Deborah Norville brings over three decades of broadcast journalism experience to Inside Edition. Celebrating her 15th anniversary as anchor in 2010, Norville has led the series to new strength and respect. Ratings jumped 15% the week she joined the series in 1995, and Inside Edition is now the nation’s top-rated syndicated newsmagazine.
Inside Edition provides Norville with an intensive workday that nevertheless can be followed with family dinner at home. Still taking on numerous on-location assignments, she traveled to Rome in 2005 to anchor coverage of Pope John Paul II’s funeral and to Washington, D.C., for President Reagan’s funeral. Most recently, she anchored Inside Edition’s coverage of the historic inauguration of President Barack Obama.
Comfortable not only in the power centers of the world, Norville also immerses herself in grueling and not-very-glamorous locales for Inside Edition, traveling around the nation to bring viewers a series of reports on America’s toughest jobs. She picked produce in the blazing California sun, collected tolls in a claustrophobic New Jersey tollbooth, sold peanuts at a Phillies game and toiled as a dishwasher at a popular New York City diner during lunch.
She snagged the first national interview with Bethany Hamilton, the young surfer who lost her arm in a shark attack in Hawaii. She was on the scene of the American Airlines jet crash in Cali, Colombia, and she interviewed Paula Jones for the first wide-ranging talk about the lawsuit against then-President Bill Clinton. She made national headlines by spending—and reporting on—five days as an inmate in a North Carolina penal institution known as the “toughest jail in America.” The story won Norville two national awards for reporting excellence. On a lighter note, she also took viewers inside the recording industry by reinventing herself as a rock diva for a day—recording a song, shooting a video and tackling a glamour shoot for a CD cover.
In 2001, following the tragic events of September 11, Norville flew with the 177th Fighter Wing of the New Jersey Air National Guard, as they patrolled New York City airspace. She also gathered victims of anthrax poisoning and those who lost loved ones at the World Trade Center to talk about life after September 11.
A two-time Emmy Award winner, Norville joined Inside Edition from CBS News, where she anchored “America Tonight” and reported for “48 Hours,” “Street Stories” and “CBS Evening News.” Prior to working at CBS, she hosted the nationally syndicated “Deborah Norville Radio Show,” which was heard on more than 200 stations via the ABC Radio network. At NBC, she served as news anchor and, later, co-host of NBC’S “Today,” positions that followed her tenure as anchor of “NBC News At Sunrise.” She briefly returned to NBC News to anchor the primetime “Deborah Norville Tonight” on MSNBC, while simultaneously anchoring Inside Edition.
Norville, while still a college student at the University of Georgia, began her career as a reporter and, later, weekend anchor for WAGA-TV in Atlanta. Subsequently, she worked for WMAQ-TV, the NBC-owned station in Chicago, where she served as a reporter and anchor.
Beyond broadcast journalism, Norville is also an author. Her first book, “Back On Track: How To Straighten Out Your Life When It Throws You A Curve” (Simon & Schuster, 1997), drew upon Norville’s experiences at NBC’s “Today” and offered a plan for renewal and redirection for women everywhere. “I Don’t Want To Sleep Tonight” (Golden Books, 1999) gives children (and their parents) suggestions to keep scary dreams away at night. This highly acclaimed book has been one of Golden Books’ strongest sellers. “I Can Fly” followed in March 2001 to help kids find their own talents and increase their self-esteem.
Norville recently added New York Times best-selling author to her accolades with the recent release of her book “Thank You Power: Making the Science of Gratitude Work for You!” In it, Norville shares the findings of two years of reporting on the research being done on the quantifiable benefits of living a grateful life. Offering exercises for harnessing Thank You Power and stories of individuals who’ve employed it, she also details the specifics of why Thank You Power works.
In 2009, Norville authored two new books, “Knitting with Deborah Norville” and “The Power of Respect.”
Norville is active in a number of charities. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York, Broadcasters Foundation, Steering Committee for the Rita Hayworth (Alzheimer’s) Gala and the Women’s Committee of the Central Park Conservancy. She also has been National Celebrity Spokesperson for the Mother’s March of Dimes.
The recipient of a number of awards, Norville has been named “Best in the Business” (Washington Journalism Review), Mother of the Year (National Mother’s Day Committee) and Person of the Year (Rita Hayworth Gala). She is also the recipient of two national Emmys, AWRT’s Gracie Award, a local Emmy and a Silver Plaque from the Chicago Film Festival.
A sought-after lecturer, Norville speaks with candor and humor about dealing with life’s curves and juggling a career and motherhood. She is married and the mother of three. She can be reached via her Web site: www.dnorville.com