A Day In The Life Of A Journalist At CNN
A day for a live news editor at CNN, like Matt, "starts a little bit differently" depending on breaking news; while they may begin focusing on major ongoing stories such as the US presidential election or the war in Ukraine, unexpected events—from mass shootings to prominent deaths—"come out of the blue" and dramatically shift their focus.
Breaking News, International Affairs, Live News Editing, Fast-Paced Environment, Adaptability
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Matt Meyer
Journalist
CNN
UC Santa Barbara
Political Science, American Studies
Arts, Entertainment & Media
Communication and Marketing
Video Highlights
1. The daily routine of a journalist can vary widely depending on breaking news events.
2. Journalists often specialize in a particular topic but must be adaptable to changing news cycles.
3. A career in journalism requires the ability to pivot quickly and focus on emerging significant global events.
Transcript
What does a day in the life of a journalist look like?
Sure. So in my case, specifically as a live news editor at CNN, each day starts a little differently. It depends on what the big news story is of the day.
Obviously, right now, as we're reporting this, we're covering a major US presidential election. There's a war in Ukraine that we're covering, and there are conflicts in the Middle East.
So, a lot of days I come in with at least an idea of what our major overarching stories will be. These are stories I might be involved in writing and editing content for our website. But there are always unexpected things too.
Whether that's something that's happened in a state, a mass shooting, or perhaps a famous person dying, those events come out of the blue and can change my day very quickly. That's true for journalists across the board.
A lot of the time, you might specialize in a topic you usually write about. If you're a breaking news specialist like myself, you have those major stories you cover every day. But it just takes one significant event happening somewhere in the world.
Then you'll pivot your whole day and focus on that. For me, it's starting the day, maybe writing and editing posts about a particular topic, and then something happens in the world, and my day changes.