John Reiss

John Reiss is the Executive Producer of MSNBC Political Programming and “Hardball with Chris Matthews.”

Reiss was the executive producer of MSNBC’s coverage of the 2008 election, overseeing coverage of the primaries, caucuses, Democratic and Republican National Conventions, presidential debates and election night.

Reiss joined MSNBC as the executive producer of “Hardball with Chris Matthews” in 2007 and previously served as executive producer of “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams,” from 2005 until March 2007. During his tenure, “Nightly News” received more high-journalism awards than any network evening newscast has in years. The awards included:  Seven Emmy Awards, a duPont-Columbia Award, a Peabody Award, a Polk Award, six Edward R. Murrow Awards, including two for “Best Newscast,” two Gerald Loeb Awards for financial reporting and two Sigma Delta Chi awards. Reiss was previously the senior broadcast producer of “Nightly News” from 2002-2005 and producer and senior producer at “Dateline NBC” from 1994-2002.

Before joining NBC News in 1994, Reiss was a producer at ABC’s “Good Morning America” from April 1991 – July 1994. At GMA, he produced a variety of stories, focusing on hard news and filled in regularly both as head of the field producing unit and as a line producer, overseeing the entire week’s programming.

From 1983 – 1988, Reiss was a writer and later head writer for ABC’s “World News this Morning,” and for GMA’s news segments. From 1988 – 1991 he was ABC’s morning news editorial producer, during which time he covered many stories, including the 1988 US-Soviet summit in Moscow and the 1989 democracy movement in China. Reiss was in Tiananmen Square on the night of the government’s crackdown.

Reiss began his broadcasting career in print journalism and radio. He worked as a news clerk at “The New York Times” Washington bureau and wrote and reported for Buffalo’s only all-news radio station and for “The Buffalo Evening News.”

Reiss is a thirteen-time Emmy Award winner and a graduate of SUNY Buffalo with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Ccience.  He lives in New York with his wife, Elizabeth Wilner.