John Stossel
Media journalist, author of Shopping Smart, a consumer's guide to wise buying
Award-winning news correspondent John Stossel was named co-anchor of ABC News "20/20" in May, 2003. He joined the highly acclaimed newsmagazine in 1981, and began doing one-hour primetime specials in 1994.
In addition to longer in-depth reports for "20/20" on subjects ranging from addiction to parenting issues in his "Family Fix" segments, Stossel is featured in a weekly segment entitled "Give Me a Break." These short commentaries take a skeptical look at a wide array of issues, from pop culture controversies to censorship and government regulations.
Stossel's specials tackle issues that face Americans today. They consistently rate among the top news programs and have earned him uncommon praise: "The most consistently thought-provoking TV reporter of our time" said the Dallas Morning News, while the Orlando Sentinel said he "has the gift for entertaining while saying something profound."
In his most recent special, Stossel questioned whether addiction is a disease or a choice. In another recent special, "Family Fix: Help! I've Got Kids," Stossel explored what to do with kids who disobey. "John Stossel Goes to Washington" looked at how, under Democrats and Republicans, government keeps growing, while "Tampering with Nature," suggested that most tampering is a good thing.
Stossel's first special, "Are We Scaring Ourselves to Death?" examined exaggerated fears of things like chemicals and crime. It was followed by "The Blame Game," which looked at Americans' tendency to blame their misfortunes on others. In "You Can't Say That!" he looked at the battle between free speech and censorship. He looked at the mechanics of mating in "Love, Lust, and Marriage," and at the science of happiness in "The Mystery of Happiness." He examined bogus lawsuits in "The Trouble With Lawyers," and bogus scientific claims in "Junk Science: What You Know That May Not Be So." "Sex, Drugs and Consenting Adults" questioned why Americans are jailed for voluntarily participating in so-called "consensual crimes."
Stossel has received 19 Emmy Awards. He has been honored five times for excellence in consumer reporting by the National Press Club. Among his other awards are the George Polk Award for Outstanding Local Reporting and the George Foster Peabody Award.
In his early years at ABC, Stossel was consumer editor at "Good Morning America." Prior to that he was a consumer reporter at WCBS-TV in New York City. He began as a researcher for KGW-TV in Portland, Oregon. Mr. Stossel is a 1969 graduate of Princeton University, with a BA in psychology.
MOST REQUESTED TOPICS:
Freedom and Its Enemies
Pandering To Fear: The Media's Crisis Mentality
The Blame Game: Are We A Country Of Victims?
