Chances are, you’ve seen Peter Alexander on TV. He was an NBC News correspondent for 22 years, 14 of them covering the White House. And for eight years, he co-anchored Saturday TODAY.
If you live in Arlington, the chances are also pretty good that you’ve seen him at The Italian Store, the dog park or the Westover Farmers Market. Alexander and his wife, Alison Starling, a former ABC 7News anchor and current host of the Living Well with Alison Starling podcast, have called Arlington home for about 13 years.
Alexander left NBC News in March and recently joined MS NOW as the host of State of Play, a political and national news show that will air weekdays at 11 a.m., starting Aug. 10. He will also serve as the cable channel’s chief national reporter and as a breaking news anchor.
We caught up with him, fresh off covering the Aug. 4 Michigan primary—his first appearance on MS NOW—to ask about life in Arlington and his career.
The conversation has been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Did you always want to be a national correspondent?
It was the dream. I grew up watching the evening news with my family each night, and I was mesmerized by these reporters or correspondents who were signing off from all parts of the globe. I grew up in the Bay Area. After doing a series of internships, I became intoxicated by the uniqueness of that lifestyle—the chance to witness history as it’s happening, to travel, to cover some of the biggest moments in the country and ultimately in the world. My career has taken me to nearly 60 countries and all 50 states. Having done all that, I’m also grateful for how often I can now just plop down on my own couch and pass out in my own bed.
Which experiences stand out the most from your time at NBC?
I’ve covered four administrations and gone toe-to-toe with a variety of presidents, but my most memorable experiences were covering the Olympic Games. Dick Ebersol [who produced 19 telecasts of the Games for NBC Universal Sports & Olympics] first invited me to cover the 2008 Games in Beijing. He said if I could get an exclusive interview with the Chinese basketball superstar Yao Ming, he would include me in the coverage of the opening ceremony. I worked around the clock for days to get in touch with Ming and his people, and finally secured that interview hours before the ceremony. Walking around the track interviewing him at the Bird’s Nest [stadium] as the world gathered there will forever be one of my career highlights.
You covered the White House for 14 years. What was the most challenging part of that job?
Covering the White House and in this climate, covering politics, is a relentless responsibility. It does not stop. The days begin early and they end late. Some Americans have chosen to tune out, but [journalists] don’t have that luxury. I take seriously my responsibility to the audience to be caught up on everything that’s going on, and more importantly, to serve as their voice in the room, whether it’s sitting in the front row in the Briefing Room or facing the president in the Oval Office. I recognize how rare that opportunity is, and make sure that I always do the work necessary to ask the most pertinent and challenging questions, and never to back down.
How has journalism changed in the course of your career?
This industry is in the throes of dramatic change. It’s becoming harder and harder to find reliable sources of information, between social media and outlets that have a particular slant. My job each day is to try to cut through the noise and fight for the facts. I hope that my years of service will continue to make me a trusted voice in the conversation. I promise to be a good-faith arbiter every time I sit down in front of the camera.
Is AI making it harder to separate fact from fiction?
This upcoming midterm election—and certainly the general election that follows two years later—is going to be the first one where we’re going to experience the impact of AI. In the old days, you saw a piece of video and assumed it to be true. Now, simply seeing something doesn’t guarantee its veracity. I like to focus my reporting on primary sourcing, reaching out to Democrats and Republicans, including those who are close to the president and those who oppose him, to help frame the conversations.
Is it hard to see beyond the D.C. bubble, given where you live?
I’m also a dad and a husband, and my priority is my family at the end of each day. I want to make them proud, and I want to make the community I live in proud. I’m a neighbor. I love that I get to talk to somebody in the checkout line at the grocery store. That conversation helps inform what I’m reporting because I’m talking to real people who have real thoughts. I’m not just listening to people who wear suits and work at the Capitol.
How will you apply your experience to State of Play?
MS NOW is a pro-democracy brand, and I hope to produce a show that is respectful and curious and inclusive. There’s no litmus test to watch; everybody is welcome. The show invites those who are making headlines and determining policy to sit down with me. I like to say that Americans deserve facts, not spin. I view myself not as an advocate for Republicans or Democrats, but as an advocate for the facts. That doesn’t change, no matter where I work.
What made you choose Arlington as home?
My favorite part of where we live is our neighborhood, whether it’s buying the girls a slice at The Italian Store, devouring dinner at Peter Chang or enjoying the farmers market on a weekend. It’s just such a nice group of smart, kind and good people. A few years ago, after Alison and I emceed the Make-a-Wish gala, the final auction item was an Aussie labradoodle. The woman who bought the dog recognized she couldn’t keep it, and we wound up with it. So in addition to proudly being a girl dad, I’m also a dog dad [to Star]. It’s been one of the best ways to get to know my neighbors and better appreciate where we live.
Suffice it to say you have a high-stress job. How do you decompress?
Many of our neighbors have high-pressure jobs, whether they work for the FBI and CIA, whether they’re schoolteachers or other types of professionals. There are a lot of impressive people, and I appreciate the balance that they have found in their lives. I’m trying to embrace a similar balance in my own. I turned 50 [in July] and am recognizing that time is finite. Hopefully this new job will allow me to pick up my girls from school, to sit down for dinner or grill in the backyard. The ability to have a high-pressure job in the District and a very normal life in Arlington—there are very few places, not just in the country but in the world, where you can have both of those things.
Favorite local spots?
We love wandering through Clarendon. My girls are always finessing me for a Sephora run. I love walking into Harris Teeter, pulling up to the deli guy and catching up on conversations right where we left off a week earlier.
One of the things I’m most proud is how my kids are sharing in our family’s tradition of giving back. Our oldest, Ava, volunteers every Wednesday at PathForward, supporting those experiencing homelessness in our community, and my wife and I join. I love it because I’ll be anchoring an MS NOW show in the morning, and then in the afternoon, I’ll be in sweats and a T-shirt putting together bags for people who are unhoused where we live.
In this business, you’re so nomadic. I’ve lived in so many different places over the years—Lexington, Kentucky; Spokane, Washington; Seattle; New York; Los Angeles; Atlanta. To finally have a place that I can call home and really feel like it is home is such a treat.
