Newsmax TV
Marc Lotter: Morning TV More Important Than Ever
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We set news agenda for the day, says new cohost of Wake Up America. BY MARISA HERMAN
potlights flickered on, reporters clicked away on type- writers, and the final checks on the camera equipment
were made as 12-year-old Marc Lotter waited in the Fort Wayne, Indiana, TV station for his father’s Crime Stoppers segment on the weekend newscast. The chaos that filled the ABC affili-
ate newsroom in the seconds before his dad went live gave Lotter a rush that sparked his career path. “I just had that moment,” he recalls
of the time he spent after his Little League games waiting in studio for his police officer father to provide the crime updates. “I knew I wanted to be a television news journalist.” His early dreams of sitting behind an
anchor desk are now a reality on News- max TV’s Wake Up America, weekdays 6:30-9 a.m. ET. Joining cohost Sharla McBride, Lot-
ter is experiencing what he calls a “full- circle moment” professionally. “Forty years later, and I am realizing
that dream I had when I was 12 years old in my Little League uniform,” he said.
After graduating from Ball State University, where he majored in radio and television journalism, Lotter was hired as an associate producer. “Even though I thought I wanted to
be an on-air anchor or reporter, I kept getting promoted and doing more jobs behind the scenes.” His 13 years in local television news
earned him two Emmy Awards and recognition by the Society of Profes- sional Journalists for Best Newscast in Indiana.
30 NEWSMAX | FEBRUARY 2025 He worked at several television
stations across the country in various producer and managerial roles before leaving the media industry to go into politics, where he was the one answer- ing the questions, not asking them, as the spokesperson for various organiza- tions and politicians. He served as the communications
director for the Indiana Republican Party. He worked as the communica- tions director for then-Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. He was the Indiana communications director for the 2008 John McCain presidential campaign and served as deputy campaign man- ager for Mike Pence’s 2016 gubernato- rial election. After Pence withdrew from leading
the Hoosier State to become Donald Trump’s running mate, Lotter went to work as press secretary for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. After the election, he worked in vari-
ous roles in the Trump administration, including as a special assistant to the president and press secretary to the vice president. During the Trump-Pence 2020 cam-
paign, he served as director of strate- gic communications. Most recently, he
Marc Lotter and Sharla McBride on the set of Wake Up America.
worked as the chief communications officer for the America First Policy Institute. With a firm grasp on policy and poli-
tics and relationships with key players, Lotter is eager to go from the political commentator who is ready for every possible question to the interviewer driving the conversation and setting the tone for the viewers’ day. “It is our job to inform you, but you,
as the viewer, are inviting Sharla and I into your home when you are probably at the most chaotic moment of your day,” he said. “Morning TV is taking on an ever-
growing, important role in government, politics, and public service,” he said. “The morning show is where a lot of
major newsmakers are going to get their day started and set the narrative for the day. So much of what other shows are going to be covering are basically estab- lished during the morning shows.” When Lotter isn’t preparing for a
morning on set, there is a “good chance” you will find him on the golf course, spending time with his two grandchil- dren, or watching the Colts, Pacers, Hoosiers, or Cubs with his long-haired dachshund, Wrigley.
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