California Wildfires: Loss, Resilience, and Hope
Last week when we heard about fires in California we didn’t think much of them because, frankly, there are fires in California all the time. But, as the pictures started coming in, we could tell that these fires were different. They were called “wildfires,” but they were burning in urban neighborhoods. Neighborhoods I had visited. […]
Another American Tragedy
School shootings are always tragic. As a mother it is my worst nightmare. We send our kids to school as a safe space for learning. But each year there are more and more kids that get a hold of firearms. Each kid is trying to outdo the Columbine killers as if killing their classmates will […]
Covering the 2024 Election
Full of Suprises! The 2024 election was full of surprises! At first it felt like it was going to be the most boring election in modern times. Two old foes face off once again. Candidates that we already knew. No skeletons to drag out of their closets. No October surprises. State by state the voters […]
The Future of AI in Journalism
Every business is struggling with how to incorporate artificial intelligence into their workflow. Journalism is no different. At CNN we have strict rules against writing any content using AI but other news organizations have experimented with online content written completely by AI. And content written by artificial intelligence is only one small use case for […]
America’s collective nightmare
My kids know too much about gun violence. I work for CNN and the news is on all the time in our house. For the past few weeks I have been working non-stop and they have heard me talking to families who lost loved ones in the recent mass shootings and lawmakers who are pushing […]
The Great American Experiment
On my Facebook feed this morning I saw two cute kiddos smiling at me on the first day they ever attended public school. It almost made me want to cry looking at the photos of them surrounded by so many who have become friends over the past few years. Then I received 5 different school […]
3 Days in Vegas
As much of the country did I woke up Monday morning to the shocking news that more than 50 people had been killed at a county music festival in Las Vegas. Having covered every major mass shooting over the past 16 years I knew what this meant. A few hours later I was on a […]
The People’s Pope
I am not a religious person but today I found myself swept up in the pomp and circumstance surrounding Pope Francis’ visit to the United States. I was glued to my seat as I watched his plane land on US soil. I was mesmerized as he shook hands with President Obama. I loved watching him […]
The Ugly Truth About TV News
Television seems to many like such a glamorous career. The lights, the camera, the action. The celebrities, the politics, bearing witness to important moments in history. It all sounds so intoxicating. And we all go into it thinking that we will change the world. We will hold people accountable and expose all that is wrong […]