Page 29 - ARUBA TODAY
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PEOPLE & ARTS A29
Wednesday 3 January 2018
NBC names Hoda Kotb as Lauer replacement on ‘Today’
By DAVID BAUDER In this Nov. 29, 2017, file photo, Savannah Guthrie, right, and Hoda Kotb appear with the Rockettes 1990s before his abrupt fir-
AP Media Writer during the 85th annual Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in New York. ing for what NBC called
NEW YORK (AP) — NBC “inappropriate sexual be-
News opened the new Associated Press havior” with a colleague.
year Tuesday by appoint- Other complaints and re-
ing Hoda Kotb as co-an- should send some med- in second behind ABC. thentic and heartfelt mo- ports of crude behavior fol-
chor of the “Today” show’s ics to Alexandria, Virginia, “Hoda has seamlessly ments in even the most dif- lowed.
first two hours with Savan- where my mom has likely stepped into the co-an- ficult news circumstances. He was the second televi-
nah Guthrie, replacing fainted.” chor role alongside Savan- It’s a tribute to her wide sion morning host fired in
Matt Lauer following his fir- Lauer’s eventual replace- nah, and the two have range and her innate curi- a week, after CBS News
ing on sexual misconduct ment had long been the quickly hit the ground run- osity.” axed Charlie Rose just be-
charges in late November. subject of internal angst ning,” It’s common for television fore Thanksgiving on sexual
Kotb, 53, will continue to but with a sudden decision NBC News Chairman Andy shows with job openings to misconduct charges. Rose
co-host the show’s fourth forced upon the network, Lack said in a memo to hold informal tryouts of po- was one of three “CBS This
hour with Kathie Lee Gif- Kotb’s performance made staff on Tuesday. tential hosts. Morning” hosts with Gayle
ford. it easier. “They have an undeniable With Kotb’s immediate King and Norah O’Donnell,
It will be the first all-female She’s subbed for Lauer connection with each oth- success, potential replace- and CBS has yet to name
team headlining “Today” since the day he was fired er and most importantly, ments like Willie Geist or his replacement.
in the show’s 65-year histo- and “Today” has won four with viewers, a hallmark of Craig Melvin didn’t get Substitutes have included
ry. Diane Sawyer and Rob- straight weeks in the rat- ‘Today.’” that chance. Vladimir Duthiers, Bianna
in Roberts blazed that path ings, after having spent Lack said Kotb “has the Lauer had been a fixture Golodryga, Dana Jacob-
for ABC’s “Good Morning much of the past few years rare ability to share au- at “Today” since the mid- sen, John Dickerson and
America” in the 2000s, but Anthony Mason.
morning shows have tradi- Kotb joined NBC News in
tionally paired a man and 1998 as a “Dateline NBC”
a woman as host. correspondent, after work-
With an audience domi- ing in local news in New
nated by women in an era Orleans.
where news of badly be- Her public profile increased
having men is frequent, the with her wine-soaked pair-
Guthrie-Kotb pairing may ing with Gifford on the
be particularly timely. show’s informal fourth hour.
“Today” won’t be an all- She was born in Norman,
female zone in its first half, Oklahoma, to parents of
however, with longtime Egyptian descent, and
weather forecaster Al Ro- raised in Morgantown,
ker and correspondent West Virginia.
Carson Daly as regulars. Ben Bogardus, a journal-
Megyn Kelly hosts the ism professor at Connecti-
show’s third hour. cut’s Quinnipiac University,
“This has to be the most said Kotb’s selection was
popular decision NBC a good one “because it
News has ever made and reinforces the sense of a
I am so thrilled,” Guthrie family coming together
said on Tuesday, announc- after a shared trauma.”
ing the appointment on The timing is important for
the air. NBC, because “Today”
“I am pinching myself,” will get a burst of attention
said a beaming Kotb, sit- next month with the Winter
ting beside her. “I think we Olympics.q
Dave Robicheaux
returns in new novel
by James Lee Burke
By JEFF AYERS He even confronts the driv- 523-0300
Associated Press er who rammed into her
James Lee Burke’s iconic vehicle, but he swears he
deputy from Louisiana, was driving the speed limit
Dave Robicheaux, must and she pulled out in front
face the past that haunts of him and he didn’t have
him while pursuing a mur- time to stop.
der case that hits too close A couple of his friends ask
to home in “Robicheaux.” for personal favors, and
Robicheaux still hasn’t got- when he begrudgingly
ten over the death of his obliges, it ends up being
wife, Molly. She was killed problematic when one of
in a traffic accident, and them is accused of a sexu-
he wants answers. al assault.q
