Innovations
A record of remarkable accomplishments
PBS NewsHour Democratic Debate
With a small staff from the PBS NewsHour I oversaw the production of what is widely considered the best debate of the 2019-20 Democratic presidential cycle. The night featured eight candidates from Los Angeles' Loyola Marymount University seen by a national television audience on PBS and CNN.
The CNN Virtual Studio
This project married innovative television technology with imaginative story telling. Correspondent Tom Foreman would step into a "virtual" world created in a green screen studio, explaining the more complicated of the day's headlines. Since its launch, the CNN Virtual Studio has transported Tom and his viewers around a virtual world -- from the floor of the US Senate to the flight deck of the missing Malaysian airliner -- to make news more comprehensible. The concept won the 2013 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Political Journalism for Foreman's "Reality Checks" series in the studio.
The Empire State Building as Canvas
In 2012, CNN was looking to present election night results in a new and different way. I spearheaded a project to use the Empire State Building as a canvas for electoral college tallies. As the evening progressed, red and blue blocks climbed the spire of the building, and when the winner captured the majority, the building glowed blue. The moment was captured on the cover of the New Yorker magazine as the signature event of the election. I also produced an encore in 2014 to display that year's election results.
CNN Washington Studios and Control Room
This unique $5 million project involved the design and construction of CNN's state of the art studios and control room in Washington. Their completion continues to provide the home for all of CNN's coverage of elections and major domestic events. The control room was considered the best of CNN's facilities worldwide.
The CNN Election Express
The purchase, design and outfitting of the CNN Election Express started in June, 2007. The bus served as a mobile studio, newsroom, satellite truck and living space for CNN's personnel covering presidential campaigns and other major news events. The project started with the selection of the bus off the assembly line and outfitting of more than $2 million in technical and living upgrades. It traveled more than a quarter million miles covering news for CNN.
CNN Newsdesk
CNN Newsdesk is an intranet-based application I launched while running CNN's Washington Assignment Desk. eventually used at all of CNN's domestic bureaus and credited with saving CNN millions of dollars. Working with a development branch of Turner Broadcasting, we designed the software to provide a central organizing tool for its assignment desks and shows. The software tracked all logistical and editorial details, resource scheduling and provided financial reporting for interdepartmental billing.
Covering the news
After nearly two decades rising through the ranks at CBS, ABC and CNN, I served as Director of Newsgathering at CNN in Washington. Over the years, I was involved in the coverage of countless news stories, including presidential elections, the 9/11 attacks, the DC Sniper, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, natural disasters and countless legislative battles.
Building New Work Environments
Over a five year period, I oversaw the redesign of much of the CNN Washington office space. In the most successful of these projects, CNN constructed new offices on a previously unoccupied floor of the Washington bureau building, using an innovative design that took advantage of natural light and custom furniture configurations.