Maria Shriver Appears on ‘Today’ for Papal Coverage

Maria Shriver, a former NBC correspondent, took a first step toward resuming that role on Monday when she contributed a report to NBC’s “Today” show.

Ms. Shriver appeared live from the Vatican, where she introduced a story about why the newly-named pope had chosen the name Francis.

“Today” used social media on Sunday night to tease Ms. Shriver’s return to the broadcast. And it mentioned her at the start of the show on Monday, underscoring the significance of the moment. “To help us out with our coverage” of the new pope, “we are welcoming back a familiar face to our viewers,” Savannah Guthrie, a co-host, said as Ms. Shriver’s story began at 7:30 a.m.

Ms. Shriver was a well-known correspondent for NBC between 1986 and 2003, appearing mostly on “Dateline NBC,” the network’s prime-time newsmagazine. She took an extended leave of absence when Arnold Schwarzenegger, her husband, ran for governor of California. After Mr. Schwarzenegger won the election, she came back to “Dateline” a couple of times, but decided in 2004 that she couldn’t continue to report or anchor while also serving as first lady of California. She asked to be relieved of her duties at NBC.

Neal Shapiro, who was then the president of NBC News, said at the time, “I speak for all of us at NBC News when I say that we look forward to Maria’s eventual return.”

She did return, briefly, in 2009 as a guest editor for a week of NBC coverage about the state of women in America. The special coverage was based in part on a study Ms. Shriver commissioned, titled “The Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything.”

Back then Mr. Schwarzenegger was still the governor, and Ms. Shriver was not paid for her participation. After he left office in 2011, observers speculated about whether she would return to her television career or focus instead on charitable work.

Ms. Shriver and Mr. Schwarzenegger separated in 2011 after he admitted that he had fathered the child with a member of their household staff a decade earlier. She subsequently filed for divorce. She has not given a high-profile television interview about her personal life since then.

Her re-entry into public life has been gradual; she publishes a weekly newsletter, hosts conferences and describes herself on Facebook as “an activist, author, journalist and mother.” Her profile adds, “I consider myself a work in progress. My mission: to inspire and empower people to be Architects of Change.”

Ms. Shriver’s appearance on “Today” on Monday was not accompanied by any announcement about a new role for her at NBC News. No title, like “contributor” or “correspondent,” showed up on the screen. A spokeswoman for “Today” declined to comment on her title, and said “Maria Shriver is participating in NBC News’s coverage of Pope Francis in Rome.”

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/19/business/media/maria-shriver-appears-on-today-for-papal-coverage.html?partner=rss&emc=rss