Catherine Mackin
Catherine Patricia "Cassie" Mackin was a pioneer woman journalist in United States television network In the early 1970s, she anchored a WRC-TV newscast and in 1972 became NBC's first female correspondent to serve as a floor reporter at the national political conventions. In 1976, she became the first woman to regularly anchor an evening network newscast alone.
Early years
Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, Mackin won a four-year scholarship to the Institute of Notre Dame before entering Washington College in 1956. A year later, she transferred to the University of [Maryland at College Park], and worked for the later defunct Free State Press, a weekly paper published in suburban Washington, D.C. She graduated magna cum laude in June 1960 with a B.A. degree in English and minors in economics and history. Mackin was a member of Alpha Omicron Pi women's social fraternity.Career
After graduation, Mackin obtained a position at the Baltimore News-American, and beginning as a general assignment reporter, she held a variety of positions before she left the paper in 1963. Between 1960 and 1962, she made guest appearances on both a local Baltimore TV news panel show and on a morning television variety show. From 1963 until 1969, Mackin was employed by Hearst newspapers in its Washington bureau. During her six years at Hearst, she covered the United [States Department of Justice|Justice Department], numerous elections, and presidential campaigns, polishing the talents that would make her a successful national news correspondent. In 1967, Mackin became one of the earliest women to receive a Nieman Fellowship to Harvard University, where she studied the history of political institutions.NBC
Hired by NBC in 1969, she anchored a half-hour newscast at WRC-TV, its Washington affiliate, in addition to her reporting responsibilities. Mackin received national attention three years later when she became that network's first woman floor reporter at the Democratic National Convention|Democratic] and Republican presidential conventions. Her work contributed to the subsequent award of an Emmy to the NBC news team for its coverage. Her report later that year on President Richard Nixon's 1972 [United States presidential election|re-election] campaign, in which she stated that the President was saying things about opponent George McGovern that were untrue—the only reporter covering the Nixon campaign to point out Nixon's mendacity—was highlighted in Timothy Crouse's book, The Boys on the Bus. After a stint in Los Angeles, Mackin returned to Washington in 1974 as the Sunday evening anchor and congressional correspondent.When Barbara Walters left The Today Show in 1976, Mackin was one of six candidates who were tested on air to replace her, but the job went to Jane Pauley. Mackin took over the NBC's Sunday Night News, becoming the first woman to solely anchor an evening network newscast on a regular basis.