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💻 She and her team work behind the scenes to keep CNN’s readers informed

By Daniel Wine

Kendall Trammell remembers sitting on her grandfather’s lap when she was a toddler. He was reading a newspaper, and they were watching TV and doing a crossword puzzle together.

That childhood memory planted a seed for what would eventually blossom into a career in the news industry.

“We had newspapers in the house when I was growing up, and my parents listened to the radio on the way to work, and then we watched the evening news,” Trammell said. “It’s always been lurking in the background.”

Now Trammell, a senior producer, leads weekend programming for CNN Digital. She and her crew create a thoughtfully curated presentation of the news, whether you are visiting CNN.com on your desktop computer, tablet or smartphone. They package stories with photos and videos and snappy headlines to keep readers informed about what’s happening all around the world.

Trammell, a University of Georgia graduate, landed an internship with CNN during her senior year and then worked at a digital startup before returning to the network to help program CNN content on mobile devices. 

We caught up with Trammell recently at CNN’s Techwood headquarters in Atlanta, and the following is an edited version of our conversation.

What is a typical week like for you?

I spend a lot of time planning with our content teams, TV partners and other key leaders around the network to make sure that when we go into Saturday and Sunday, we’re creating a really engaging experience for our readers and viewers and listeners around the world. We want to put our prime pieces of enterprise reporting out there. We have a 24/7 news team, so how do we make sure that we have content that speaks to them every hour of the weekend? And then I look at everything we did the weekend before to see what worked and what didn’t.

Do you have a favorite story or project you have worked on?

The most memorable is probably the great candy corn debate. I’m proud of that project because it was a really different way for us to experiment with a storytelling format. Basically a co-worker and I engaged in a text conversation where I was pro-candy corn and they were not. It was a very niche cultural conversation, but it allowed us to use that template for future storytelling. And of course, candy corn is so delicious!

What is a common misconception people have about your job?

Some people think I’m just sitting behind a computer moving headlines around and that it’s a very laid-back role. There are a lot of moving parts. We have producers on our team who are curating the experience for various devices. That requires a lot of coordination, especially when you add breaking news into the mix. You have to learn when to bring everyone in so that we can be aligned, but then also give people space to experiment.

Talk about your efforts to get more under-represented and marginalized groups reflected in the news.

My mom and her family are from Vietnam originally. Her first language was Vietnamese, and then she came to the US and really embraced and learned English quickly. There are so many people with stories and backgrounds like hers. We sometimes forget how much it takes for people to learn and become accustomed to a larger group. How do we work together toward a common goal? That’s what I’m passionate about. The news industry and journalism have predominantly been spaces held by White men. I want to create inclusive spaces where there is more diversity that is reflective of the audiences that we’re serving: women, marginalized groups, people of color and LGBTQ+. It’s important for everyone to feel like there is someone here who has somewhat of a shared experience with them.

What advice would you give someone interested in a career like yours?

Take advantage of as many different opportunities as you can. What’s so beautiful about journalism is the diversity of experiences and how that can help inform the work that we do. Some people have strong reporting backgrounds, some are focused more on video, and some have specific beats or areas of coverage. Try to have flexibility in your background. How you leverage your skills is what makes you a better advocate for your audience, and then you’re able to tackle new challenges.

How do you manage the stress?

Staying hydrated is important. I have a gallon of water that I try to take in daily. Sometimes I hit that goal and sometimes I don’t. ­Outside of work, I’m passionate about exercise. I enjoy weightlifting, and that has become an outlet for me to flex my muscles in a different way outside of my brain working. I love spending time with my dog. He’s a great excuse for me to get away from my phone, shut off all my devices and give him a nice belly rub.

What is something that people don’t know about you?

I was a theater kid, and I was taught that this is someone’s truth, so we have to honor these characters and their lives and their experiences to help share that to your audience. That’s similar to what we do as journalists — taking care and caution with the voices that we’re representing and sharing on a global stage.

Anything else you would like to add?

Some people are trying to avoid the news now, especially the younger generation. There are so many different mediums and outlets and ways to interact with information. It’s hard to get people to focus, and our jobs revolve around how to connect with people there in an authentic way. Where journalists can really hit their stride is understanding how to meet those audiences where they are.

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- Edited and produced by Kyle Almond, Tricia Escobedo and Kimberly Richardson