Vinnie Politan
{{short description|American attorney and journalist}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{BLP sources|date=February 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Vinnie Politan
| birth_date = {{birth_date and age |1965|February|4}}
| birth_name = Vincent Joseph Politan
| birth_place = West Orange, New Jersey, U.S.
| nationality = American
| known_for = Legal commentary
| education = B.A., Stanford University
J.D., Seton Hall University
| employer = Court TV
| occupation = Television anchor and analyst; attorney
| children = 5
}}
Vincent Joseph "Vinnie" Politan (born February 4, 1965) is a former New Jersey county prosecutor, practicing private attorney and broadcast journalist. He serves as lead anchor of Court TV. He hosts and created the primetime show, Closing Arguments with Vinnie Politan, which is the highest rated primetime program on the network.
Previously, he co-created and hosted After Dark, a hit show on HLN which featured an in studio jury. It was the network's highest premiering show in its history. Before that he anchored "Prime News with Vinnie Politan" on HLN and HLN Special Report. He co-anchors In Session on the cable network truTV.{{cite web|url=http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/courttvtrutv/vinnie_politan_returns_to_tv_as_host_of_in_session_142484.asp|title=Vinnie Politan Returns to TV as host of In Session|website=mediabistro.com|accessdate=November 10, 2022}} He previously co-anchored Bloom & Politan: Open Court (alongside Lisa Bloom) and Both Sides (with Kimberly Guilfoyle).
Trials covered by Politan include those of or connected to Jodi Arias, Trayvon Martin, Casey Anthony, Johnny Depp, Alex Murdaugh, Sean "Puffy" Combs, O. J. Simpson, Scott Peterson, Kobe Bryant, Darrell Brooks, and Kyle Rittenhouse among many others, since joining Court TV in January 2001.{{cite web|url=http://www.courttv.com/anchors/vinnie_politan.html|title=court TV becomes truTV|accessdate=November 10, 2022|website=courttv.com}} Additionally, Politan hosted the morning radio show Me and Vinnie on Sirius XM radio's Stars Too station.
Politan remained at HLN until 2014{{cite web|url=https://www.deadline.com/2014/06/vinnie-politan-latest-to-leave-hln|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140616212714/http://www.deadline.com/2014/06/vinnie-politan-latest-to-leave-hln/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 16, 2014|title=Vinnie Politan Latest To Leave HLN|first=The Deadline|last=Team|date=June 16, 2014|website=Deadline Hollywood}} when he declined a contract offer from the HLN Network. In August 2014, he joined the morning broadcast of Atlanta's local NBC Affiliate WXIA, "11 Alive", as lead anchor for the morning weekday news. Vinnie is over six feet tall and is tallest anchor at Court TV.{{cite web|url=https://www.deadline.com/2014/06/vinnie-politan-latest-to-leave-hln/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140616212714/http://www.deadline.com/2014/06/vinnie-politan-latest-to-leave-hln/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 16, 2014|title=Vinnie Politan Latest To Leave HLN|first=The Deadline|last=Team|date=June 16, 2014|website=Deadline Hollywood}}
Biography
Born in New Jersey on Thursday, February 4, 1965, Politan was raised in West Orange, New Jersey, and graduated from West Orange High School,Sepinwall, Alan; and Seitz, Matt Zoller. [https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-star-ledger-profile-of-vinnie-polita/163713405/ "All TV: In Bad Humor"], The Star-Ledger, February 22, 2006. Accessed January 22, 2025, via Newspapers.com. "Politan, who was raised in West Orange and now lives in Wayne, is the son of retired federal judge and Newark native Nicholas H. Politan and the brother of Manhattan-based attorney Nicholas H. Politan Jr.... As a boy, he used a cassette player to record a homemade talk show called The Vinnie Show, and as a teenager at West Orange High School, he worked on the school's TV news broadcast, which aired locally on public access cable."[http://www.digifind-it.com/westorange/DATA/yearbooks/west-o-ranger/1983.pdf 1983 West Orange High School Year], digifind-it.com. P. 89. Accessed November 10, 2022. where he was captain of the school's basketball team both his junior and senior year - leading the squad to back to back conference championships and a state sectional championship.[http://blog.courttv.com/informer/2006/11/q_and_a_with_vi.html Q and A with Vinnie Politan], November 20, 2006, accessed April 12, 2007. "It'll be tough to deal with him, even if I was the two-time captain of the West Orange Cowboys' Group 2 Section 2 State Championship basketball team." He attended Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, receiving an AB in Communication before attending Seton Hall University School of Law in Newark, New Jersey.
Career
His first original job was in 1988 when he co-owned Metropolitan Recording Corporation with Jerry Salerno, he later on revived the label.
Politan, also the brother of a corporate attorney and son of federal judge Nicholas H. Politan, was a prosecutor in Bergen County, New Jersey, before going into journalism.[http://www.courttv.com/sirius/interview2.html Interview with Vinnie Politan] - Court TV
Following his time as prosecutor, Politan worked in the private legal sector, including at the Carella-Byrne law firm in New Jersey. Politan's final employment as an attorney was as in-house counsel for the supermarket chain Grand Union.{{citation needed|date=February 2020}}
= Journalism =
Politan worked at Channel 10 News in New Jersey as a reporter and anchor, covering general news, legal stories, and moderating political debates. He also produced and hosted a weekly legal program, Bergen County Justice with Vinnie Politan.
Politan worked as an AP reporter and then an anchor for Central Florida News 13 in Orlando. In 2000, he covered both Democratic and Republican National Conventions as a correspondent for Time Warner. After his departure from HLN in July 2014, Politan became an anchor of Atlanta's NBC affiliate, "11 Alive".{{cite web|url=https://www.deadline.com/2014/06/vinnie-politan-latest-to-leave-hln/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140616212714/http://www.deadline.com/2014/06/vinnie-politan-latest-to-leave-hln/|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 16, 2014|title=Vinnie Politan Latest To Leave HLN|first=The Deadline|last=Team|date=June 16, 2014|website=Deadline Hollywood}}
He hosted the "Late Feed" on WXIA, a late night show featuring local newsmakers, headlines and intense legal coverage, for which he won an Emmy Award. In 2018, Politan agreed to become the lead anchor on Court TV, which relaunched in May 2019.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|1487922}}
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Category:American male journalists
Category:Television anchors from Orlando, Florida
Category:Lawyers from Essex County, New Jersey
Category:West Orange High School (New Jersey) alumni
Category:People from West Orange, New Jersey
Category:American reporters and correspondents
Category:Seton Hall University School of Law alumni
Category:Stanford University alumni