NPR veteran Audie Cornish is joining CNN to host a weekly program on its soon-to-launch streaming service, CNN Plus, as well as a new podcast.
She is also expected to will appear on CNN covering national, political and breaking news.
“I am very excited to join CNN and the CNN Plus team. There are fresh stories to be told and new ways to tell them,” said Cornish, who was a co-host of NPR’s popular “All Things Considered,” in a prepared statement. “CNN has a dynamic system of reporters and storytelling channels. I am thrilled to be a part of it.” She is expected to start in February.
Cornish is one of a parade of new hosts and correspondents joining the WarnerMedia-backed outlet, which is expected to launch CNN Plus in the next few months. CNN has hired cooking writer Alison Roman; business professor Scott Galloway; congressional correspondent Kasie Hunt; and former “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace, among others, in a bid to attract news aficionados as well as those interested in topics such as business, food and travel to a new subscription-video hub.
Cornish has enjoyed a two-decade stint in journalism. She joined NPR’s National Desk in 2005, reporting from Nashville, covering the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana and other news in the southeastern United States. Cornish later joined the NPR politics team in Washington to cover the 2008 presidential race and the helection of President Barack Obama. Named host of Weekend Edition Sunday in 2011, she earned a George Peabody Award for her work with David Isay’s StoryCorps 9/11 Project, and in 2020, the National Press Foundation recognized her work with the Sol Taishoff Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism. Her feature reporting on the opioid crisis in Baltimore earned a Salute to Excellence Award from National Association of Black Journalists.
“We are thrilled to welcome Audie to CNN Plus and CNN Audio,” said Andrew Morse, CNN’s executive vice president and chief digital officer, who is overseeing the CNN Plus launch. “Her voice has been such an important part of the lives of so many people, and the perspective, integrity and grace that have been hallmarks of her career will make her such an important addition to our teams.”
Cornish will be based in CNN’s Washington, DC bureau.