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Some moments in live news broadcasting are impossible to forget. Join us as we count down the most shocking and emotional times TV news anchors abandoned their professional composure and went completely off script while live on air! Which of these unforgettable broadcast moments left the biggest impression on you? Let us know in the comments below!
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00:00The flash, apparently official, President Kennedy died at 1 p.m. Central Standard Time.
00:07Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're exploring the most emotional and shocking times when TV news anchors let their
00:13on-screen professional personas slip,
00:15and instead show their emotions when covering live news events.
00:19So if you're a parent, you got a kid in some other part of the country, call him up.
00:25Dustin Nolan leaves the industry.
00:27In 2026, Nolan was anchoring the morning show for Iowa's KWQC-TV, as he'd done since 2022.
00:34Yet this time, the anchor resigned not only from the broadcaster, but from the entire news industry.
00:51Struggling to hold back his emotions, Nolan spoke about how much the job meant to him.
00:54He also criticized focusing on trends and sanitized news instead of getting people out of their bubbles.
01:00I also believe that we, as a local news station, have to be more than trends or sanitized news because
01:05it makes people feel uncomfortable.
01:07Nolan wasn't the only anchor to send ripples across the broadcast industry with an on-air resignation.
01:12In 2014, Sharla Green was covering a marijuana reform story in Alaska for KTVA.
01:17After admitting she owned one of the reform businesses, Green used an expletive to quit and devoted her attention to
01:23legalization.
01:24And as for this job, well, not that I have a choice, but I quit.
01:34All right, we apologize for that.
01:36Robin Roberts discussing her bone marrow diagnosis.
01:39In 2005, 10 years after joining the show as a reporter, Roberts became a co-anchor for ABC's Good Morning
01:45America.
01:45She soon morphed into one of the most famous reporters in the U.S.
01:48Yet, in 2012, she announced on the show her health problems.
01:52She told everyone about a new challenge, a jolt she absorbed privately and with incredible strength so she could keep
01:59her commitments to her team before telling everyone today.
02:04With the support of her co-anchors and colleagues, Roberts struggled to hold back her emotions as she stated that
02:09she had myelotis plastic syndrome, which is an illness that affects the bone marrow.
02:13In the next day, and you know, when I'm not here, we've got some talented friends who are going to
02:17sit by your side.
02:18I know you're going to hold down the fort and this too shall pass.
02:21God is good all the time.
02:22You're going to beat this.
02:23All the time, God is good.
02:23Oh, please.
02:24Shortly after stating that her sister is donating her marrow, Kears began to fall from Roberts.
02:29The timing of her announcement was due to her beginning treatment.
02:31Thankfully, after the success of the treatment, Roberts made her triumphant return to GMA in 2013.
02:36As my mother said, we all have something and everyone's story has purpose and meaning and value.
02:43And I share this morning, this day of celebration, with everyone.
02:48Anderson Cooper breaking down over Katrina victims.
02:50In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated several places across the U.S. and the Caribbean with New Orleans, Louisiana being
02:57severely affected.
02:59With his CNN show, Anderson Cooper 360, Cooper struggled with witnessing the devastation in person, especially when he saw those
03:05who didn't survive.
03:06But a week after a storm, to still have bodies exposed, just laying out dead is, uh, it's mind-boggling.
03:14After speaking with residents and hearing their frustrations with the government's response,
03:18Cooper channeled their feelings when he interviewed then-Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu.
03:22With barely hidden anger, he questioned the politicians for seemingly thanking each other rather than helping people.
03:28There was a body on the streets of this town yesterday being eaten by rats because this woman had been
03:35laying in the street for 48 hours and there's not enough facilities to take her up.
03:40Do you get the anger that is out here?
03:42This isn't the only time Cooper hasn't been able to hide his own feelings.
03:45In 2018, when Donald Trump insulted Haiti, Cooper, who has a storied connection to the country, struggled to not choke
03:51up as he criticized Trump and supported Haiti.
03:53They don't blink. They stand tall and they have dignity. It's a dignity many in this White House could learn
03:59from.
04:00It's a dignity the president, with all his money and all his power, could learn from as well.
04:05Diane Sawyer's slurred live broadcast
04:07For the 2012 U.S. presidential elections, Sawyer, with her incredible legacy in broadcasting, was one of the leaders for
04:13ABC's coverage.
04:14However, rather than her usual impeccable reporting and delivery, something seemed off as Sawyer stumbled over her lines, acted out
04:21of character, and had slurred speech.
04:22And we know that the governor also has Lucky Milkshake. We are, we are, we've been spending a lot of
04:29time with these two kids.
04:31Quickly, social media took off with speculation that the legendary anchor was intoxicated, or that she had a serious medical
04:36condition.
04:37I don't know what was going on, but actually, I looked into it. It turns out a lot of people
04:42covering the election last night seemed to have been drinking before they went on the air.
04:48However, the reported explanation was a lot less concerning, thankfully.
04:51Sawyer, who had a similar incident during the 2009 election, was exhausted after getting little sleep preparing for the coverage
04:58and being up for long hours.
04:59The New York Times tweets, ABC still hasn't explained Diane Sawyer's election night behavior.
05:04Look, live TV can be tough to do. Maybe she was tired. Or not.
05:09Shepard Smith pushes back during the 2020 election crisis.
05:12After joining Fox News in 1996, Smith rose to become one of the network's most prominent anchors.
05:17Yet, before he departed in 2019, he ruffled viewers' feathers for not supporting conspiracy theories.
05:23After joining CNBC and getting his own show, The News with Shepard Smith, the host's debut episode covered the presidential
05:29debate between Trump and Joe Biden.
05:31A first official introduction of the two candidates from the Committee on Presidential Debates follows rules.
05:38It's dignified, democratic, structured, American. Not last night.
05:45However, unlike other news anchors, Smith spoke with blunt honesty, not hiding his disappointment at the state of U.S.
05:51politics.
05:52He criticized Trump for alluding to not handing over power peacefully should he lose the election, and Biden for his
05:57insults toward Trump.
05:58There is not a scintilla of evidence that this is true. None. There's only words here. No truth.
06:06Smith summed up the debate by stating that America has never seen anything like this before.
06:12Joe Biden declared the duly elected president of the United States unfit to lead.
06:17Called him a racist, a liar, a clown, and told him to shut up.
06:21We've never seen any of this. Not in America.
06:25Tom Brokaw interrupts coverage of the Oklahoma City attack.
06:29In 1995, right-wing extremists Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols detonated an explosive outside the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building
06:37in Oklahoma City.
06:38The devastation took nearly 170 lives and injured hundreds of others.
06:42Following this horrible incident, Brokaw on NBC's Meet the Press interviewed then-Oklahoma Governor Frank Keating and the city's mayor,
06:49Ron Norrick.
06:49It does appear now that the people who were connected with this bombing were involved with extremist anti-government militia
06:56groups.
06:56Have you had any difficulty with those kinds of groups in Oklahoma?
06:59With the devastated Murrah building in the background, Brokaw, after asking typical questions about the attack,
07:04then briefly stripped back his professional, unbiased persona.
07:07Instead, he began talking about the country being angry and people needing to find other, less severe ways to showcase
07:13their opinions.
07:14But this has been an angry country. We've been angry in our media, we've been angry in our music, we've
07:18been angry in our politics for the past couple of years.
07:21Do you think that this is an object lesson that we have to lower our voices in some way and
07:25find more common efforts?
07:27Even when Brokaw spoke about the attacks 20 years later, he wrote that McVeigh and Nichols' extreme actions still didn't
07:33make sense to him.
07:33But the rest of the country also has been extraordinarily responsive to the terror in the heartland that has been,
07:40I'm afraid, the plight of Oklahoma City, not just for this past week, but they'll be doing some healing here
07:45for a long time to come.
07:46Walter Cronkite announcing JFK's assassination.
07:49In the long history of U.S. news broadcasters, there aren't many that are more famous than the site of
07:54Cronkite in 1963.
07:55At the time, viewers were ready to watch the soap opera as the world turns.
07:59However, CBS then cut to a news bulletin with Cronkite reporting from a radio booth.
08:03With only audio, he announced that then-President John F. Kennedy had been shot.
08:07In Dallas, Texas, three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade in downtown Dallas.
08:13The first reports say that President Kennedy has been seriously wounded by this shooting.
08:19After briefly returning to the soap, Cronkite, this time on camera, reported from the CBS newsroom about the attack.
08:25There has been no word at all on the official word from the doctors at Parkland Hospital or the White
08:31House staff on the extent of the President's wounds.
08:35About an hour later, Cronkite read the bulletin that Kennedy had passed away.
08:39Then, Cronkite's emotions broke free across his face as he swallowed hard at the shocking news, taking a few moments
08:45to compose himself before continuing.
08:47Vice President Lyndon Johnson has left the hospital in Dallas, but we do not know to where he has proceeded.
08:56Presumably, he will be taking the oath of office shortly and become the 36th President of the United States.
09:04Kent Shoknick's reaction to the Challenger disaster.
09:07Good morning, I'm Kent Shoknick and Space Shuttle Challenger is just a few seconds away from blasting off from the
09:12Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida.
09:14Let's take a look right now.
09:16In 1986, the U.S. and space fanatics across the world tuned in to watch the Space Shuttle Challenger take
09:22off from Florida's Kennedy Space Center.
09:23Working for California's KNBC, Shoknick was anchoring the live coverage as NASA's vessel took to the skies.
09:29However, barely admitted into the event, just as Shoknick was giving background on the Challenger's mission, disaster struck as the
09:35shuttle exploded, taking the lives of its seven-member crew on board.
09:38The head of the Space Shuttle program had no explanations, just sorrow at the tragedy.
09:43With Shoknick exclaiming, my god, there's been an explosion, the somber communication from Mission Control confirming the catastrophe,
09:49and the haunting images of the aftermath made this live long in the memory of viewers.
09:54Ladies and gentlemen, I have covered the Space Shuttle launches since the very first launch, since before the first launch
10:02itself, going way back, and nothing like this has ever happened.
10:06Peter Jennings reports on the 9-11 attacks.
10:08Even outside of the country, everyone knows what they were doing when September 11, 2001 devastated the U.S. with
10:14multiple extremist attacks in New York City, Virginia, and Pennsylvania.
10:18When news of the attacks emerged, Jennings began a mammoth 17-hour stint on ABC, covering all the information as
10:24it was confirmed, including when the additional attacks happened.
10:27It began a little more than 10 hours, a little less than 10 hours ago, and first one aircraft.
10:33We'll take you through the video scenes of the day.
10:36At one point, Jennings' incredible composure slipped after he spoke on the phone to his children before going back on
10:41air.
10:42We do not very often make recommendations for people's behavior from this chair, but as Lisa was talking, I checked
10:52in with my children.
10:53With his voice wavering, he advised viewers who were parents to also call their kids across the country.
10:58In a flash, Jennings returned to his broadcast persona and continued coverage of the attacks, setting the benchmark for all
11:04anchors covering such catastrophes.
11:06From someone else only a month ago, I laid on a bench outside the World Trade Center and marveled at
11:11what man could create.
11:13Looking up at those 110 stories, and now I stare in disbelief at what man can take away.
11:19Christine Chubbick's on-air death. Alongside being a reporter at WXLT-TV, now known as WWSB in Sarasota, Florida, Chubbick
11:27was also the anchor for the station's community affairs show, Suncoast Digest.
11:31The board essentially could say, well, hey, this is a pretty good-looking program. It's not going to cost us
11:37anything.
11:37Perhaps since we haven't built on the site we have, this is the way to go. We'll back these people
11:42up.
11:43However, behind the scenes, she struggled with her mental health for several years.
11:47In 1974, Chubbick opened her show with a newscast, which wasn't typical.
11:51Following a segment about an act of violence and its footage being unable to play, Chubbick criticized the station's focus
11:56on violence and switched into announcing a programming first.
11:59In keeping with the WZRV policy, presenting the most immediate and complete reports of local blood and guts, TV30 presents
12:11what is believed to be a television first.
12:15As viewers and her colleagues were confused, Chubbick took out a firearm and shot herself on air.
12:20Initially, after cutting to black, the program director believed it was a morbid joke before realizing the truth.
12:26While Chubbick was taken to a hospital, she sadly passed away.
12:28The woman, Christine Chubbick, was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
12:33Ms. Chubbick wrote and starred in a half-hour daily show called the Suncoast Digest on station WXLT-TV.
12:40What other times did TV news anchors go off script?
12:43Do you recall seeing any of these moments live?
12:45Let us know below.