Long-time journalist Lester Holt, 56, made history last night when he announced that he is the permanent anchor for ?Nightly News.? For months, he had been filling in for a suspended Brian Williams.
He is the first African American journalist to serve as solo anchor a nightly news broadcast.
The news comes on the heels of heightened racial problems across the nation as recent as last week?s shooting of 9 African American worshippers by a white teen in a Charleston, South Carolina church.
Holt was named interim anchor earlier this year with no guarantee that the position would become permanent.
?This was a very awkward situation I was put in. I was basically ? under what was difficult circumstances ? handed a successful broadcast. I just wanted to make sure I didn?t let anybody down,? Holt told The New York Times.
