Savannah Clark Guthrie (born December 27, 1971) is an Australian-born American broadcast journalist and attorney. She is a main co-anchor of the NBC News morning show Today, a position she has held since July 2012.
Guthrie joined NBC News in September 2007 as a legal analyst and correspondent, regularly reporting on trials throughout the country. After serving as a White House correspondent between 2008 and 2011 and as co-anchor of the MSNBC program The Daily Rundown in 2010 and 2011, Guthrie was announced as the co-host of Todays third hour alongside Natalie Morales and Al Roker. In that role, she substituted as news anchor and main co-host and appeared as the chief legal analyst across all NBC platforms. Guthrie ceased to be the third-hour co-host and chief legal analyst in 2012 when she replaced Ann Curry as co-anchor of Today.
Early life and education
Savannah Clark Guthrie, named for her great-grandmother, was born in Melbourne, Australia, where her father was stationed for work. Her family returned to the United States and moved to Tucson, Arizona, two years later. The first time Guthrie returned to Australia was in 2015 while working for Today, which she described as a "lifelong dream" of hers.
She made the trip with her mother, Nancy, to visit her birthplace at the Maternity Ward of Sandringham Hospital in Sandringham, Victoria, an affluent beachside town located 16 km (10 mi) southeast of Melbourne's central business district. They then visited the family’s former home nearby Beaumaris. Guthrie also spent some time in Sydney before returning to the United States.
She graduated from Amphitheater High School in Tucson.
Guthrie received a B.A. in journalism from the University of Arizona, graduating cum laude in 1993. She was a member of the Arizona Alpha chapter of Pi Beta Phi.
Guthrie received a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, where she graduated magna cum laude in 2002. She received the highest score on the Arizona Bar exam in the year she took it.
Career
Guthrie's first job in broadcasting was at ABC affiliate KMIZ, in Columbia, Missouri, where she worked for two years before returning to Tucson and a job with NBC affiliate KVOA in 1995. After five years in Arizona, she took a job at WRC-TV, Washington, D.C. where she covered major stories, including the September 11 attack on The Pentagon and the 2001 anthrax attacks.
After working several years as a broadcast journalist, Guthrie chose to resume her higher education, receiving a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, where she graduated magna cum laude in 2002. She is a member of the bars of the District of Columbia and Arizona, having scored first place on the Arizona Bar Exam. She also 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.
Guthrie worked for the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, where she served as a litigation associate, specializing in white-collar criminal defense. Guthrie accepted a clerkship on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, but she later turned the role down to pursue her career in journalism. In 2004, she became a national trial correspondent for CourtTV. 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.
NBC News (2007–present) Guthrie became a correspondent for NBC News in September 2007. She covered Sarah Palin's 2008 vice-presidential race from Fairbanks, Pittsburgh, San Antonio, Sioux City, Iowa, and Washington. On December 18, she was named a White House correspondent for NBC News. In this capacity, she contributed to all NBC News properties. Guthrie is also an NBC News anchor and substitute anchor on NBC Nightly News.
On October 14, 2020, Guthrie served as moderator for the town hall scheduled by President Trump after he caught COVID-19 and refused to participate in a virtual presidential debate that was postponed for safety reasons, when Joe Biden scheduled a solo town hall debate, Trump and NBC scheduled one at the same date and time as Biden's town hall.
The Today Show (2011–present)