Mark Knoller, a veteran White House journalist with CBS News, has passed away at the age of 73, as confirmed by the network. The cause of death hasn’t been announced, though reports suggest he battled diabetes and was in declining health.
Tom Cibrowski, president and executive editor of CBS News, praised Knoller, stating, “Mark Knoller was the most dedicated and productive White House correspondent of his era. His unique voice and prompt reports spanning eight Presidential terms were well recognized by the American public.”
Knoller, born in Brooklyn, New York, on February 20, 1952, began his career at WNEW Radio and the Associated Press Radio Network before joining CBS. He quickly rose through the ranks to become CBS Radio’s White House correspondent.
Throughout his career, Knoller reported on the presidencies of George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump. He parted ways with CBS in 2020, revealing to the Washington Examiner that his departure was due to a layoff.
Weijia Jiang, President of the White House Correspondents Association, reflected on Knoller’s impact, saying, “Mark Knoller was the core of the White House press corps, driven by unmatched enthusiasm for the beat. He was not only a trusted journalist reporting on the presidency but also a dependable and warm colleague.”
Many of Knoller’s former peers remembered him as an exceptional journalist, renowned for his work ethic and dedication to delivering straightforward news.
He was known in Washington as the unofficial presidential archivist thanks to his encyclopedic knowledge of the White House and the presidency, chronicling details such as how many times a president had gone golfing or had answered questions from the press.
“Mark represented the best of the White House press corps,” said AP Executive Editor Julie Pace, who worked alongside Knoller as the AP’s chief White House correspondent. “He demanded the same level of accountability and transparency from every president he covered, regardless of party. He carried out his work in the spirit of true public service, sharing his meticulous records of the presidency with any colleague who asked for a data point.”
Pace recalled how she “took advantage of his record keeping numerous times as a reporter” and was “always grateful for both his generosity and dedication to his craft.”
Nancy Benac, the AP’s former White House editor, recalled that “you could go to Mark with any question, and he had the answer.”
Mark Smith, who worked with Knoller at AP Radio and for nearly two decades as an AP White House correspondent, described their relationship as “competitors/comrades.” He said that Knoller “was famous for keeping brutal hours” and on foreign trips “was almost always the last person in the filing center — and there again to open it in the morning.”
Smith continued: “As a result presidents got used to seeing him and familiar with his booming voice asking questions. He was blunt and to the point, persistent but not hectoring. He absolutely loved getting a rise or a laugh out of the president (and I’m thinking here of Clinton, Bush and Obama), but he also never accepted casual evasion.”
Indeed, Knoller’s stellar reputation extended not just to his fellow reporters in the press corps, but to the administrations he was covering.
“Mark was a gem of a man and the definition of what a good reporter should be,” said Ari Fleischer, who served as White House press secretary under Bush from 2001 to 2003. “Mark never betrayed any bias, any personal views. He was probably of the last generation of reporters who viewed their job as just telling the news with no inkling at all of their personal thoughts.”
Fleischer, who described Knoller as “the classic old school, get the story, get it right reporter,” also recalled his “booming voice” and penchant for compiling statistics that he frequently shared with his competition. He spoke of Knoller’s love for Crawford, Texas, home of the Bush family ranch, and how the Brooklyn native fit in seamlessly.
Above all though, Knoller is remembered by those who knew him as a thoughtful, generous and funny man in a town known for egos and power.
Benac pointed to his “amazing sense of humor” with dry zingers that would land minutes later. She described him as “just a wonderful person and a wonderful journalist.” For Smith, what set Knoller apart was his “playfulness.” Fleischer called him “one of the kindest, most courteous, modest people in the press corps.”
“You know I’m smiling as I think about him even though this is really hard because Mark kept the humanity in the White House for me,” said Ben Feller, who worked with Knoller as the AP’s chief White House correspondent. “He knew it was always about the people, even in that deeply intense beat where it feels like the whole world’s happening in that briefing room.”
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