Carol Costello (born October 11, 1961) is an American television anchor and former host of CNN Newsroom. In 2017, she left CNN to join sister network HLN, based in Los Angeles. In October 2018, HLN announced that Costello would be let go, with the final broadcast of her show taking place on October 26.

Carol Costello
Born (1961-10-11) October 11, 1961 (age 63)
EducationKent State University (BA)
Occupation(s)LMU First Lady and Professor
Notable credit(s)CNN Newsroom
CNN Daybreak
The Situation Room
American Morning
SpouseTimothy Law Snyder

Early life and education

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Costello is a graduate of Minerva High School, a public high school in Minerva, Ohio, and Kent State University where she earned a B.A. in journalism.[1][2][3] After attending Kent State University, Costello worked at Akron, Ohio's WAKR-TV as an award-winning police and court reporter. Following that Costello was an Emmy Award-winning anchor/reporter for WSYX, the ABC affiliate, and WBNS 10-TV, the CBS affiliate in Columbus, Ohio. She also worked as the 6 and 11pm news anchor for WBAL-TV in Baltimore between 1992 and 1995.

Career

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Costello worked as an anchor at CNN Headline News (now called HLN) and was also the anchor of Good Morning Washington and an investigative reporter at WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Washington, D.C., during the September 11 attacks.

She previously worked out of the network's New York City bureau. She was part of CNN's Peabody-winning coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the 2008 presidential election, and also covered the Virginia Tech massacre, the inauguration of Barack Obama and the Casey Anthony trial. Costello has done in-depth reporting on bullying, coal ash, and women's issues. After a CNN viewer nominated her, Costello ran with the Olympic torch through the streets of Atlanta prior to the Atlanta Olympics.[4]

As a reporter and anchor, Costello has interviewed Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and George H. W. Bush. Previously, Costello anchored the CNN early morning program CNN Daybreak and also was news reader and correspondent on American Morning. She was the anchor of CNN Daybreak, then a New York-based correspondent, and subsequently a contributor to The Situation Room.[5] Costello hosted the 9 am–11 am slot of CNN Newsroom, based out of CNN's New York news bureau.[6]

Costello elicited criticism when she referred to audio of Bristol Palin describing an assault on her to police as "quite possibly the best minute and a half of audio we've ever come across."[7][8] Paul Bedard called Costello's "rude and crude enjoyment" an easy slap by a prominent female media star on a young woman.[9] Costello later stated that "in retrospect, I deserve such criticism and would like to apologize."[10]

On January 30, 2017, Costello announced that she would return to HLN to host a new program from Los Angeles.[11] On August 21, 2017, her new show Across America with Carol Costello debuted.

On October 16, 2018, it was announced by HLN that Costello was to be laid off, along with Michaela Pereira and Ashleigh Banfield, as part of the network's decision to scale back their live news programming. The final broadcasts for their programs took place on Friday, October 26, 2018.[12] Although both Ashleigh Banfield and Michaela Pereira stayed to host their shows until their last days, Costello did not appear on air after October 16, 2018, with CNN correspondent Dianne Gallagher hosting the final broadcast.

Since then, Costello has taken a more active role at Loyola Marymount University where she serves as first lady. She is a professor in the newly established journalism major and now also hosts a podcast developed by the university. According to Costello herself, she had been wanting to start a new venture for a while, even back on her days at CNN.[13]

Personal life

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A former resident of Atlanta, Georgia, Costello moved to the New York area after marrying Timothy Law Snyder in 2004. She and Snyder later moved to Baltimore, Maryland.[citation needed] In October 2015, Snyder was named president of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.[14] In January 2017, Costello cited her husband's relocation as a primary factor in her decision to leave CNN for HLN and move to Los Angeles.[11]

In April 2015, Costello wrote that she became a "lapsed Catholic" after losing her younger brother Jimmy to cancer when she was 25. However, she stated that Pope Francis "reawakened my faith".[15]

References

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  1. ^ Porter, Todd (2012-06-26). "Minerva's grass-roots Hall of Fame is open". CantonRep.com. Archived from the original on 2013-10-19. Retrieved 2012-07-12. The thinking is if current Minerva students are able to see the success of past students, such as CNN news anchor Carol Costello, it can motivate and inspire them.
  2. ^ Freismuth, Renee (2004-02-19). "CNN Anchor Costello to Return to Kent State". eInside. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2010-02-15. Costello attended Kent State until 1982, when she left the university without earning her degree...Costello's visit will fulfill the requirements for her to earn her undergraduate degree from Kent State.
  3. ^ "Carol Costello". CNN.com. CNN. Retrieved 2012-07-12. Costello earned a degree in journalism from Kent State University in Kent, Ohio.
  4. ^ "CNN Anchors to Run Olympic Torch in Atlanta, New York City". Time Warner. 2004-06-16. Archived from the original on 2013-07-02. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  5. ^ "Another Assignment For Carol Costello". MediaBistro. 2006-11-03. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  6. ^ Rothstein, Betsy (2012-02-25). "CNN's Costello to Atlanta". MediaBistro. Retrieved 2012-07-12.
  7. ^ "Palins describe brawl in police recordings". CNN.
  8. ^ Carol Costello [@CarolCNN] (October 22, 2014). "This is quite possibly the best minute and half of audio we've come across in a long long time #PalinBrawl #CNN cnn.it/1yknS14" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ Bedard, Paul. Mainstream Scream: CNN anchor Costello's verbal assault on Bristol Palin, Washington Times, October 27, 2014.
  10. ^ Gold, Hadas. CNN's Carol Costello apologizes for Palin remarks, Politico, October 23, 2014.
  11. ^ a b Throne, Will (January 30, 2017). "Carol Costello to Leave CNN for New Anchor Gig at HLN". Variety. Retrieved January 30, 2017.
  12. ^ Barr, Jeremy (October 16, 2018). "HLN Shake-Up: Ashleigh Banfield, Carol Costello, Michaela Pereira Exiting". www.hollywoodreporter.com. Archived from the original on October 16, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  13. ^ "I Hate Your Generation on Apple Podcasts". Archived from the original on 2020-11-01. Retrieved 2020-09-10.
  14. ^ "Timothy Law Snyder Inaugurated as the 16th President of Loyola Marymount University" (Press release). PR Newswire. October 6, 2015. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
  15. ^ Costello, Carol (April 11, 2015). "How Pope Francis awakened the faith of a CNN anchor". CNN. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
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