Todd to lead NBC's White House coverage

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - Chuck Todd has been named NBC News' chief White House correspondent, replacing newly appointed "Meet the Press" moderator David Gregory.

Todd has had a meteoric rise at NBC News, which he joined as political director in March 2007. He was previously the longtime editor-in-chief of The Hotline, a Washington-based journal.

Todd will cover the Obama administration with Court TV veteran Savannah Guthrie, also named White House correspondent, as well as become a contributing editor to the network's "Meet the Press." Todd had been considered one of the contenders to moderate NBC's Sunday-morning news show before Gregory got the prestigious job two weeks ago.

Although Todd doesn't have the traditional TV journalism experience of producing taped packages for air, neither he nor NBC News president Steve Capus think that it's necessary to be a successful chief White House correspondent.

"He's an outstanding journalist," Capus said. "What he is not is the classic television journalist, beginning to end. But he's also logged more air time on TV than most others. He's very comfortable being on camera, and he does a great job with it."

Todd told the Hollywood Reporter that it's a validation of not just the scoop approach to White House reporting but a more analytical approach.

"It's about explaining why a piece of news matters, and explaining why something is going to happen a certain way," Todd said. "My primary responsibility is to explain to our viewers what's going on at the White House."

That could be taped pieces but it also could be doing on-screen crosstalks or writing for the Web or doing any of the other things that a 21st century journalist is called upon to do.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter