Chuck Todd, the former moderator of Meet the Press and a staple of NBC News’ political reportage for nearly two decades, is leaving the network.
Todd told his NBC colleagues about his decision Friday morning. It will also be his last day.
He added that he will be taking his “ChuckToddcast” with him, and that it will have a “new home” soon.
And he indicated that he plans to launch a new venture, one that may connect national news to local news.
“At my core, I’m an entrepreneur — I spent my first 15 years professionally working for the company that started the political newsletter craze that dominates today,” Todd said, referencing his time at National Journal, where he created the Hotline newsletter, a predecessor to the likes of Politico Playbook and Punchbowl News. “And this is a ripe moment. The only way to fix this information eco system is to stop whining about the various ways the social media companies are manipulating things and instead roll up our collective sleeves and start with local. National media can’t win trust back without having a robust partner locally and trying to game algorithms is no way to inform and report. People are craving community and that’s something national media or the major social media companies can’t do as well as local media.”
Still, Todd’s exit is the end of an era at NBC News. He was hired by NBC’s then-D.C. bureau chief and Meet the Press moderator Tim Russert in 2007, and became moderator of the program himself in 2014. It was during his tenure that the show expanded into streaming, and created new platforms like a Meet the Press-branded film festival.
He officially handed the baton of the Sunday public affairs show over to current moderator Kristen Welker in the fall of 2023, though he agreed to stick around as chief political analyst. And he used that platform, including calling out NBC a year ago after it (briefly) hired former RNC chair Ronna McDaniel.
“We’re grateful for Chuck’s many contributions to our political coverage during his nearly two-decade career at NBC News and for his deep commitment to Meet the Press and its enduring legacy. We wish him all the best in his next endeavors,” an NBC News spokesperson said in a statement.
Read Todd’s note below.
Today is my last day at NBC. I started as political director in 2007, a month before my son was born and he’ll be graduating high school in a few months. So I guess this means I’ve been here a while.
There’s never a perfect time to leave a place that’s been a professional home for so long, but I’m pretty excited about a few new projects that are on the cusp of going from “pie in the sky” to “near reality.” So I’m grateful for the chance to get a jump start on my next chapter during this important moment.
The ChuckToddcast is also coming with me (thank you NBC). Stay tuned for an announcement about its new home soon. Needless to say, I do plan to continue to share my reporting and unique perspective of covering politics with data and history as important baselines in understanding where we were, where we are and where we’re going.
The media has a lot of work to do to win back the trust of viewers/listeners/readers and I’m convinced the best place to start is from the bottom up. At my core, I’m an entrepreneur — I spent my first 15 years professionally working for the company that started the political newsletter craze that dominates today. And this is a ripe moment. The only way to fix this information eco system is to stop whining about the various ways the social media companies are manipulating things and instead roll up our collective sleeves and start with local. National media can’t win trust back without having a robust partner locally and trying to game algorithms is no way to inform and report. People are craving community and that’s something national media or the major social media companies can’t do as well as local media.
As I said when I announced my exit from MTP, I leave feeling concerned about this moment in history but reassured by the standards I and others at NBC have worked so hard to set. We can’t tolerate propagandists. But it doesn’t mean sticking your head in the sand either; if you ignore reality, you’ll miss the biggest story. Being a real political journalist isn’t about building a brand, it’s about reporting what’s happening and explaining why it’s happening and letting the public absorb the facts without judging them for coming to a different conclusion. If you do this job seeking popularity, or to simply be an activist, you are doing this job incorrectly.
I’m really proud of the work I’ve done with the incredible team of folks I’ve been lucky enough to work with over these two decades (and five presidents). The beauty of NBC is that one can’t succeed without being an incredible collaborator. I fear if I start name checking folks, I’ll leave someone out and that won’t be right. I was proud to be able to work at the former home of David Brinkley, Tom Brokaw and Tim Russert. I still can’t believe I got to follow in their amazing footsteps. That will remain an honor of a lifetime.
Please, don’t be shy about staying in touch. My personal info is below. Thank you NBC and I can’t wait to work with many of you again down the road. And needless to say, I’ll also be watching!
Thank you
Chuck Todd
