Jack Ford (journalist)

Jack Ford is an American television news personality specializing in legal commentary. He has spent over two decades in front of the TV camera as a host and presenter of numerous information and entertainment programs.

Early life

Raised by a single parent, Ford grew up in Point Pleasant Beach and attended Point Pleasant Beach High School. He graduated from Yale University, where he played football. He also earned a law degree from Fordham University School of Law.^[1]^[2] He subsequently spent three years as a prosecutor in New Jersey, before beginning his own private practice as a lawyer. He also served as an adjunct professor of law at Fordham Law School.

Career

In 1984, Ford was hired by

Giselle Fernandez of the network's morning show Weekend Today in May 1995. He continued to host the show with interim co-anchor Ann Curry in 1996, Jodi Applegate from 1996 to April 1999, and with Soledad O'Brien from April to July 1999. That year he was named "Sexiest News Anchor" by People

magazine.

In September 1999, Ford joined

Alexandra "Ali" Wentworth

), started with high ratings, but quickly lost ground and terminated production after seven months, although repeats continued for another four months, to August 2004.

In June 2004, Ford returned to Court TV (now truTV) and on January 17, 2006, began co-hosting, with Ashleigh Banfield the two-hour daily afternoon program Banfield & Ford: Courtside. Since 2009 he has been a CBS News Legal Analyst. He has been a Visiting Lecturer at Yale University since 2007, teaching an undergraduate seminar titled "Trials of the Century," a course which he also taught at New York University in 2019.

Since 2018, he has served as a college football analyst for

ESPN, calling Ivy League football games.^[3]

He is the author of "The Osiris Alliance" (2009), a suspense novel about nuclear smuggling.

He has received two

Peabody Award, an American Radio and Television Award, a National Headliner Award, and the March of Dimes

FDR Award.

Ford had been a resident of Interlaken, New Jersey^[4] and moved to Spring Lake, where he lives with his wife and two children. He was a contestant on the original version of Jeopardy! with Art Fleming, winning three games.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Strauss, Robert (September 19, 1999). "IN PERSON; '20/20' Co-Anchor Looks at Life in Hindsight". The New York Times. Retrieved November 16, 2007.
^ Kamin, Arthur Z. (August 7, 1994). "New Jersey Q & A: John R. Ford; Analyzing the Simpson Case for TV". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2008. Jack Ford was an all-county football quarterback at Point Pleasant Beach High School, won a scholarship to Yale University and then helped to finance his tuition at the Fordham University School of Law with the winnings from appearances on the television quiz show Jeopardy.
^ https://ivyleague.com/news/2023/11/17/general-ivy-insights-episode-5-jack-knows-ivy-league-football.aspx
^ Janson, Donald. "Park-Fire Lawyer A TV Analyst, Too",The New York Times, July 7, 1985. Accessed January 24, 2023. "John R. Ford, a lawyer for Great Adventure, is also a legal commentator for WCBS-TV (Channel 2) in New York.... Mr. Ford, who grew up in Point Pleasant Beach, now lives in Interlaken, near Asbury Park."

External links

[NYT1999-1] Strauss, Robert (September 19, 1999). "IN PERSON; '20/20' Co-Anchor Looks at Life in Hindsight". The New York Times. Retrieved November 16, 2007.

[2] Kamin, Arthur Z. (August 7, 1994). "New Jersey Q & A: John R. Ford; Analyzing the Simpson Case for TV". The New York Times. Retrieved May 22, 2008. Jack Ford was an all-county football quarterback at Point Pleasant Beach High School, won a scholarship to Yale University and then helped to finance his tuition at the Fordham University School of Law with the winnings from appearances on the television quiz show Jeopardy.

[3] ttps://ivyleague.com/news/2023/11/17/general-ivy-insights-episode-5-jack-knows-ivy-league-football.aspx

[4] Janson, Donald. "Park-Fire Lawyer A TV Analyst, Too",The New York Times, July 7, 1985. Accessed January 24, 2023. "John R. Ford, a lawyer for Great Adventure, is also a legal commentator for WCBS-TV (Channel 2) in New York.... Mr. Ford, who grew up in Point Pleasant Beach, now lives in Interlaken, near Asbury Park."

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