A total dream

Published on May 12, 2017

“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


Intern shares analytics model with Japanese baseball team

Military Grad Student Up for Promotion

Another Mission Accomplished