About Spencer
Spencer Michels, correspondent and producer in the San Francisco office of the NewsHour, began reporting stories for the broadcast in 1983, while still anchor and correspondent for KQED. A native of San Francisco, he graduated from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs in 1959 and then received his master's from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.
Michels began his professional career as a reporter with the Palo Alto Times, and then moved to KCRA in Sacramento. In addition to general reporting, anchoring and producing, he traveled around the world doing stories ranging from the Vietnam War and the Israeli war with Egypt, to socialized medicine in Scandinavia and bureaucracy in Italy. After working on news and documentary programs at the public station, KQED, for several years, he joined the NewsHour full time in 1991. Since then, he has produced hundreds of 5 to 10 minute reports on all manner of issues, including health, environment, science, politics, economics and arts. He has won several Emmys and other awards.
He lives in Marin County with his wife, Roberta. They have three grown children and three grandchildren.
Spencer’s Recent Stories
Science Aug 18
Radio Frequency Identification Tags: Identity Theft Danger or Modern Aid?In a recent NewsHour report on cybersecurity, we showed security expert Chris Paget, shown above, climbing on a 29th floor hotel balcony in Las Vegas to demonstrate how he could read radio frequency identification tags at…
Science Aug 10
Black Hat and Defcon Founder Jeff Moss: What Is the ‘Hacker Mindset?’More than 15,000 computer nerds - hackers, government officials, security company officials and who knows who else - spent a few days in Las Vegas recently for an unusual set of conventions. The subject on everyone's minds was cyber attacks…
Politics May 21
California Senate Race: Poll Shows Boxer Pulling Ahead of GOP RivalsWith Republicans and the tea partiers getting most of the headlines these days, it's a little surprising that liberal Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California has opened up a small but significant lead over all the Republicans running against…
Politics Apr 30
Senate Primary Heats Up in Arkansas_pap_embed_custom('news01s3f05qe7c',482,304,""); One of the things U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln told me that irks her the most about Washington is the fact that she can't get a direct, non-stop flight from the capital to Little Rock. She's the senator from…
Science Apr 05
Silicon Valley Story: Applied Materials Executive Relocating to ChinaSAN FRANCISCO | Silicon Valley is looking deeply inward and finding things are not as they were. The valley, where firms like Google, Apple, Intel and Applied Materials have their headquarters, is losing steam and perhaps the innovative spirit…
Politics Mar 23
California Republicans Vying for Chance to Replace Boxer in U.S. SenateUpdated 8:12pm ET California Sen. Barbara Boxer appears to be in political trouble, but as she always reminds audiences and interviewers, she's been in trouble before, and has always emerged a winner. I remember her running for supervisor…
Education Feb 22
Khan Academy: How to Calculate the Unemployment RateA 33-year-old math and science whiz kid -- working out of his house in California's Silicon Valley -- may be revolutionizing how people all over the world will learn math. He is Salman Khan, and until a few months…
