Craig Delano Melvin (born May 20, 1979) is an American broadcast journalist and anchor at

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's v ...

and

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

. In August 2018, he became a news anchor on NBC's ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * Day of the present, the time that is perceived directly, often called ''now'' * Current era, present * The current calendar date Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Today'' (1930 film), a 1930 ...

'' and, in October 2018, a co-host of ''Today Third Hour'' before being made permanent in January 2019.

Early life

Craig Delano Melvin was born on May 20, 1979, in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the cit ...

, to Lawrence and Betty Melvin. He has a younger brother, Ryan Melvin, and an older half-brother, Rev. Lawrence Meadows, who died from

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowe ...

on December 9, 2020 at the age of 43. In 1996, he was elected as the first African-American president of

Key Club International Key Club International, also called Key Club, is an international service organization for high school students. As a student-led organization, Key Club's goal is to encourage leadership through serving others. Key Club International is the hi ...

. In 2001, he received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree in government from

Wofford College Wofford College is a private liberal arts college in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It was founded in 1854. The campus is a national arboretum and one of the few four-year institutions in the southeastern United States founded before the America ...

. He is a member of

Kappa Sigma Kappa Sigma (), commonly known as Kappa Sig, is an American collegiate social fraternity founded at the University of Virginia in 1869. Kappa Sigma is one of the five largest international fraternities with currently 318 active chapters and col ...

fraternity A fraternity (from Latin ''frater'': "brother"; whence, " brotherhood") or fraternal organization is an organization, society, club or fraternal order traditionally of men associated together for various religious or secular aims. Fraternit ...

and also served as a senior counselor for South Carolina's Palmetto

Boys State The American Legion Boys State and American Legion Auxiliary Girls State are summer leadership and citizenship programs for high school juniors, which focus on exploring the mechanics of American government and politics. The programs are sponsor ...

program.

Career

Melvin first joined

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

-affiliate

WIS-TV WIS (channel 10) is a television station in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, affiliated with NBC and The CW. The station is owned by Gray Television, and maintains studios on Bull and Gervais Streets ( US 1/US 378) in downtown Columbia ...

as a high school student, working as an "Our Generation Reporter" from 1995 to 1997. After college, he returned to WIS in July 2001 as a news photographer and producer, before becoming a reporter for the station's morning news team, producing his "Craig Cam" live segments. He was later promoted to news anchor for the weekend morning newscast and the weekend evening newscasts before heading the weekday newscasts. At WIS-TV, Melvin also created several series that covered issues affecting education and the homeless in Columbia, among others. In July 2008, Melvin left WIS-TV to join NBC's

owned-and-operated station In the broadcasting industry, an owned-and-operated station (frequently abbreviated as an O&O) usually refers to a television or radio station owned by the network with which it is associated. This distinguishes such a station from an affiliate ...

in Washington, D.C.,

WRC-TV WRC-TV (channel 4) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Class A Telemundo outlet WZDC-CD (channel 44 ...

, where he anchored the weekend evening newscasts. Three years later, in July 2011, Melvin departed WRC-TV for MSNBC to become a daytime anchor, while also contributing to NBC News as a reporter. In 2012, Melvin anchored MSNBC's coverage of the national conventions for the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

and Democratic parties, as well as TV One's Election Night coverage, in partnership with NBC News. He also covered the Sandy Hook shootings in December 2012. In 2013, he covered the Moore tornado in May, as well as the crash of

Asiana Airlines Flight 214 Asiana Airlines Flight 214 was a scheduled transpacific passenger flight originating from Incheon International Airport near Seoul, South Korea. On the morning of July 6, 2013, the Boeing 777-200ER operating the flight stalled and crashed on ...

and the

George Zimmerman George Michael Zimmerman (born October 5, 1983) is an American man who fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old black boy, in Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012. On July 13, 2013, he was acquitted of second-degree murder in '' Flori ...

trial in July. In 2014, Melvin covered the

shooting of Michael Brown On August 9, 2014, 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. Brown was accompanied by his 22-year-old male friend Dorian Johnson, who later stated that Brow ...

in August and the

murder of Hannah Graham Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the c ...

in September. In 2015, he covered the

Charleston church shooting On June 17, 2015, a mass shooting occurred in Charleston, South Carolina, in which nine African Americans were killed during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. Among those people who were killed was the senior past ...

as well as the

death of Freddie Gray On April 12, 2015, Freddie Carlos Gray Jr., a 25-year-old African American, was arrested by the Baltimore Police Department over his legal possession of a knife. While being transported in a police van, Gray sustained injuries and was taken to ...

in June. In 2016, Melvin covered the mass shooting of Dallas police officers in July and was also among the NBC reporters covering the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The ina ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

in August. That same year, he also succeeded

José Díaz-Balart José Díaz-Balart Caballero (born November 7, 1960) is a Cuban-American journalist and television anchorman. On September 7, 2021, Diaz-Balart stepped down as anchor of the weeknight editions of Noticias Telemundo. He is currently anchoring a ...

as an anchor of ''MSNBC Live'', which would become ''

MSNBC Reports ''MSNBC Reports'' (formerly ''MSNBC Live'') is the blanket title for the daytime rolling news programming block of the American cable news channel MSNBC. Programs under the banner are broadcast from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET on week ...

''. In 2017, Melvin hosted his own true crime series Dateline: Secrets Uncovered. It premiered on

Oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements ...

in July 21. In 2018, Melvin reported from

Pyeongchang County Pyeongchang (; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ; ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of S ...

for NBC's coverage of the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

in February. He was also promoted to weekday news anchor on ''Today'' in September and formed the cast of hosts heading ''Today Third Hour'' in October. In December 2020, Melvin co-hosted NBC's annual broadcast of the lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree In March 2022, Melvin announced he would be leaving his hour of ''MSNBC Reports'' to focus on ''Today''.

Personal life

Melvin married then-ESPN sports anchor and former WRC-TV sports reporter

Lindsay Czarniak Lindsay Ann Czarniak (born ) is an American sports anchor and reporter. She currently works for Fox Sports as a sideline reporter for NFL games. After spending six years with WRC-TV, the NBC owned-and-operated station in Washington, D.C., Czarn ...

on October 15, 2011. They reside in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the ...

and have a son, Delano (“Del”), who was born in March 2014, and a daughter, Sybil (“Sibby”), who was born in November 2016.

Career timeline

* 2001–2008:

anchor and reporter, Columbia, S.C. * 2008–2011:

6 PM and 11 PM weekend news anchor, Washington, D.C. * 2011–present:

** 2011–2014: ''

MSNBC Live ''MSNBC Reports'' (formerly ''MSNBC Live'') is the blanket title for the daytime rolling news programming block of the American cable news channel MSNBC. Programs under the banner are broadcast from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. ET on week ...

'' weekend anchor ** 2012–present: NBC News correspondent ** 2015–2018: ''

Weekend Today ''Weekend Today'' is currently the branding of the weekend editions of ''Today'', an American morning news and talk program that airs daily on NBC. Weekend editions of ''Today'', began with the launch of the Sunday edition of the program on Sep ...

'' co-anchor ** 2016–2022: ''MSNBC Live'' anchor ** 2016–present: '' Dateline Extra'' Anchor ** 2017: '' Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly'' correspondent **2018–present: ''

'' news anchor, ''Today Third Hour'' host

Awards

In 1996, Melvin received an

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. new ...

award for his story on innovative teaching, making him one of the youngest recipients to ever receive such an award. In 2003 and 2005, Melvin shared in the

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s won by WIS-TV for having the best newscast. In 2006, Melvin received an

for his work as news anchor. In 2007, he was named "Best Anchor" by the South Carolina Broadcaster's Association.

References

External links

*Craig Melvin MSNBC Bi

*Craig Melvin TODAY Show Bi

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Melvin, Craig 1979 births Living people African-American television personalities People from Columbia, South Carolina Wofford College alumni Journalists from South Carolina African-American journalists American television reporters and correspondents MSNBC people South Carolina television anchors