Kaitlan Collins

Kaitlan L. Collins (born April 7, 1992)[1] is an American journalist and Chief White House Correspondent for CNN. Previously, she was the White House correspondent for the website The Daily Caller.[2]

Kaitlan Collins
Born (1992-04-07) April 7, 1992
Prattville, Alabama, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Alabama (BA)
Years active2014–present
EmployerCNN

Early life and education

Collins was born in Prattville, Alabama, the second oldest of four children. Her father, Jeff Collins, is a mortgage banker. She graduated from Prattville High School and went on to attend the University of Alabama, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and journalism in May 2014 and was a member of Alpha Phi sorority.[3]

Career

After graduating from Alabama, Collins moved to Washington, D.C..[2][4] In June 2014, she was hired by The Daily Caller as an entertainment reporter. After covering the 2016 presidential campaign, the Caller named her their White House correspondent in January 2017 and she began covering the Trump administration.[5][2]

While she was still with the Caller, Collins was invited to make several appearances on CNN. At a White House correspondent event in spring 2017, she met network president Jeff Zucker and thanked him for having her on despite the ideological nature of her current employer. Collins was subsequently interviewed and hired to join the White House team at CNN in July 2017.[5][2] Collins traveled with President Donald Trump to at least half a dozen countries.[6][5]

On Wednesday, July 25, 2020, Collins attended a photo op in the Oval Office as the day's pool reporter. As the event concluded, Collins asked Trump a series of questions about Vladimir Putin and Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen. Trump ignored Collins' questions.[5][7] Collins was subsequently barred from a Trump administration press conference in the White House Rose Garden that afternoon.[8] and was told by senior White House officials that such questions were "inappropriate for that venue."[9] Trump's press secretary Sarah Sanders asserted that Collins had "shouted questions and refused to leave,"[9] while Trump's advisor Kellyanne Conway said that the action was about "being polite."[10] Trump's deputy chief of staff for communications, Bill Shine, objected to the characterization of the White House's action as a "ban" but "declined to tell reporters what word he would use to characterize the White House’s decision to block her from attending the event."[10]

CNN stated that the Collins' ban was "retaliatory" and "not indicative of an open and free press." The White House Correspondents Association called the ban "wholly inappropriate, wrong-headed, and weak."[9][10] Jay Wallace, president of Fox News, issued a statement in support of Collins, saying that his organization "[stood] in strong solidarity with CNN for the right to full access for our journalists as part of a free and unfettered press."[9]

In April 2020, Collins questioned the president about his claim of total authority to manage social distancing restrictions related to the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19.[11][12][13] At a White House press briefing later in April, she was asked by a White House official to exchange her front-row seat in the White House press room with a different network's reporter seated in the rear. Both Collins and the other reporter refused to comply with the request. The socially distanced seating plan for the briefing room had been managed by the White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) and agreed to by White House officials the previous month. Collins' refusal to comply with the order issued by the White House official prompted that official to suggest that Secret Service may be summoned, a development that ultimately did not unfold.[14]

In November of 2020, Collins was in the news again after White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany refused to call on Collins, explaining "I don't call on activists."[15][5]

Collins served as the CNN White House Correspondent for a large part of the written and televised live coverage of the 2020 United States presidential election.[16]

On January 11, 2021, Collins was promoted to chief White House correspondent for the incoming Biden administration. At 28 years old, she was the youngest chief White House correspondent in CNN's history,[5] and one of the youngest chief correspondents for a major media network.[17]

Recognition

In 2019, Collins was Mediaite's number 50 Most Influential person in News Media.[18] She was named as one of Crain's NewsPro's 12 to Watch in TV News in January 2019.[19] She was also named one of Forbes magazine's 30 under 30: Media in 2019.[20]

References
  1. "@kaitlancollins". Instagram. Retrieved January 17, 2020. Last ride on Air Force One as a 26-year-old. 😎
  2. Ariens, Chris (June 15, 2017). "Kaitlan Collins Joins CNN from The Daily Caller". www.adweek.com. Retrieved January 28, 2018.
  3. Hrynkiw, Ivana (October 8, 2018). "CNN's Kaitlan Collins apologizes for tweets from her University of Alabama days". AL.com.
  4. celebrityxyz.com, accessed 2 August 2020.
  5. Shacknai, Gabby (February 1, 2021). "How CNN's Kaitlan Collins Built A Career Covering Trump And Became The Network's Youngest Chief White House Correspondent". Forbes. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  6. "Kaitlan Collins official Biography at the CNN site". CNN. Retrieved July 27, 2018.
  7. Romo, Vanessa (July 25, 2018). "CNN Reporter: White House Called My Questions 'Inappropriate,' Banned Me From Event". NPR. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  8. Richardson, Matt (July 25, 2018). "CNN correspondent blocked from White House press event". Fox News.
  9. "Kaitlan Collins: Row over CNN reporter's White House ban". BBC News. July 26, 2018.
  10. Phelps, Jordyn (July 26, 2018). "White House disputes that CNN's Kaitlan Collins was 'banned'". ABC News.
  11. Walsh, Martin (April 24, 2020). "Trump Slams CNN Reporter: 'CNN Is Fake News, Don't Talk To Me'". Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  12. Froomkin, Dan (April 14, 2020). "Paula Reid and Kaitlan Collins pop the toddler king's balloon — and he melts down". Salon. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  13. Tucker, Emma (April 13, 2020). "Defiant Trump Claims 'Authority of the President Is Total' in Reopening Economy". The Daily Beast. Retrieved April 15, 2020.
  14. Farhi, Paul (April 25, 2020). "The White House tried to move a reporter to the back of the press room, but she refused. Then Trump walked out". The Washington Post.
  15. Waller, John (November 20, 2020). "Kayleigh McEnany tells CNN's Kaitlan Collins, 'I don't call on activists,' at end of White House press briefing". Boston.com. Archived from the original on February 4, 2021. Retrieved February 4, 2021.
  16. "November 4 US election news". CNN. November 4, 2020. Retrieved November 23, 2020.
  17. "CNN Shakes Up Afternoon and Evening Lignup". CNN. January 11, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  18. Mediaite Staff (December 17, 2019). "Mediaite's Most Influential in News Media 2019 - Part 3". Mediaite.com. Retrieved August 6, 2020.
  19. Goldsmith, Jill (January 2019). "12 To Watch in TV News" (PDF). NewsPro. Vol. 10 no. 1. New York, NY: Crain. p. 11. ISSN 2151-1764.
  20. Cuccinello, Hayley; Knight, Brett; Lerner, Rebecca, eds. (November 13, 2018). "30 Under 30 2019: Media". Forbes.com. Judged by Liz Claman, Morgan DeBaun, David Perpich and Jon Steinberg. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
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