Jonathan Karl
Encyclopedia
Jonathan Karl is the Senior Political Correspondent for ABC News. In this role he is responsible for covering national political news, including presidential politics and Congress, for all ABC News broadcasts and platforms, including “World News,” “Good Morning America,” “Nightline,” “This Week with Christiane Amanpour” and ABCNews.com.
Karl’s experience covering U.S. politics, foreign policy and the military has earned him numerous awards, including the 2011 Joan Shorenstein Barone Award for excellence in Washington-based reporting and an Emmy Award for his coverage of the 2009 Inauguration of President Barack Obama. In 2001 he won the National Press Foundation’s Everett McKinley Dirksen Award, the highest honor for Congressional reporting.
Karl has earned a reputation for his aggressive investigations of government waste. Following his 2010 report Congressional junkets the House of Representatives changes its rules on reimbursing travel costs for members of Congress and their staffs.
Karl is a regular contributor to the “This Week” roundtable and has occasionally served as guest anchor on the program, securing an exclusive interview with Dick Cheney in February 2010. He had another exclusive interview with Mr. Cheney the day after the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
Karl joined ABC News in January 2003 as the network’s Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent covering the State Department. He traveled around the world with Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. In 2004 he spent several months on the campaign trail covering the Bush-Cheney campaign, and also co-anchored election night coverage on ABC News NOW – anchoring for more than 14 straight hours.
In December 2005 Karl was named Senior National Security Correspondent. He has traveled the world for ABC News, reporting from more than two dozen countries on five continents. He reported more extensively on the situation in Darfur, Sudan than any other network correspondent, visiting Sudan three times in 2005. He also broke several stories on Iran’s nuclear program and covered the 2004 Russian presidential elections.
During his time on Capitol Hill for CNN, Karl was the first to report on two of the most significant congressional stories in recent years: Senator Jim Jefford’s decision to leave the Republican Party and Trent Lott’s decision to step down as Senate Majority Leader. In 1998 Karl was the first reporter to obtain the Starr Report, one of the most sought-after political documents in recent years.
The Christian Science Monitor and The San Francisco Chronicle. In December 1995, Karl’s non-fiction book, The Right to Bear Arms: The Rise of America’s New Militias, was published by Harper-Collins.
Karl’s experience covering U.S. politics, foreign policy and the military has earned him numerous awards, including the 2011 Joan Shorenstein Barone Award for excellence in Washington-based reporting and an Emmy Award for his coverage of the 2009 Inauguration of President Barack Obama. In 2001 he won the National Press Foundation’s Everett McKinley Dirksen Award, the highest honor for Congressional reporting.
Karl has earned a reputation for his aggressive investigations of government waste. Following his 2010 report Congressional junkets the House of Representatives changes its rules on reimbursing travel costs for members of Congress and their staffs.
Karl is a regular contributor to the “This Week” roundtable and has occasionally served as guest anchor on the program, securing an exclusive interview with Dick Cheney in February 2010. He had another exclusive interview with Mr. Cheney the day after the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
Karl joined ABC News in January 2003 as the network’s Senior Foreign Affairs Correspondent covering the State Department. He traveled around the world with Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. In 2004 he spent several months on the campaign trail covering the Bush-Cheney campaign, and also co-anchored election night coverage on ABC News NOW – anchoring for more than 14 straight hours.
In December 2005 Karl was named Senior National Security Correspondent. He has traveled the world for ABC News, reporting from more than two dozen countries on five continents. He reported more extensively on the situation in Darfur, Sudan than any other network correspondent, visiting Sudan three times in 2005. He also broke several stories on Iran’s nuclear program and covered the 2004 Russian presidential elections.
"Subway Series" Interviews
Bringing a creative approach to covering politics through the “Senate Subway Series,” Karl has interviewed such Senators as Dr. Tom Coburn, Joe Lieberman and John McCain as they travel underground from their offices to the Capitol. He has also taken the series outside the beltway, interviewing New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on the Lexington Avenue line of the New York subway, Representative Michelle Bachman on the trolley in downtown Des Moines, Iowa, and Representative Kristi Noem on horseback at her ranch in South Dakota.CNN
Before joining ABC News, Karl served as a congressional correspondent for CNN. In his eight years with CNN, he covered Capitol Hill, the White House and the Pentagon. While there, he reported on two presidential elections, President Clinton’s impeachment, the NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia, and congressional reaction to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.During his time on Capitol Hill for CNN, Karl was the first to report on two of the most significant congressional stories in recent years: Senator Jim Jefford’s decision to leave the Republican Party and Trent Lott’s decision to step down as Senate Majority Leader. In 1998 Karl was the first reporter to obtain the Starr Report, one of the most sought-after political documents in recent years.
Early career
Prior to joining CNN, Karl worked as an investigative reporter for The New York Post, and covered Rudy Giuliani’s City Hall and the 1994 Cuomo-Pataki gubernatorial race. He has also worked as a researcher and reporter for The New Republic, where he covered a variety of issues ranging from international affairs to American politics to education. A prolific writer, his work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Weekly Standard, The New Republic, Reason,The Christian Science Monitor and The San Francisco Chronicle. In December 1995, Karl’s non-fiction book, The Right to Bear Arms: The Rise of America’s New Militias, was published by Harper-Collins.
College
Karl graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY, in 1990, where he was editor in chief of The Vassar Spectator.External links
- Jonathan Karl ABC bio http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/jonathan-karl/story?id=127047
- ABC's The Note Blog http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/the-note/