The NBC Nightly News hires out gay journalist to anchor
Photo credit: NBC NIGHTLY NEWS
Thomas Roberts
NBC Nightly News has hired the first out gay man to anchor its famous primetime newscast, reports The Advocate. In fact he is the first out gay man to host a high profile nightly network news show in history.
The position, made famous by legends such as Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw, is now filled by Thomas Roberts, the 42 year-old host of MSNBC Shifts’s OutThere.
Robert’s first broadcast at the helm of the anchor desk premiered on Saturday, July 18. He tackled news topics from Donald Trump’s remarks about Don McCain’s service in the military to a shipwreck discovered off North Carolina’s coast.
Roberts is married and told The Advocate that he came out to his mother at 27.
He now joins the ranks of Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper and Sam Champion as high-profile gays and lesbians in the news media.
The blue-eyed, square-jawed Roberts is not saying too much about his new position, but he told The Advocate it is a “huge honor.”
You can watch Thomas Roberts’ debut newscast HERE.
