Mike Taibbi

Michael G. Taibbi (born c. 1949) is an American television journalist best known for his work at NBC News.

He retired in 2014, having covered, among other events, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. During his career, Taibbi also worked at CBS News. He is the recipient of an Emmy Award and a four-time recipient of the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award.

Early life and education
Taibbi was born Loren Ames Denny to a Filipino-Hawaiian mother, Camila Salinas, in Hawaii, about 1949. At the age of seven or eight he was adopted by Salvatore and Gaetana Taibbi (whose surname is of Sicilian and Lebanese origin). Thereafter, he took the name Mike Taibbi, and was raised in Malverne, New York, a Long Island suburb of New York City. After high school, Taibbi attended Rutgers University. He graduated in 1971 with degrees in journalism and sociology. Taibbi attended the University of Chicago Law School.

Career
Taibbi worked for the Central New Jersey Home News while going to Rutgers University.

In 1971, Taibbi got the opportunity to be a guest panelist on Firing Line where he, William F. Buckley Jr. and two others interviewed William Kunstler. This landed him a job as investigative reporter at the Boston station WCVB-TV. In 1977 he was London correspondent for ABC News for six months, before returning to Boston, now working for rival station WNAC-TV as reporter and co-anchor. Taibbi worked for WNEV-TV until 1983 when he left to study law at the University of Chicago Law School.

In 1984, Taibbi was hired by WNBC-TV in New York City. He moved on to WCBS-TV in the autumn on 1987.

While at WCBS-TV, Taibbi investigated the later discredited Tawana Brawley rape allegations. In 1989, with Anna Sims-Phillips, Taibbi co-wrote Unholy Alliances: Working the Tawana Brawley Story, which explored the Brawley story.

In 1997, Taibbi joined NBC News to work on Dateline NBC. In the early 2000s, Taibbi reported on the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars for NBC News.

Taibbi announced his retirement from NBC in 2014.

Personal life
Taibbi’s son, Matt Taibbi, is a well-known independent journalist, media critic, and former contributing editor at Rolling Stone.