Jake Tapper
Jacob Paul Tapper (born March 12, 1969) is an American journalist, author, and cartoonist. He is the lead Washington anchor for CNN, hosts the weekday television news show The Lead with Jake Tapper, and co-hosts the Sunday morning public affairs program State of the Union.
Jake Tapper
March 12, 1969
Journalist
2
"In his commitment to tough but objective reporting on national politics, Tapper's work continues to make an enormous contribution to the public's understanding of presidential politics," said the American Political Science Association when it honored him with an award in 2017.[1]
Tapper was named by Mediaite in December 2023 as one of their top ten "Most Influential in News Media," with the website writing, "When a big breaking news event is unfolding, or a major interview is taking place on CNN, Jake Tapper is the man you expect to see on your screen. It’s that simple. The anchor generally holds down the 4 to 6 p.m. time slot, but so often in 2023, he helmed the desk for hours on end during marathon news events. Viewers were better for it."[2]
In 2023, Tapper was nominated for multiple News & Documentary Emmy Awards and took home two of them,[3] one for being part of CNN's team that won for Outstanding Live Breaking News Coverage for "Russian Invasion of Ukraine", the other for Outstanding Live News Special for "Live from the Capitol: One Year Later", which he co-anchored.
Before joining CNN, Tapper worked for ABC News as Senior White House Correspondent, where he received three Merriman Smith Memorial Awards from the White House Correspondents' Association.[4][5][6] Tapper helped with the coverage of the inauguration of President Obama that earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Current News Story. Tapper was part of a team that was awarded an Edward R. Murrow Award for Video: Breaking News for "Target bin Laden: The Death of Public Enemy #1". His book The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor debuted at number 10 in November 2012 on The New York Times Best Seller list for hardback non-fiction. Tapper's book and his reporting on the veterans and troops were cited when the Congressional Medal of Honor Society awarded him the "Tex" McCrary Award for Excellence in Journalism.[7]
The Republican primary debate Tapper moderated in September 2015 drew more than 23 million viewers, making it the most-watched program in the history of CNN and the second-most watched primary debate ever.[8] He also moderated the Republican presidential debate in Miami on March 10, 2016, which drew almost 12 million viewers,[9] and according to Variety, "garnered acclaim for its substance".[10]
Early life[edit]
Tapper was born in New York City and was raised in Queen Village, Philadelphia,[11] the son of Theodore Samuel "Ted" and Helen Anne (née Palmatier) Tapper. His mother, who is originally from Canada,[12] retired as a psychiatric nurse at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center.[13] His father, from Chicago, graduated from Dartmouth College and Harvard Medical School[14] and went on to serve as the president of South Philadelphia Pediatrics and associate clinical professor of pediatrics at Jefferson Medical College.[15][13][16] His parents are Jewish; his mother, who was raised Presbyterian, converted to Judaism.[17] He was named[18] for Jacob Scher. When Tapper was young, he spent summers attending the Jewish summer camp Camp Ramah in the Poconos.[19]
Tapper attended the Philadelphia School, a progressive, independent elementary school known for its weekly out of classroom excursions to farms, etc. In eighth grade he did a comic strip for a local free weekly paper.[20] He later enrolled at Akiba Hebrew Academy, an independent Jewish day school formerly located in Merion, Pennsylvania, and attended Dartmouth College, from which he graduated Phi Beta Kappa and magna cum laude with a B.A. in history, modified by Visual Studies, in 1991.[21] At Dartmouth, Tapper was a member of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity. He briefly attended the USC School of Cinematic Arts.[22][23]
Awards and honors[edit]
As the Senior White House Correspondent for ABC News, Tapper was honored with three Merriman Smith Memorial Awards for broadcast journalism.[4][5][6] The first Merriman Smith Memorial Award was for reporting noncompliance of laws regulating tax reporting by the Department of Health and Human Services secretary nominee and former Senate majority leader Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota),[63] troubles that ultimately derailed Daschle's nomination. The second was for the 2010 story that President Obama had asked for the resignation of his Director of National Intelligence, Admiral Dennis C. Blair (retired). The third time was for breaking the 2011 story that the ratings agency Standard and Poor's was expected to downgrade the United States' AAA rating for government debt. As a CNN anchor, he was awarded his fourth Merriman Smith Award in 2018 as part of a team that broke the news that President-elect Donald Trump and President Barack Obama had been briefed on the Steele dossier alleging that Russia had blackmail material on Donald Trump.[64]
In 2017, Tapper won several awards, including the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Political Journalism. The judges pointed to his fearless advocacy for the truth and relentless interviewing-style.[65] He also won RTDNA's John F. Hogan Distinguished Service Award, which "recognizes an individual's contributions to the journalism profession and freedom of the press",[66] as well as CJF's Tribute Award which awards those who uphold the highest standards of journalism and inspire journalists around the world.[67] Moment Magazine awarded him their inaugural Robert S. Greenberger Journalism Award for his "relentless quest for the truth and accountability".[68] The Dartmouth Club of Washington awarded him the Daniel Webster Award for Distinguished Public Service.[69]
In 2018, Tapper won a Vetty, recognizing his coverage of veterans' issues.[70] He's served alongside press corps veterans in Washington, D.C., for 14 years.[71]
On July 6, 2009, former MSNBC television personality (and current ABC legal analyst) Dan Abrams launched a website, Mediaite, reporting on media figures and ranking all TV-based journalists in America by influence; for December 2010, Tapper ranked at number one.[72] He remains a mainstay of the annual list, most recently recognized in 2018 for his "ability to hold Republicans and Democrats to account equally" and "his 2018 noteworthy moments; the harrowing Parkland town hall, a stellar one-on-one with James Comey, and his regular sparring matches with Trump officials."[73] In 2022, Mediate called Tapper "the top dog who could represent the CNN brand."[74] Most recently in 2023, he ranked as number seven and it was noted that his "skills as an interrogator are arguably unrivaled on cable news right now."[75]
In 2016, The Lead was honored with two National Headliner Awards: Best Newscast (Broadcast Television Networks, Cable Networks, and Syndicators) and Best Coverage of a Major News Event (Broadcast Television Networks, Cable Networks, and Syndicators Newscast) for the show's coverage of the November 2015 Paris attacks.[76]
The Los Angeles Press Club awarded Tapper its 2017 President's Award for Impact on Media. "During a divisive election, Jake Tapper was willing to take on politicians from both sides of the aisle," the Press Club president said. "His effective interview style cuts to the core. He is willing to ask the tough questions, listen carefully, and then follow up with precisely the right response to get to the heart of the matter."[77]
Also in 2017, Tapper was named as Radio Television Digital News Foundation's John F. Hogan Distinguished Service Award winner. The award "recognizes an individual's contributions to the journalism profession and freedom of the press."[78]
Tapper also has two honorary degrees from UMass Amherst[79] and Dartmouth.[80]
Personal life[edit]
Tapper went on a platonic date with Monica Lewinsky in December 1997, a few weeks before news broke of the Clinton–Lewinsky scandal.[81] He wrote about the experience in a January 1998 issue of the Washington City Paper and the two later discussed the date on an October 5, 2021 episode of his CNN program, The Lead with Jake Tapper.[82]
In 2006, Tapper married Jennifer Marie Brown, a former Planned Parenthood official,[83] in her home state of Missouri.[13] They reside in Washington, D.C., with their two children Alice and Jack.[84] Alice, at ages 9 through 11, created a Girl Scout Raise Your Hand patch, wrote a related New York Times op-ed[85] and a picture book, Raise Your Hand, to encourage girls to be more confident in school, which she mentioned on The Ellen DeGeneres Show.[86]
Tapper is a lifelong fan of Philadelphia sports teams.[87] Following Super Bowl LII, where the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England Patriots 41–33, Tapper—who had attended the game—called in to New Day with Alisyn Camerota and John Berman as a "mystery guest" to gloat about the Eagles' victory to Berman (a Massachusetts native and lifelong Patriots fan). Berman congratulated Tapper on the Eagles' victory.[88]