| Martha MacCallum | |
| Birth Date: | 31 January 1964 |
| Birth Place: | Wyckoff, New Jersey, U.S.[1] |
| Occupation: | Host of The Story with Martha MacCallum (Fox News Channel) |
| Employer: | Fox News |
| Education: | St. Lawrence University (BA) Circle in the Square Theatre School (GrDip) |
| Children: | 3 |
Martha Bowes MacCallum[2] (born January 31, 1964) is an American journalist and news anchor for Fox News. She is the executive editor and anchor of The Story with Martha MacCallum, broadcast from Manhattan Monday through Friday at 3PM ET, and co-anchor of Fox News Election coverage. MacCallum joined the network in 2004 and is based in New York City. Her interviews with President Donald Trump, President Barack Obama, First Lady Laura Bush, Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh and others have been featured on her programs.
Martha MacCallum, the daughter of Elizabeth B. and Douglas C. MacCallum, Jr., was born and grew up in Wyckoff, New Jersey. After graduating from Ramapo High School in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey,[2] [3] MacCallum earned her bachelor's degree in political science from St. Lawrence University in the North Country of New York State, and subsequently studied at the Circle in the Square Theatre School on Broadway, founding the Miranda Theater Company in New York. MacCallum next worked as an associate in corporate relations at Dow Jones & Company.[2] [4] She began her career as a freelance researcher for Corporate Finance magazine, but the publication was sold soon after she joined.[5]
MacCallum was at Wall Street Journal Television from 1991 to 1996, where she served as a business news correspondent and anchor for The Wall Street Journal Report, World Market Outlook, and Business USA.
In 1996, she moved to WBIS-TV, a short-lived sports and business station in New York, as an anchor and reporter.
MacCallum was next a reporter/anchor for NBC/CNBC from 1997 to 2003. She frequently contributed to The News with Brian Williams, Today, NBC affiliate news programs, and CNBC World before being assigned to co-anchor CNBC's Morning Call with Martha MacCallum and Ted David. She also appeared on Checkpoint, an evening show which examined homeland security and the War on Terror. MacCallum created the series "Inside the Business" for Business Center, a former CNBC show.
MacCallum joined the Fox News Channel in 2004. She hosted The Live Desk from 2006 to 2010 and America's Newsroom from 2010 to 2017. MacCallum hosted the new program, The First 100 Days, on Fox News Channel, which debuted January 9, 2017. The program averaged 3.5 million viewers in the first month, an increase of 79 percent in the time slot compared to the year before.[6] On April 28, 2017, the show was rebranded as The Story with Martha MacCallum.[7] At the close of 2020, "The Story" was moved from the prime 7 p.m. ET time-slot to the 3 p.m. ET time-slot.[8]
In addition to hosting The Story, MacCallum serves as a fill in host on programs such as America's Newsroom, The Faulkner Focus, Outnumbered, and The Five.
In 2018, MacCallum had the first and only interview with then-Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh and his wife, Ashley Estes Kavanaugh. The interview aired on The Story With Martha MacCallum on September 24, 2018 at 7 PM ET and was watched by 3.6 million viewers, cable news' most-watched program of the night. According to The Hollywood Reporter, MacCallum earned "near-universal praise" for her interview of Kavanaugh.[9]
In July 2023, Fox News announced that MacCallum would be interviewing Buster Murdaugh, the last living son of Alex Murdaugh, who was convicted of murdering his wife Maggie Murdaugh and son Paul in June 2021. She will be presenting the interview in a new Fox Nation series entitled The Fall of the House of Murdaugh. The program is set to debut on September 12.[10]
After a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol, MacCallum initially said, “This is a huge victory for these protesters. They have disrupted the system in an enormous way!”[11] [12] Later on during coverage of the events she called them "unsettling" and stated that "control has to be maintained." She likened the storming of the U.S. Capitol to a peaceful protest outside Josh Hawley's home a few days earlier; The New York Times said it was "bizarre" to link "swarms of Trump supporters breaking into the seat of democracy, an event that made worldwide news, to a small-scale incident at the home of a Republican official."[13]
During the 2022 midterm election, MacCallum and Bret Baier moderated a town hall with Ohio Senate hopefuls Republican J.D.Vance and Democrat Tim Ryan, one week before Election Day. The event was held in Columbus, Ohio on November 1, 2022.[14]
Martha MacCallum moderated the first Republican debate of the 2024 election season with Bret Baier at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 24, 2023. In attendance was Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Chris Christie, Vivek Ramaswamy, Mike Pence, Doug Burgum, and Asa Hutchinson. Former President Donald Trump declined to participate.[15]
In January 2024, MacCallum co-moderated with Brett Baier three back-to-back town halls featuring Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.[16]
MacCallum is a two-time recipient of the Gracie Award for Women in Journalism in 1997 and 2003,[17] and has received the Soldiersocks / SoldierStrong Commitment To Serve award.[18]
In 2021, assisted by Ronald J. Drez, she published a book titled Unknown Valor: A Story of Family, Courage, and Sacrifice from Pearl Harbor to Iwo Jima, incorporating the personal stories of several United States Marines into the larger story of the Pacific Campaign.[19]
Martha MacCallum married Dan Gregory on 22 August 1992, at St. Elizabeth Church in Wyckoff, New Jersey. Together, they have 3 children, two sons and a daughter.