Sure she's a member of the most famous political family in American history, but while the Kennedy connection may have gotten Maria Shriver her initial chance, she has proven herself a competent, audience-pleasing news reporter, correspondent, and anchor. Over a career spanning some two decades, the attractive brunette has hosted many breakthrough "First Person" specials and (since 1995) has appeared as a contributing anchor on "Dateline NBC". This only daughter of Peace Corps director and vice presidential candidate Sargent Shriver and his wife Eunice Kennedy began her career as a news writer for KYW-TV in Philadelphia, PA in 1977. Within a year, Shriver had moved to WJZ-TV in Baltimore, MD, where she also produced news programming. From 1981-83, she was a national reporter for the syndicated "P.M. Magazine", which was a cooperative arrangement between stations bringing the best of local news coverage nationwide. Teaming with Debbie Williams in 1981, Shriver produced the a syndicated series, "Portrait of a Legend".

National news organizations soon took notice and Shriver was snagged by CBS News in 1983 as a reporter. Within two years, she had become a correspondent and anchor of the "CBS Morning News". Jumping to NBC News, Shriver became the first host of "Sunday Today" and the primetime magazine aimed at teenagers "Main Street" (1987-1988). By 1989, her fortunes at the network were rising; she was appointed a substitute anchor for both "Today" and "NBC Nightly News". There was even speculation that she might be in line to one day be a network's top national news anchor, although her 1986 marriage to actor Arnold Schwarzenegger has placed Shriver on the West Coast. From 1989-90, she anchored the weekend news broadcasts and also moved into primetime with "Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow", a magazine series that purported to examine the past, present and future. "Cutting Edge With Maria Shriver" (1990) was a special that attempted to reach a younger audience through its topics (interviews with stars and figures) and rapid, MTV-inspired style, (jump cuts, strobes, etc.). Now satisfied that she had matured as a newscaster, NBC gave Shriver the "First Person" franchise of primetime news specials. Through the decade, Shriver has used the show to examine former Miss America and incest survivor Marilyn Van Derbur (1991), "Privacy and the Press" (1992), "The Gay 90s" (1992), and "Big Brother Is My Boss" (1993), among other topics. Her importance to NBC News has also been demonstrated in her reporting during the 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns where she covered the conventions in 1992 and was the NBC correspondent in Little Rock covering President Clinton's victory speech in 1996.