Why Lester Holt leaving 'NBC Nightly News' is a blow to media trust | Opinion
Quick, name a network news anchor.
No, not people like Sean Hannity and Jesse Watters. Real journalists, who anchor a real newscast. Folks like Jake Tapper and Bret Baier don't count. They're on cable news.
With apologies to David Muir at ABC, chances are you might have come up with Lester Holt, the anchor and managing editor of "NBC Nightly News."
Make that former anchor and managing editor.
Holt, in a surprise move, announced Monday that he is leaving the job but will continue to host "Dateline."
The news comes a day after reports broke that MSNBC, which, like NBC, is owned by Comcast, was axing Joy Reid's show, "The ReidOut," amid reports that other changes are coming.
To the extent that people still have faith in the nightly news, Holt's exit is a blow to that trust.
How long has Lester Holt been NBC News anchor?
In a note to "Nightly News" and "Dateline" staff, Holt wrote, “A smile comes to my face when I think that with Nightly News, and Dateline, I have now anchored two of the most successful and iconic television news programs in broadcast history. As a 20-year-old radio reporter on the police beat chasing breaking news around San Francisco, I could never have imagined my career path would unfold in the way it has. What an amazing ride.”
Holt joined NBC News and took over as anchor of "Nightly News" in 2015 after Brian Williams was found to have misrepresented stories of his being in a helicopter that took fire while he was covering the Iraq war. Holt filled in as a temporary replacement at first but eventually was named permanent anchor. He was the first Black solo anchor of a nightly newscast.
Holt just looks and sounds like a news anchor, with a deep voice and a steady cadence to his delivery. And with all of the changes in media, it seems like he's been there a lot longer than 2015.
CBS News also replaced Norah O'Donnell
This isn't the only recent shakeup among broadcast news networks. In January, Norah O'Donnell stepped down as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" and was replaced by Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson. (O'Donnell remains at the network.) All of this comes at a time when the public holds the media in low regard, and more and more outlets are either unwilling to stand up to President Donald Trump or out-and-out cower before him.
All things considered, in other words, anchoring the network news isn't what it used to be, at least in terms of ratings and cachet (though ratings are still relatively high).
A 2024 poll found Holt the most-trusted nightly news anchor, with Muir not far behind (and ABC News leads in the ratings). But this is not a Walter Cronkite situation, where news anchors not only reported the news but, thanks to the outsized trust audiences had in them, helped shape the public's opinions on it, too.
Holt won the Walter Cronkite Award in 2019
Holt was named the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism by ASU's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication during Trump's first term in 2019. In an interview then, asked how to break through at a time when media was under constant attack from the White House (it's only gotten worse), he said, “I think you just keep doing your job. At some point, it’s not our job to have an impact on societal behavior. We’re there to inform."
NBC News didn't name a replacement for Holt. His last broadcast as anchor will be in summer of 2025.
Reach Goodykoontz at bill.goodykoontz@arizonarepublic.com. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Subscribe to the weekly WatchList newsletter. Listen to Valley 101.