PBS NewsHour Promotes Senior National Correspondent Amna Nawaz to Chief Correspondent

By A.J. Katz 

PBS NewsHour senior national correspondent Amna Nawaz has been named the nightly newscast’s chief correspondent, and on Fridays, she’ll also serve as the NewsHour’s White House correspondent.

Nawaz joined the PBS NewsHour in April 2018 as a correspondent and has since co-moderated PBS NewsHour’s Democratic Primary Debate with Politico in December 2019. In fact, Nawaz, who is Pakistani-American, is the first Asian American and Muslim American to moderate a presidential debate.

In addition to her new roles, Nawaz will co-anchor and anchor some prime time and other special coverage and continue to serve as Judy Woodruff‘s primary substitute anchor on the NewsHour. She’ll also remain host of PBS’ prime time arts series Beyond the Canvas.

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Nawaz’s reporting at the NewsHour has been wide-ranging, spanning politics, foreign affairs, education, climate change, culture and sports. In recent months and under the Biden Administration, she has interviewed CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina M. Raimondo, and former Biden Administration senior advisor Andy Slavitt. During the Trump Administration, Nawaz’s immigration reporting took her to multiple border communities in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico. She’s investigated the impact of the Trump Administration’s immigration policies, including following the journey of a single toddler as she left her home in Mexico, was separated from her family at the U.S. border, and later reunited with her family several weeks later. She also regularly covers issues around detention, refugees and asylum, and migrant children in U.S. government custody.

Prior to joining the NewsHour, Nawaz was an anchor and correspondent at ABC News, anchoring breaking news coverage and leading the network’s digital coverage of the 2016 election. Before that, she served as a foreign correspondent at NBC News, reporting from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Turkey, and the broader region.

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