Chris Jansing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chris Jansing was born Christine Kapostasy on January 30, 1957 (source: oldest sister and first cousin confirmation, both having been born in 1937 and 20 years of age when Chris was born). She is the youngest of 12 children of Joseph and Tilly Kapostasy, of Hungarian and Slovakian extraction. She hails from Fairport Harbor, Ohio.
Jansing is an American TV news anchor and correspondent. She currently works for MSNBC as an anchor of MSNBC Live and is a NBC News Correspondent.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Kapostasy first was exposed to journalism while doing college radio in Ohio. Originally a Political Science major, Kapostasy became hooked on journalism and switched majors to Broadcast Journalism and graduated from Otterbein College in Ohio in 1978.
[edit] Pre-1981
- Kapostasy began her career in AM radio anchor positions during the late 1970s, at WOKO-AM in Albany, New York and WIPS-AM in Ticonderoga, New York. In 1980 and 1981, she worked at WTRY-AM in Schenectady, New York.
[edit] 1981
- Kapostasy is hired as a general assignment reporter by WNYT in Albany, New York. Subsequently, Kapostasy is promoted to anchor, eventually teaming up with legendary local news anchor Ed Dague. For over a decade the Dague/Kapostasy anchor team ruled Albany television.
[edit] 1996
- Kapostasy receives an Emmy Award for her coverage of the 1996 Olympic Park bombing at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.
- Kapostasy receives a "Best Documentary" award from the New York State Broadcasters Association for her report on hunger in New York State.
[edit] 1998
- An NBC News executive, vacationing in upstate New York, sees Kapostasy on WNYT. Kapostasy, leaves WNYT after 17 years and is hired by NBC News and goes to work at NBC's cable news channel MSNBC in June of 1998. Kapostasy takes on her married name of Jansing with the move to MSNBC. Jansing's duties outside of MSNBC include reporting for Dateline NBC and substituting on Weekend Today and the weekend edition of NBC Nightly News.
- On November 12th, Jansing has an exclusive one hour live interview with O.J. Simpson on MSNBC's Newsfront program.
[edit] 1999
- Jansing covers the funeral of John F. Kennedy Jr..
[edit] 2000
- In March, Jansing travels to Jerusalem to cover Pope John Paul II's pilgrimage to the Holy Land live for the network.
- Jansing spends 37 days in Tallahassee, Florida covering the 2000 Presidential Election and the vote recount that ensued between George W. Bush and Al Gore. When the Florida-Florida State football game occurs, she is forced to bunk in a law student dorm because the hotels are filled up.
[edit] 2001
- Jansing reports for MSNBC on the story of the execution of Timothy McVeigh in Terre Haute, Indiana live from Oklahoma City.
- Jansing is live on the air on MSNBC on September 11 when two Boeing 767 jets destroy the World Trade Center.
- Jansing anchors the invasion of Afghanistan for MSNBC.
[edit] 2002
- With the Afghan conflict and the War On Terror receding a bit in the public's consciousness, MSNBC makes a bizarre programming move still talked about to this day. MSNBC changes its format away from hard news and institutes four hours of talking head style coverage. Jansing's role at MSNBC is reduced to five minute news updates during the Curtis and Kuby and Buchanan and Press shows. MSNBC's ratings tumble and within a few months Curtis and Kuby is cancelled and Buchanan and Press is scaled back to one hour. Jansing resumes anchoring MSNBC news coverage full time.
[edit] 2003
- When the Iraq War began Jansing anchored the coverage for MSNBC in the mornings working 8 hour shifts on the air for 14 days straight.
[edit] 2004
- Jansing hits the campaign trail starting in January. For the next ten months, she cris-crosses the country, reporting from the road on the 2004 Primaries, the Democratic National Convention, the Republican National Convention, and the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates, periodically returning to MSNBC's Secaucus studios to anchor MSNBC Live. She hosts three "Battleground America" specials, the second of which wins an award, on the issues and tactics involved in the 2004 election. She covers the Presidential Election on Election Night from Ohio.
- During that time Jansing also anchors a series of MSNBC specials on the Abu Ghraib scandal and the 9/11 Commission.
[edit] 2005
- Jansing covers the inauguration of President George W. Bush for his second term.
- Jansing heads to Rome, ostensibly to cover Pope John Paul II during Easter. However after Easter, the Pope, already frail, passes away while she is in Rome and Jansing covers his funeral and the choosing of his successor, Pope Benedict XVI. For the ceremony installing the new Pope, Jansing anchors the coverage exclusively for both MSNBC and NBC.
- Jansing covers the launch and landing of Space Shuttle Discovery, doing several space themed specials during that period as well.
- Jansing anchors a new periodic series on MSNBC called "The Ethical Edge", the concept of which sprung from her experiences in Rome earlier in the year.
[edit] 2006
- Jansing, along with Alison Stewart, covers the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy for MSNBC.
- Jansing anchors coverage of the launch of Space Shuttle Discovery.
[edit] Biographical
- Jansing is a believer on giving back to the community and especially to helping children. She has taken time off to go speak at colleges and universities across the country on her experiences as a broadcast journalist to aspiring journalists.
- In 1993, The Vermont State Legislature passed a resolution honoring Chris Kapostasy for her commitment to youth issues, in particular her "Monday's Child" segments on WNYT which matched children with Big Brother and Big Sister mentors.
- The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York has a scholarship established in her name; The Christine Kapostasy Jansing Endowed Scholarship in Public Communications.
- In 2003, Jansing received a Special Achievement Award from Otterbein College.
- In 2006, Jansing participates in the Communties In Schools program Lunch With a Leader to raise money for the North Carolina chapter of the charity. The program consists of a series of eBay auctions where pariticpants bid for the chance to have lunch with a leader in a particular industry.
