Molly Levinson
Shaping the News About Politics
By Susan Josephs

While working as an analyst for a prominent public-opinion research firm, Molly Levinson had an epiphany: She was a storyteller, not a number cruncher. "When it comes to politics, people’s eyes often glaze over," she says. "But that’s where the challenge lies … finding new ways to tell the story so that people want to know more."

As the political director of CBS News, the 31-year-old Levinson rises to this challenge on a daily basis. Working with reporters, commentators, analysts and producers, Levinson oversees the network’s political coverage and helps shape the stories that wind up on programs like 60 Minutes and the Evening News with Katie Couric.

"I’m the cog in the middle of the wheel," she says. "And what I love about my job is that you wake up in the morning, something gets thrown at you and you have to deal with it. You have to think through both huge issues and tiny details and be able to turn them into a compelling tale."

Since taking the job at CBS last August, Levinson has particularly relished opportunities to work not only on daily breaking news, but also "history in the making" stories, such as when John Edwards announced he would run for president despite the recurrence of his wife’s breast cancer. Within hours, "I was on a plane to Las Vegas to meet Katie [Couric] to go interview them," she says. "I really felt that their story of running for president and battling cancer was one that transcended mere politics."

Levinson traces her passion for politics to growing up in Greensboro, N.C., and watching the commercials that appeared during the 1990 Senate race. "Harvey Gantt was running against Jesse Helms and it was a very intense election," she recalls. "I was fascinated by the explosion of attention this Senate race got and I loved reading and learning about all the issues related to it."

Raised in a "close-knit" Jewish community of some 1,500 families, Levinson always considered the Jewish holidays very important, especially on the second night of Passover when family members gathered for a creative, "irreverent" Seder. "From my upbringing as a Jew, I learned that nothing is more important than community and celebrating having my family around me," she says.

After graduating from Wellesley College with a political science degree, Levinson worked as a development assistant at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and as a research analyst before landing a producer position at CNN. There, she met "amazing female role models who have really paved the way for me," she says. "They took me under their wing, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them."

Levinson rose swiftly through the ranks at CNN and was serving as the network’s acting political director by the time she left for CBS. Working at CNN also led to meeting her husband, who is now the Vice President for Community Relations at the National Basketball Association.

Currently expecting her first child, Levinson firmly believes in "having my cake and eating it too. I hope to always keep doing things that are challenging and interesting, and it’s incomprehensible to me that I would have to choose one over the other," she says of her career and raising a family. "I have never thought of my gender as holding me back on anything."