

From 2012 until 2018, Garrett served as the network’s chief White House correspondent, reporting extensively on former President Barack Obama’s handling of the health care website rollout, policy failures at the Veterans Administration and ongoing efforts in 2014 to address racial strife and criminal justice reform. He traveled with Obama to Asia, Europe and the Middle East.

Before joining CBS News, Garrett was a fixture during its presidential campaign coverage in 2012 through a partnership with the National Journal, where he was chief White House correspondent. Prior to National Journal, Garrett was the chief White House correspondent for Fox News. Before joining Fox, Garrett was a White House correspondent for CNN during the administrations of former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Garrett is the author of five books, including The Big Truth: Upholding Democracy in the Age of ‘The Big Lie, which was published in 2022. He graduated in 1984 from the University of Missouri with degrees in journalism and political science and lives in Washington, D.C.

Mary Bruce, chief Washington correspondent, ABC News
Mary Bruce is the chief White House correspondent for ABC News, based in Washington, D.C. Her work can be seen across the network’s shows. She regularly fills in as an anchor on Good Morning America and World News Tonight and appears on ABC News Live programs and ABC News Radio.

As a senior White House correspondent, Bruce covered the Biden administration and the 2022 midterms. During the 2020 presidential election, she served as ABC News’ lead campaign correspondent, covering the Biden campaign extensively, from the primaries through major events, including the presidential and vice presidential debates and the conventions. In November 2020, Bruce reported around the clock for five straight days until a winner was projected in the historic election.

Bruce joined ABC News in 2006 as a desk assistant.

A native of Washington, D.C., she holds a bachelor’s degree in history and Spanish from Washington University in St. Louis.

Kristen Welker, moderator, Meet the Press, NBC News
Kristen Welker is the 13th moderator of Meet the Press, where she assumed the position on Sept. 17, 2023.

Previously, she was co-anchor of Weekend TODAY and NBC News Chief White House Correspondent, where her political reporting appeared across all NBC News and MSNBC platforms, including NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, TODAY, Meet the Press, and NBCNews.com.

She joined Weekend TODAY as co-anchor in Jan. 2020 and began covering the White House for NBC News in Dec. 2011. Welker also covered former President Donald Trump’s administration and the 2020 presidential race and is currently leading the network’s coverage of President Joe Biden’s administration.

Prior to the White House beat, Welker was a network correspondent based in Burbank, California, joining NBC News in 2010. Welker, a native of Philadelphia, graduated cum laude from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree in American history. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband John Hughes and daughter Margot Lane.

David Folkenflik, media correspondent, NPR
Based in New York City, David Folkenflik serves as NPR’s media correspondent. His stories and analyses are broadcast on the network’s newsmagazines, such as All Things Considered, Morning Edition, and Here & Now, and are featured on NPR’s website and mobile platforms. Folkenflik’s reports cast light on the stories of our age, the figures who share journalism, and the tectonic shifts affecting the news industry. In early 2018, his exposé about the past workplace behavior of the CEO of the Los Angeles Times forced the executive’s immediate ouster from that job and helped inspire the sale of the newspaper.

A five-time winner of the Arthur Rowse Award for Press Criticism from the National Press Club, Folkenflik has received numerous other recognitions, including the inaugural 2002 Mongerson Award for Investigative Reporting on the News and top honors from the National Headliners. In 2018, the Society of Professional Journalists recognized Folkenflik with its 2018 Ethics in Journalism Award. In 2017, Penn State University named Folkenflik as the nation’s leading media critic with the Bart Richards Award. He also served as the inaugural Irik Sevin Fellow at Cornell. Folkenflik frequently lectures at college campuses and civic organizations across the country and often appears as a media analyst for television and radio programs in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, and Ireland.

Folkenflik also is the author of Murdoch’s World: The Last of the Old Media Empires and editor of Page One: Inside the New York Times and the Future of Journalism. Folkenflik joined NPR in 2004 after more than a decade at the Baltimore Sun, where he covered higher education, national politics, and the media. He started his professional career at the Durham Herald-Sun in North Carolina. He served as editor-in-chief at the Cornell Daily Sun and graduated from Cornell with a bachelor’s degree in history.