Lester Holt: We’re Not Immune to Horrible Events

It’s been quite a news-filled summer for Lester Holt, anchor of NBC Nightly News. On the heels of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, this veteran journalist begins anchoring NBC’s primetime coverage of the Democratic National Convention tonight from Philadelphia and, next week, he’s on his way to Brazil for the Rio Summer Olympics. So how exactly does Holt, anchor of America’s most-watched evening newscast, do it? We found out more during a chat with him this morning, just as the DNC was getting underway.

Between Nice, Dallas, Orlando, the RNC, DNC and, soon, Rio, tell us what this summer has been like from your perspective?

I can’t remember a news period like this. I’ve been telling people the day of the so-called 24-hour news cycle is gone. We are in a four-hour news cycle now. By example, I rushed off to Nice for that terror attack and, before we went on the air that Friday, the lead story had become a coup in Turkey. We arrived in Cleveland for the RNC and the lead story was that police were shot in Baton Rouge. It has been one thing after the other.

How much does your schedule change in the blink of an eye?

We’re in constant contact with our team and our correspondents and we’re always watching things develop and waiting to see if a story will cross a certain threshold and whether we’ll need to pivot on it and change plans. For example, the Dallas shooting occurred at the same time I was supposed to travel to the Middle East for an interview. We try to figure out where we can be and where my presence makes the best punch.

With all of your traveling, how do you stay healthy?

I just got back from the gym. I try to get to the gym every other day. It charges me up. Right now I feel ready to take on the day. On the other hand, when you’re on the road for so long, you eat horribly. You get tired, you reach for candy. I declared to my wife this morning that I’m getting back on my program, meaning I’m going back to watching what I eat.

Is there one thing you always try to do?

I try to hydrate. I also try and go as low on the carbs as possible. I usually have green tea in the morning and wait to have coffee until mid-afternoon unless I have a really early go. Generally that’s my pattern.

Related: When Was the Last Time Lester Holt Was Nervous?

Given the news, how do you stay positive?

It’s hard. I spoke to a group of high school students who came by the studio recently and they asked if I get depressed by the stories we do. I said absolutely. What I try to remember are all the positive stories we encounter on the streets. I always tell myself there are a lot more good guys than bad guys. We had a story last week of a guy in a convertible whose car flipped over on its back and all these people rushed in. They pushed the car over and got the guy out. We forget those moments because we’re so overwhelmed by bad moments, but I’m generally a glass half full kind of person. I’m very positive. I always think that, in the end, the good guys finish first.

Have you ever been overcome on air?

Sure. I remember I was on set the day of the Sandy Hook shooting. We did an initial special report that there was a shooting at a school. For a long time there was a silence coming out of there. We didn’t know if there were casualties. I remember that Jonathan Dienst, a reporter from WNBC, was on the set with me. He got confirmation of the number of dead and their ages and I couldn’t talk. I had to stop for a moment. I was overcome. I make no apologies for that. There’s no editorializing when you feel emotional or hurt over the deaths of innocent children. You try to be professional when covering horrible events, but we’re not immune to this stuff.

As the news landscape changes—news broken on Twitter, etc.—why is it ever more important for nightly news to exist?

Nightly news is appointment television and has been since I was a child. People have a lot more ways to get news these days but yet these broadcasts, us and our competitors, still continue to thrive. People still want a place they can check in, where you get a neutral voice of ‘here’s what happened today, here’s what it means, here’s how it might affect you.’ I call what we do added value. People who are really into news, they’re getting text and news alerts on their phone and they know all about what I call the hits, runs and errors of the day. But they come to us to filter through the noise to explain how things happened and what the bigger picture is. We’re able to go beyond the headlines and this has affected how we tell stories. We have to acknowledge that people have some general knowledge of the stories we’re reporting so we have to give them something extra.

Are you getting excited about Rio?

This will be my eighth Olympics and I always look forward to it. It’s a departure from what I normally do, a time to celebrate the best in America. I love interviewing 18 to 21 year olds with their gold medals hanging around their necks. For a few weeks out of the year they become household names. But it’s not just an American celebration. You go there thinking you’ll root for Team USA and then you hear these other incredible back stories of other athletes from around the world and you find yourself latching on and rooting for them. It’s a great departure from the normal fare we do.

What’s the most amazing part of your job?

The access to people, to places, to insight. One of the things I love to do when I go on a breaking story is to talk to people. We’re conditioned that we have to interview the president, the governor, the general or the mayor. That’s important for stories but I like to talk to people about how they’re affected. Ultimately these are all people stories. I want to get on the ground, sit with someone and really understand the story from their perspective.

And you’ve always got the inside scoop.

I joke sometimes that it gets a little embarrassing in social situations because someone will talk politics and I’ll think of saying ‘I talked to Donald Trump this week.’ I have to stop myself because I don’t want to sound obnoxious or like I’m name-dropping so I bite my tongue and enjoy the conversation. I’m blessed to have so many great fascinating experiences. I’m just enjoying this ride. I really am.