Richard Schlesinger

Richard Schlesinger is an American retired television news reporter and correspondent for the CBS crime documentary show 48 Hours.

Early life and education Schlesinger was born in New York. He graduated from White Plains Senior High School in 1972 and graduated from The University of Missouri with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1976.

Career After graduation in 1976, Schlesinger joined Miami-based WPLG-TV as a political reporter, where he won Sigma Delta Chi Award. In 1980, he was hired as Washington bureau chief for the Post-Newsweek Television Stations and worked there until 1984, when he joined CBS News. At CBS, Schlesinger was based in Miami and covered stories throughout the southeastern United States and South America. From 1987–1990, he was a correspondent at CBS News Northeast bureau, also working as an investigative reporter for the CBS Evening News and as a substitute anchor for morning news and weekend editions of the news. In 1993, Schlesinger interviewed Navy officer Jeffrey Trail on the condition of anonymity as Trail gave his testimony about being gay in the military in the prelude of the don't ask, don't tell policy. Trail became known in 1997 as the first victim of spree killer Andrew Cunanan.

He has received 10 Emmy Awards throughout his career. Apart from his reports to 48 Hours, Schlesinger also contributes to CBS News Sunday Morning.

He retired from CBS News in 2022.