Ben Tracy

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Benjamin Sampair Tracy (born July 16, 1976 in St. Paul, Minnesota) is an American journalist known for his work as a national correspondent for CBS News since January 2008.[1] He served as CBS's White House correspondent from 2019 to 2020,[2] and is currently the network's senior environmental correspondent, based in Los Angeles.[3]

Early life and education[edit]

Tracy was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He graduated from St. Thomas Academy, and later from Marquette University with Bachelor's degrees in broadcast journalism and political science, and with a Master's degree in public service.

Career[edit]

Tracy was a reporter for WCCO-TV, the CBS-affiliate station in Minneapolis, where he was a member of the station's investigative team, covering many major stories, including the methamphetamine epidemic and the collapse of the 35W bridge.[citation needed]

During that time, he also was a contributor to the Saturday Early Show, to which he brought his signature "Good Question" segment, started at WCCO-TV, to a national audience. Tracy also reported for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric on the collapse of the I-35W bridge and flooding in southern Minnesota.[citation needed]

Before joining WCCO-TV, Tracy worked as a reporter at WISN-TV Milwaukee and WBAY-TV Green Bay, Wisconsin. He is the recipient of five Emmy Awards and the Alfred DuPont-Columbia award for excellence in broadcast journalism.[citation needed]

Controversy[edit]

On October 5, 2020, Tracy criticized the lack of adherence he observed at the Trump White House to public health guidelines to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic "I felt safer reporting in North Korea than I currently do reporting at The White House. This is just crazy. For context folks, this is in reference to the COVID-19 outbreak at The White House."[4] The tweet garnered nearly 195,000 "Likes",[2] as well as swift criticism from Republicans.[2][5]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Ben Tracy '98: CBS News, National Correspondent". Diedrich College of Communication. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Justin, Neal (October 27, 2020). "Ex-WCCO reporter shares his often 'crazy' life as White House correspondent". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on October 30, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  3. ^ CBS News Bio, "Ben Tracy"; January 5, 2023
  4. ^ Tracy, Ben (October 5, 2020). "Untitled". Twitter. Archived from the original on October 5, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2020.
  5. ^ Chasmer, Jessica (October 5, 2020). "CBS News' Ben Tracy: 'I felt safer reporting in North Korea' than in this White House". The Washington Times. Archived from the original on October 5, 2020. Retrieved December 16, 2020.

External links[edit]