Atlanta native Johnny Lewis really wants to work at CNN. So much so, that he spent about 2 and a half hours outside CNN Center Thursday holding a sign reading: “CNN: Hire Me.”
Like many job seekers, Lewis was not satisfied with the all-to-common resume black hole. “So I got a sign and some paint and just took the initiative to show them how much I wanted to work there,” Lewis told TVNewser by phone this afternoon.
“At first I was nervous,” he says, “But there just came a point where my personal feelings didn’t matter.” Over the course of the afternoon — “my arms were tingling,” he says — a few people approached Lewis. Some with water, most with questions.
Before his interest in TV, Lewis had another life as a DJ for 20 years, including at Atlanta station 99X. He went back to college and in 2011 got a degree in digital media production. Lewis applied for a CNN production assistant job on the Turner jobs website. “I just want to get in the door and contribute,” he says.
The stunt seems to have worked. This afternoon, he had a phone interview with CNN HR.
So, why does this Atlanta native want to work at CNN so badly? “This is my home network,” he says. “I’m proud of them. I’ve watched them all my life.”
And for any other job seekers out there, we’re assembling a job fair of the top news networks in the country. The TVNewser Show & Job Fair will be held April 29 in New York City. Click here for more information and to register.