A memory of the longtime journalist of CBS and correspondent of the White House Mark Knoller: NPR
The White House press corps lost an icon this weekend. A memory of the longtime journalist of CBS News, Mark Knoller.
Scott Detrow, host:
This weekend, the White House press corps lost an icon.
(Soundbit of archived registration)
Unidentified person: Mark Tubers.
Mark Knoller: Mr. President, while you are waiting …
DETTROW: CBS News’ long -standing journalist Mark Knoller spent decades in the white house news room covering George HW Bush from Trump.
Steven Portnoy: He was known to his colleagues and his competitors for having begged the news because he would record his radio pieces in shared workspaces that we call press classification centers all over the world.
Detrow: Steven Portnoy is with ABC News now, but has spent years working alongside Knoller at CBS. He said Knoller made his mark by pressing the White House officials for seemingly basic behind the scenes.
(Soundbit of archived registration)
Knoller: Apart from gatherings and fundraising, what other types of campaign activities do the president undertake that we do not know because they are not made in public?
Detrow: Knoller took accounting at one level that no other journalist could understand. He followed everything on the presidents, of the frequency they have golf in the states they visited with the words they used, and he kept the digital files he maintained for decades. The data also informed Knoller’s reports and the rest of the press corps.
Portnoy: If there was never a question among journalists about how things were done in the White House, people would turn to Mark Knoller and ask, hey, Mark, is that normal? Mark firmly believes in the prerogative of a president to shape the contours of his office but also in the responsibility of the press to document these changes for history.
Detow: Mark Knoller was 73 years old.
Copyright © 2025 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit the pages of use of the conditions of use of our website on www.npr.org for more information.
The accuracy and availability of NPR transcriptions may vary. The transcription text can be revised to correct errors or match audio updates. Audio on npr.org can be published after its original broadcast or publication. The file authorizing the NPR programming is the audio recording.
