Elizabeth Brackett (born December 11, 1941) is a Chicago-based correspondent and host for WTTW-TV's Chicago Tonight program, a correspondent for PBS' The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer and an author. She is also a World Champion Triathlete; she took the title in 2009 held in Sydney Australia
Video Elizabeth Brackett
Early life and education
Brackett attended New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois and earned an undergraduate degree from Indiana University. She also holds a master's degree on social work from Our Lady of the Lake College.
Maps Elizabeth Brackett
Social work career
After graduating from Our Lady of the Lake College, Brackett worked part-time as a social worker at the YMCA in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago. She also worked for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services as a social worker and also as a community organizer in Uptown.
Political career
In 1972, Brackett was a delegate to the Democratic presidential convention in Miami, along with Jesse Jackson and William "Bill" Singer. In 1975, Brackett served as a fundraiser and advance director for Singer's unsuccessful bid to be mayor of Chicago. In 1976, she unsuccessfully ran for a seat as a committeeman in Chicago's 43rd ward.
Journalism career
In 1977, Brackett took a job as a researcher on the assignment desk of WBBM-TV in Chicago. In 1979, she joined WGN-TV in Chicago. She later became a reporter at WLS-TV in Chicago. She then joined the forerunner to PBS' The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, based from Chicago, in 1984.
Brackett won a national Emmy award in 1987 for her reporting on the U.S. farm crisis. The following year, she won a national Peabody Award for her coverage of the 1988 presidential election. She also has won three Midwest Emmy awards and two Peter Lisagor awards as well.
In 1991, Brackett began appearing occasionally on WTTW's Chicago Tonight public-affairs program.
In 1994, Brackett was hired full-time as a correspondent for Chicago Tonight. Under the agreement, she was permitted to contribute to what would eventually become PBS' The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.
From 2000 until 2001, Brackett, along with journalist and comedian Aaron Freeman, co-hosted a science-themed spin-off of Chicago Tonight called Chicago Tomorrow.
Writing career
In 2009, a book Brackett wrote, titled Pay to Play, How Rod Blagojevich Turned Political Corruption Into a National Sideshow was published. The book is about the former Illinois governor.
Personal
Brackett married Peter Martinez on September 27, 1998. A previous marriage ended in divorce. She has two children from her first marriage: Elisabeth (born circa 1967) and Jon (born circa 1970).
Brackett lives in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.
In December 2017, she appeared in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd for her strong showing at a triathlon in Rotterdam, Germany.
References
Source of article : Wikipedia
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