CNN has named Jamie Kraft senior broadcast producer of CNN’s American Morning. Kraft has been senior producer of Anderson Cooper 360 for the past three years, where he was responsible for overseeing editorial content for the program.
Before joining CNN, Kraft had been with CBS for 13 years, where he was a producer for 60 Minutes and the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather.
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Award-winning producer Jamie Kraft will join CNN’s American Morning as senior broadcast producer of the network’s flagship morning program, it was announced today by Bart Feder, senior vice president for current programming, CNN/U.S.
Kraft, a veteran journalist whose experience includes many years at CBS’s 60 Minutes, will report to Janelle Rodriguez, executive producer of American Morning, and will be responsible for the broadcast’s editorial direction as the program with the most news in the morning. He will also be instrumental in selecting upcoming stories and overseeing long-term projects.
Prior to this promotion, Kraft served for three years as a senior producer for Anderson Cooper 360, where he was responsible for overseeing all daily and future editorial content for the program, and played an integral role in propelling AC360 to the number one 10pm program in cable news. While at AC360, Kraft covered several major stories including Hurricane Katrina, the Lebanon/Israeli conflict, the Sago Mine disaster, the shooting massacre at Virginia Tech and the 2008 presidential election.
“Jamie brings 15 years of experience and a strong editorial vision to the program.” Rodriguez said. “Last month, American Morning saw its best ratings in nearly two years among total viewers and Jamie will play a key role in the show’s continued success.”
Kraft said: “I am thrilled to be joining the American Morning team. The program is well positioned to move to the next level and I see this as an opportunity for me to help create a morning show that taps into CNN’s global resources to showcase the best of what CNN has to offer.”
Kraft came to CNN from CBS where he worked for more than 13 years. He was a producer on 60 Minutes for three years where he worked on investigative reports and sports profiles for Steve Kroft. Prior to that, he was a producer for the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather where he produced for Rather and produced assignments domestically and internationally. While there, he received an Emmy Award for his lead story on the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Kraft also produced The American Dream, a weekly series reported by Rather that later became a book. Kraft opened and managed the CBS News Southeast regional bureau in Atlanta, coordinating all aspects of the region’s news production. In addition, during his tenure at CBS, he produced for 48 Hours and Street Stories with Ed Bradley. Awards he received while at CBS include a Gracie Award, two Emmy awards and a New York Press Club award.
Kraft was part of the coverage teams that earned CNN a George Foster Peabody award for its Katrina reporting, an Edward R. Murrow Award for the Lebanon/Isreali conflict and two Emmy Awards for Anderson Cooper 360.
Kraft earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism and economics from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.