A Life in News
CNN’s Bunda Turned Early Knowledge of News Into a Career
by Randy Barrett -- Multichannel News, 1/27/2008 5:00:00 PM MT
In this story:
Susan Bunda
Susan Bunda
Executive VP of Content and Strategy
CNN Worldwide
Susan Bunda grew up in a news household. Her dad was a film editor for NBC and their Chicago basement was crammed with video equipment.
Bunda mastered a video camera as a child and regularly taped local football games and county fairs. “I learned the craft at an early age,” she said.
Bunda was pretty young when she jumped into the news business as well. She became producer of WWMT’s 11 p.m. newscast in Kalamazoo, Mich., in 1985, while still a senior at Western Michigan University.
“She was a 19-year-old kid,” said her former boss, John Lansing, who is now a senior vice president at Scripps. “She just caught my eye for how sharp she was and she did a fantastic job.”
According to Bunda, the knowledge of the technical and editorial ends of the news industry helped her “understand the impact of the business.” She joined CNN in 1987 as a producer and writer, when the young network was still establishing the concept of 24/7 global news.
“It was a time of incredible growth [here] and every year I was in a new job,” explained Bunda.
Bunda quickly ascended to executive producer of legal analysis show Burden of Proof and CNN & Company, which featured a panel of female experts discussing the top stories of the day.
Next stop on the career ladder was a stint running the CNN Special Event Unit that covered such world happenings as Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997 and Great Britain’s handover of Hong Kong to China in 1999.
Bunda’s admirers say that throughout her steady rise up CNN’s ranks, she has shown a knack for motivating her underlings in positive ways.
“Sue is smart and she makes those around her smarter,” said CNN senior producer Dave Nuckolls, who has known her for 10 years. “She challenges people to dig down and be more than they think they can be. She has a unique ability to get people to want to work very hard. She’s influential without being pushy.”
Bunda’s colleague Jack Womack, senior vice president of domestic news operations and administration for CNN/U.S., agreed: “She has this incredible energy — and incredible wisdom.”
In 2001, Bunda was named senior vice president of news for CNN/U.S. The job put her in charge of the network’s Atlanta-based programming and all editorial content for CNN’s domestic bureaus, as well as its medical and science & technology units.
During Bunda’s watch, the network broke ground with its coverage of the 9/11 terrorists attacks in 2001, the 2004 South Asian tsunami and the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005.
But Hurricane Katrina in 2005 challenged CNN with its sheer scope and devastation. Bunda was stunned at the early images of destruction and chaos in New Orleans and the gulf coast region. “Nobody ever expected we’d see it in the United States,” Bunda said.
As the scope of the humanitarian disaster became clear, the executive moved CNN beyond just observing — to helping. Bunda began broadcasting photos of children displaced by the storm and worked closely with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to reunite thousands of kids with their parents.
Coverage of the storm and its aftermath ultimately won CNN a George Foster Peabody Award. “Whether tracking the path of Hurricane Katrina, reporting its devastating effects, exploring controversies that developed in the course of rescue and recovery, or presenting in-depth documentary explorations of events and issues, CNN provided important news and information to viewers,” said the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, when awarding the network for its coverage of the storm and its aftermath.
Bunda has also innovated the news gathering process. In 2006, she launched the i-Report initiative, which invited CNN viewers to capture news events on their camera phones and video cameras and e-mail the coverage to the network.
“News can happen anywhere at any time,” said Bunda at the launch of the program. “By showcasing content gathered by our viewers, we can prepare news reports that provide additional and deeper perspective to breaking news and other stories.”
The concept caught on fast. CNN received more than 50,000 i-Report submissions from 189 countries in the program’s first year. The most memorable is perhaps the cell phone footage of last year’s Virginia Tech massacre supplied by graduate student Jamal Albarghouti.
Currently, the network receives about 7,000 submissions per month. “Our i-Reporters have exceeded our expectations in regards to the sheer number and quality of submissions,” Bunda said.
Bunda is a big believer in balancing work and home life. She’s married with two children and enjoys golfing with her husband.
She also believes in gathering input from all employees along the chain of command. To that end, she started “Free-Thinking Friday,” a weekly company-wide meeting in CNN’s largest Atlanta conference room to entertain brainstorms from any employee.
“The environment is free of rules or pressure and everyone is treated with respect,” said Nuckolls. “Every voice and every idea is heard and considered. At the end of the hour, ideas have been born and developed into action plans.”
In July 2007, Bunda was promoted to executive vice president responsible for program creation and development for CNN Worldwide, as well as integration of the network’s TV and Web content.
In the end, she said, CNN is all about the employees who work there.
“Do the right thing by people,” said Bunda. “You treat [them] with respect.”
People
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