He was considered a “legend” among the White House corps for his work as an unofficial presidential statistician.
WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — Mark Knoller, a CBS News correspondent who was best known for covering the White House for decades, has died. He was 73.
CBS News reported on his death Saturday, but said a cause was not released and he had been suffering from diabetes and was in “ill health.”
“Mark Knoller was recognized as the most dedicated and productive White House reporter of his time,” stated Tom Cibrowski, president and executive editor of CBS News. “His unique voice and real-time updates on eight different presidential administrations were well-known to Americans nationwide.”
Mark Knoller reported on administrations starting with the final year of President George H.W. Bush and included both terms of Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. He also covered President Trump’s first term before departing CBS News after more than three decades of service.
Knoller worked as a CBS News editor and radio reporter from 1988 until 2020.
He began his career as an intern at WNEW Radio in New York, eventually becoming a weekend reporter there. His path led him to join the Associated Press Radio Network as a reporter in 1975 until 1988, when he achieved his dream of being a White House correspondent for CBS Radio, as shared by The Hollywood Reporter.
He was considered a “legend” among the White House corps for his work as an unofficial presidential statistician, according to Variety.
Feeling frustrated by the lack of a central repository for presidential history, he diligently maintained “encyclopedic records” of every presidential action, movement, and comment. CBS News has praised him for “filling a significant gap in American historical documentation” through his efforts.
Knoller shared his work with reporters, historians and “White House aides filling gaps in their own administration’s records,” CBS News reported.
Towards the latter part of his career, some reports indicated that his voice began to wane, which led him to start covering White House events on X, previously known as Twitter. There, he gained a following of nearly 300,000 people.
Reporters from news organizations across the country took to social media Saturday to remember their former colleague.
“Rest in peace to a giant in Washington journalism, an esteemed figure in the White House press corps,” wrote Steven Portnoy, an ABC Audio reporter. “I had the privilege of occupying Mark’s seat in the briefing room for several years. It was always HIS seat.”
“He was a legend of our community,” wrote NBC News correspondent Kelly O’Donnell, “Mark of CBS News created the most impressive archive of presidential facts that truly serves history. He shared his knowledge with kindness. Rest well my friend.”
“Mark was one-of-a-kind,” wrote NPR and CBC correspondent Steve Futterman. “An amazing and dedicated news person who did not suffer fools gladly. Those were all good traits for a great reporter.”
