Jun 9, 2023
Carol Costello is one the most authentic and trusted journalists in the modern era. Watching her conduct an interview is like a masterclass in how it should be done. Her warm and inviting presence always made her guests comfortable and willing, to tell the truth - no matter how difficult or sensitive the topic happens to be.
I swear, she is either Wonder Woman in disguise or was gifted her very own "Lasso of Truth" by her. She's that good at getting real, truthful answers from whomever she might be interviewing.
I've been a huge fan of Carol's for as long as I remember, and I still can't believe she said yes to come onto the show. She tells it like it is, and honestly, in a way we all need to hear it. Gosh, how I miss seeing her on television every day.
But she's creating even bigger RIpples today. Helping the next generation of journalists learn to think for themselves, question everything and pursue the facts, not simply strive for the likes, the views, or the notoriety. Why? Because journalists should never be part of the story. The good ones know how to tell it so that we understand and, hopefully, learn from it.
To that end, I am grateful to know people like Carol are out there shaping the hearts and minds of our future journalists.
Carol's Bio:
Carol Costello is an award-winning journalist and former anchor
and
correspondent at CNN and HLN. Her distinguished career as a
local,
regional, and national broadcaster spans three decades, covering a
broad
range of world leaders, events, and politics.
Carol serves as Special Advisor and Ambassador at LMU and teaches
a
broadcast journalism course in LMU’s journalism program. She also
hosts
“Carol Costello Presents: Blind Rage,” a true-crime serial podcast
and “I
Hate Your Generation,” a podcast series exploring the generational
divide.
In 2019, Carol created Project Citizen, a special program at LMU
that
provides resources and mentorship for student journalists. Project
Citizen’s
core mission is to discover ways to ease the partisan divide in our
country.
Carol also serves on the journalism professional advisory board
at Kent
State University in Ohio and is a mentor to its journalism
students.
In 2001, Carol joined CNN as an anchor on “Headline News.” From
2002 to
2009, she anchored “Daybreak,” the network’s former early morning
news
program. And from 2012 to 2018 she anchored “Newsroom.” She also
sub-
anchored and was a political reporter for “The Situation Room.”
Carol
contributed to CNN.com Opinion from 2015-2017. In 2018,
she
hosted HLN's Across America with Carol Costello.
At CNN, Carol was at the forefront of some of the world’s most
significant
stories. She was part of CNN's Peabody Award-winning coverage of
the
Gulf Oil Spill, Hurricane Katrina, and the 2008 presidential
election. She
also reported on Pope Francis’ visit to the United States, the
Boston
Marathon bombing, the last space shuttle launch, the Ohio
midterm
elections, the shooting at Virginia Tech, the tsunami disaster in
South Asia,
the Russian school hostage crisis, and Hurricanes Charley, Frances,
Ivan,
and Jeanne. Carol interviewed four former U.S. presidents:
President
Jimmy Carter, President Ronald Reagan, President George H.W.
Bush,
and President Bill Clinton; and she covered five presidential
inaugurations
as well as the 1992, 2008, 2012 and 2016 presidential
elections.
Before joining CNN, Carol worked at WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C.,
where
she was an anchor and investigative reporter for five years. Prior
to that,
she spent three years at WBAL-TV in Baltimore. She began her career
as a
weekend anchor and reporter for WAKR-TV in Akron, Ohio, then moved
to
WBNS-TV in Columbus, Ohio, to serve as the station's
principal weeknight anchor. Costello earned a degree in journalism
from Kent State University
in Ohio.
Carol's reporting has been honored numerous times, including a
1991
Emmy Award for a special on crack and cocaine, a UPI award, and
several
Associated Press awards. She received an Emmy nomination in 1993,
then
again in 2008 for outstanding coverage of a breaking news story
after
Benazir Bhutto’s assassination. In 2009, she received an individual
Emmy
nomination for Outstanding Morning Program.
Carol has been interviewed by the New York Times, Washington Post,
LA
Times, Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, Baltimore Sun,
Baltimore
Magazine, Columbus Monthly, Akron Beacon Journal, and the
Canton
Repository.