A total dream

“I’m an Atlanta girl, who went to Carolina, who went to journalism school, who thought ‘maybe would it be possible one day to actually work at CNN?’ It’s a total dream.”

To many Americans, Brooke Baldwin’s day begins at 2 p.m., but when she addresses the CNN studio camera at that moment, her day is already several hours underway.

Baldwin, anchor of “CNN Newsroom” from 2 – 4 p.m., a 2001 Carolina graduate and the 2017 UNC Spring Commencement speaker, begins preparing for her show the moment she wakes up around 6 a.m. Even with the long hours involved in the work she does, Baldwin knows she’s fulfilling a lifelong goal.

As a student, Baldwin anchored Carolina Week, the UNC School of Media and Journalism student newscast and a program partially made possible by private giving.

This is story number 159 in the Carolina Stories 225th Anniversary Edition magazine.

Related Stories


How to Heal a Broken Heart

Celebrating a Presidential Day

Siblings Guide the Next Generation