What Will Become of Ann Curry?

Since leaving the Today show, 57-year-old Ann Curry has stayed on at NBC, doing a few special reports here and there. But now there is a “window” in her contract — meaning she could leave NBC and go somewhere else. What will become of Ann Curry?

If you follow what she posts on NBC or Facebook, you know that Ann Curry is passionate about international human interest stories. In August she was in Jordan with refugees from Syria; in May she interviewed the Turkish prime minister; last year she was in Sudan. She’s a fantastic photographer and the serious stuff keeps her from having to say good morning good morning everybody in the news this morning good morning.

As Marisa Guthrie writes for The Hollywood Reporter, Al Jazeera America might be a good place for Ann Curry: “Certainly her style of journalism — she’s an intrepid, empathic interpreter of humanitarian crises — would be a good fit for AJAM.” Alas, sources tell Guthrie the network has not reached out to Curry.

But industry analyst Andrew Tyndall tells THR that the best network for Ann Curry might be no network: “She sets up her own production company, does one-off documentaries and then sells them to Al Jazeera or HBO or Netflix or whomever.” In other words, the path taken by Soledad O’Brien after leaving CNN.

Ann Curry was in homes every morning on Today from 1997 until 2012. She’s a familiar face. Experienced. Seasoned. With her résumé, you’d think she’d be hosting the evening news by now. But that awkward exit from Today overshadowed her career for months. Last night, she stood in for Brian Williams on Nightly News (you can watch the broadcast here) and fans took to Twitter to say things like, “In all seriousness there needs to be more Ann Curry on my TV” and “You’re the best sub they’ve ever had!” Ann responded with her usual sweet sincerity:

Even though I was highly critical of her on Today, I do think she’s talented, and one of the rare female TV journalists who doesn’t seem like a fake femmebot. I can’t help hoping she ends up in a good place.