Lester Holt

Lester Holt is the winner of the 2025 ICFJ Founders Award for Excellence in Journalism.

Lester Holt is an award-winning journalist at NBC News. He is the anchor and managing editor of the network’s flagship award-winning broadcast "NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt," as well as the anchor of “Dateline NBC.” Holt also leads NBC News’ coverage of major breaking news and political events, including presidential elections and debates.

Named the “most-trusted television news personality in America” two consecutive times by The Hollywood Reporter/Morning Consult poll, Holt became anchor of “NBC Nightly News” in June 2015 after anchoring the weekend editions of "NBC Nightly News" for eight years and co-anchoring "Weekend TODAY" for 12 years. Holt has served as principal anchor of "Dateline NBC" since September 2011 and joined NBC News in 2000.

One of Holt’s trademarks is his on-the-ground reporting and his deep commitment to providing viewers with first-person accounts when disaster and tragedy strikes. In the past decade as anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” he has reported from around the world, including from Israel following the Oct. 7^th attack as the only broadcast news anchor to be on the ground during the first two full weeks of the war; Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in 2022; Tehran, Iran in 2019, where he received rare access and interviewed top diplomats and the Iranian Foreign Minister; Manchester, Brussels and Paris following the 2017 terrorist attacks that took place across Europe; and Hungary during the 2015 migrant crisis in Europe. 

Throughout his tenure as anchor of “NBC Nightly News,” Holt has conducted numerous exclusive headline-making interviews with world leaders, U.S. presidents, CEOs, politicians, notable public figures and more. Holt’s exclusive with President Trump in May 2017 stands as one of the most consequential interviews of his first term, after Trump told Holt the firing of former FBI head James Comey was tied to the Russia investigation. Holt also exclusively interviewed the  U.S. Capitol Police officer responsible for shooting and killing a protestor while defending the U.S. House chamber during the January 6, 2021 Capitol attack. Additionally, he conducted the final interview with President Joe Biden before he dropped out of the 2024 race. Holt was also selected to moderate the first presidential debate of 2016, which was the most-watched debate in American history. 

During 2020, he led the network’s coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic, anchoring weekly NBC primetime specials to better inform millions of viewers during those initial days of uncertainty.During that time, he also launched “Nightly News: Kids Edition,” a digital newscast aimed to inform and educate children during the especially challenging year. The Emmy-nominated series has won a Webby’, People Voice Award, a Global Youth & News Media Prize and a New York Festival’s TV and Film silver award.

Throughout his career, Holt has also covered dozens of natural disasters including multiple Westcoast wildfires, deadly hurricanes and tornadoes. Some other notable reporting trips include anchoring from South Africa during the Nelson Mandela memorial service, reportingfrom Cairo on the political and civil unrest in Egypt during the Arab Spring, covering the 2010 earthquake and nuclear crisis in Japan, andreporting on the immediate aftermath of the devastating earthquake in Haiti. He was alsoembedded with U.S. forces reporting on the ongoing military operations in Afghanistan in 2010 and 2012.

Over the past several years, Holt has distinguished himself as the leading broadcast journalist on criminal justice reform. In 2019, he led Emmy-nominated and groundbreaking series, “Justice for All,” across all NBC News platforms and Dateline. For the network-wide series, Holt spent three days embedded inside Louisiana State Penitentiary, the largest maximum-security prison in America, and moderated the first-ever televised town hall from a maximum-security prison at Sing Sing, all putting a bright spotlight on mass incarceration and the many complex issues around it. Additionally, Holt has reported on several high-profile justice-related stories and landed many exclusive interviews, including the first interview with rapper Meek Mill following his release from prison, an interview with Matthew Charles, the first person released under the First Step Act, and the first interview with Cyntoia Brown Long since her prison release.

Before becoming co-anchor of "Weekend TODAY” in 2003, Holt anchored "Lester Holt Live," a daily news show on MSNBC. Holt served as a primary anchor for MSNBC's coverage of major news events, including Operation Iraqi Freedom and the war in Afghanistan, and he was the lead daytime anchor for MSNBC's coverage of Decision 2000. Holt also served as anchor of "Countdown: Iraq," a nightly news telecast concentrating on the latest developments surrounding the war with Iraq, from October 2002 through March 2003. Holt started at NBC News in 2000, anchoring “Newsfront.” Holt came to MSNBC after 14 years at WBBM-TV in Chicago where he served as the afternoon and evening news anchor. After studying government at California State University in Sacramento, he began his television journalism career as a reporter at WCBS-TV in New York in 1981. The following year he moved to Los Angeles to report for KCBS-TV (then KNXT) before returning to WCBS in 1984.

Holt has been recognized with numerous honors, including multiple Emmy Awards, the National Press Club Fourth Estate award, the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement award, the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Quinnipiac University’s Fred Friendly First Amendment Award and more. In 2022, he was inducted into the National Association of Broadcasters, the same year NBC Nightly News received the 2022 Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast. He will receive the 2025 William Allen White National Citation from the University of Kansas in April.