Before being named to his current position, Shapiro had served since 1993 as the executive producer of Dateline NBC. Under his direction, Dateline developed into a significant part of NBC’s primetime programming strategy and became the first primetime network newsmagazine with a multinight franchise. Dateline has been honored with numerous prestigious awards in journalism, including 25 Emmys, 19 Edward R. Murrow Awards, five Sigma Delta Chi Awards, three Alfred I DuPont–Columbia University Silver Batons, two George Foster Peabody Awards, two Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards, two George Polk Awards, and an Overseas Press Club Award.

At Dateline, Shapiro oversaw the production of major breaking-news stories, such as the Oklahoma City bombing, the death of Princess Diana, the Columbine tragedy, the war in Kosovo and the Clinton impeachment. In addition, he executive produced several acclaimed hour-long specials, including reports on corporate layoffs in America, migrant farm workers and welfare reform.

Shapiro came to NBC in March 1993 from ABC News, where he served as broadcast producer of PrimeTime Live, a position he had held since 1989. While there, he wrote and produced over 30 stories, including breaking news, from Somalia to Cambodia; profiles, from Mario Cuomo to Katharine Hepburn; and investigative reports, from German Neo-Nazis to Middle East terrorists. He also served as the producer of several one-hour special editions of PrimeTime Live, including “Pan Am 103,” “Inside the Kremlin” and “Waste in Washington.”

From 1986 until 1989, Shapiro was a special segment producer for World News Tonight, where he wrote and produced stories with Peter Jennings on Cuba, the Far East and the 1988 presidential campaign. He also was a producer for Chief Correspondent Richard Threlkeld. He began his broadcast career at ABC News in 1980 as assistant to ABC News Vice President David Burke. He subsequently held various positions, including assignment editor for ABC News, producer for Nightline and producer in ABC News’ Chicago bureau.

While at ABC, Shapiro received a George Polk Award, two Emmy awards and an Investigative Reporter and Editors award.

Shapiro graduated magna cum laude from Tufts University in 1980 with degrees in history and political science. He served as the editor-in-chief of the Tufts Observer. From 1976 through 1980, he worked as a stringer for The New York Times and The Boston Globe. He is married to ABC News Correspondent JuJu Chang. They have a son and live in New York City.

Back