Tom Griffith
Tom Griffith (born April 11, 1957) is the lead anchor at the politically influential WMUR-TV in Manchester, New Hampshire. Griffith has been in broadcasting for the past 37 years, having spent the last 27 years at WMUR-TV.[1]
Life
Griffith grew up in the Upper St. Clair suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Griffith attended Upper St Clair High School, where he captained the WPIAL Championship Football Team of 1974 under legendary Head Coach Joe Moore. Griffith served as President of the Pennsylvania Association of Student Councils in 1974. Griffith was a student intern in Mister Rogers' Neighborhood at WQED in Pittsburgh in the early 70's. Griffith graduated from the University of Delaware in 1979.
Griffith lives in Greenland, New Hampshire. He is married; with three adult children.[2]
Career
Griffith began his professional career at the Top 40 AM rocker WAMS in Wilmington Delaware in 1977, where he anchored weekend newscasts. In 1979, Griffith anchored morning drive radio at AM station WDEL.
Griffith made the transition to television at WTOV in Steubenville, Ohio, later that year. Griffith also anchored and reported at WKYT-TV, in Lexington KY. Griffith anchored at WSYX-TV in Columbus Ohio, from 1982-1987.
From 1983 to 1986, Griffith hosted "Discover Columbus," a magazine program featuring in part the animals of Jack Hanna, the Director of the Columbus Zoo. Hanna's antics on the program gained national attention, and helped launch his television career on Good Morning America.[3]
Griffith came to WMUR in 1988. WMUR News 9 newscasts have won countless awards for spot news, overall coverage, and election coverage. Griffith has moderated dozens of political debates and forums for statewide offices, as well as the New Hampshire Presidential Primary.
Griffith has provided analysis of the New Hampshire Primary on CNN, C-SPAN, and FOX. Griffith has interviewed countless Presidents and Presidential candidates over the years. In the 1992 campaign, Griffith asked Governor Bill Clinton on the air if Clinton had ever had an extra-marital affair. The question opened the door for the role of tabloid journalism in the mainstream press. Griffin later played himself, the New Hampshire newscaster, in the movie "Primary Colors" starring John Travolta in 1998.
Griffith helped launch as co-host the award winning New Hampshire Chronicle in 2001, a daily magazine program and spin-off of the long running Chronicle program at WCVB in Boston. After 10 years, Griffith left the program in 2012 to help launch and anchor a new 10 o'clock newscast on WMUR.
Griffith has hosted the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon for more than 25 years.
Awards
In 1986, Griffith's coverage of military operations in Great Britain won him the Associated Press award for the best series reporting in Ohio.
In 1987, Griffith anchored tornado coverage that was honored by the Ohio Associated Press as the states' best spot news coverage.
In 1991, a planned trip to the Persian Gulf, with the New Hampshire National Guard was cut short by the start of the Gulf War.
In 2008, Griffith anchored tornado coverage in New Hampshire, that was recognized with an RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award for the Best Newscast in the nation among major market television stations. WMUR sits in the Boston television market.
In 2012, Griffith's coverage of the Greenland Tragedy was nominated for a New England Emmmy Award. Four police officers were shot and the Greenland Police Chief was killed in a New Hampshire drug raid.