Susan Zirinsky

Susan Zirinsky (born March 3, 1952) is an American journalist and television news producer. She has been the executive producer of 48 Hours since 1996. She also produces breaking news specials for CBS News. She won a Primetime Emmy Award in 2002 for producing the documentary 9/11.
In 2013, she was given the Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Television & Film Awards.

Zirinsky was born in New York City and raised in Neponsit, Queens, the daughter of Cynthia (née Finkelstein) and Richard Zirinsky (1915-2002). Her sister, Barbara Zirinsky Faden, died in 1999 at age 50 from cancer. Her mother created Gracie Square Hospital in New York City and she works as a mental health care professional. He father was a New York City real-estate developer. The Richard and Cynthia Zirinsky Center for Bipolar Disorder is named after her parents and located at Mount Sinai Beth Israel. Zirinsky graduated from the School of Communications at American University in Washington D.C. She delivered the communication school commencement address in 2009. Her nickname in the newsroom is Z. She married her husband Joseph Peyronnin in 1984. Peyronnin is an Emmy Award winning journalist. After covering the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the couple adopted a baby girl from China in 1996 and named her Zoe.

Zirinsky joined the CBS News Washington Bureau when she was 20 years old in 1972 while a sophomore in college at American University as a weekend production clerk. Her senior year she helped write stories about the Watergate Scandal. She kept working for CBS after graduation in various roles. She was given the assignment of covering the White House for CBS, which she did for over a decade. During this time she worked with Marcy McGinnis and Lesley Stahl, who was her mentor. She has also specialized in covering political campaigns and war assignments. She went with Dan Rather to Kuwait during the Gulf War, where she produced the news and Rather reported live from Kuwait City. She is currently the senior executive producer of 48 Hours. She also produces breaking news specials for CBS News. Her frequent collaborators include Bob Schieffer.

The 1987 film Broadcast News was based on Zirinsky’s experience at the CBS News Washington Bureau in the early 1980s. She worked with director and screenwriter James L. Brooks and served as associate producer and technical advisor for the film. She also helped prepare actress Holly Hunter to portray her. Hunter job-shadowed Zirinsky and cut her hair into a bob cut to look similar to Susan. Zirinsky also gave Hunter some of her clothes to wear in the film. Hunter was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. Zirinsky has attended screenings of the film for young journalists and lectured about her career and the making of the film.

(as Executive Producer)

Two of Zirinsky's projects have won Peabody Awards for Excellence, 9/11, a documentary about the World Trade Center, and 48 Hours: Heroes Under Fire.

She was given the 1st Amendment Service Award by the Radio Television and Digital News Foundation in 2003. She won the News & Documentary Emmy Award for her work on three 48 Hours specials, Hostage, Grave Injustice, and Perilous Journey. She won the Christopher Award for her work on 9/11 and In God's Name. Her work on the 48 Hours: The Lost Children won an Edward R. Murrow Award in 2010.