Benjamin Sampair Tracy (born July 16, 1976 in St. Paul, Minnesota) is an American journalist known for his work as a national correspondent for CBS News since January 2008.^[1] He served as CBS's White House correspondent from 2019 to 2020,^[2] and is currently the network's senior environmental correspondent, based in Los Angeles.^[3]

Early life and education

Tracy was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. He graduated from St. Thomas Academy, and later from Marquette University with Bachelor's degrees in broadcast journalism and political science, and with a Master's degree in public service.

Career

Tracy was a reporter for WCCO-TV, the CBS-affiliate station in Minneapolis, where he was a member of the station's investigative team, covering many major stories, including the methamphetamine epidemic and the collapse of the 35W bridge.^{[citation needed]}

During that time, he also was a contributor to the Saturday Early Show, to which he brought his signature "Good Question" segment, started at WCCO-TV, to a national audience. Tracy also reported for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric on the collapse of the I-35W bridge and flooding in southern Minnesota.^{[citation needed]}

Before joining WCCO-TV, Tracy worked as a reporter at WISN-TV Milwaukee and WBAY-TV Green Bay, Wisconsin. He is the recipient of five Emmy Awards and the Alfred DuPont-Columbia award for excellence in broadcast journalism.^{[citation needed]}

Controversy

On October 5, 2020, Tracy criticized the lack of adherence he observed at the Trump White House to public health guidelines to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic "I felt safer reporting in North Korea than I currently do reporting at The White House. This is just crazy. For context folks, this is in reference to the COVID-19 outbreak at The White House."^[4] The tweet garnered nearly 195,000 "Likes",^[2] as well as swift criticism from Republicans.^[2][5]