‘They just weren’t there’: CNN notably absent from this year’s career expo
A question hung in the air at the career expo at the 2025 NAHJ conference in Chicago this year: Where is CNN?
Longtime members and returning conference goers found themselves wondering why one of the biggest financial backers of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists — and one of the country’s largest media companies — was absent from the expo floor, where recruiters meet with potential job candidates and news agencies display their flags and and hand out branded swag to the roughly 1,500 people attending this year’s conference.
CNN is an “Emerald level” tier sponsor of NAHJ, the second-highest level. In past conferences, the company has organized career workshops, networking panels and elaborate recruitment operations. Last year, in Los Angeles, CNN hosted various high-profile events including “Cocktails and Connections,” a lavish networking mixer on the Warner Brothers lot — just a few hours after announcing 100 job cuts.
This year, CNN’s absence from the expo floor was noticeable.
“Not seeing them at all was pretty shocking,” said Leslie Solis, an attendee.
Solis has been an NAHJ member for more than four years, previously serving as an executive board member of her student chapter at California State University Long beach. Now a university graduate, She is actively searching for positions as an on-camera reporter.
“I’m applying for jobs, and CNN is one of those big… mainstream [companies]. They just weren’t there, so I’m missing out on an opportunity,” she said.
Sherlyn America Rodriguez, who visited CNN’s booth at NAHJ’s 2024 expo, recalled CNN’s large presence the previous year.
“It was a pretty big booth … They had a big setup with lots of lights,” Rodriguez said. “It was all red, lots of computers, lots of chairs for people to sit at and speak to recruiters.”
A rising junior at California State University, Long Beach, Rodriguez was excited to meet with CNN, a company she hopes to work for in the future. For her, the career expo is one best aspects of NAHJ’s annual conference.
“It’s kind of unfortunate and kind of disappointing,” Rodriguez said. “That’s what this expo is for. … To meet recruiters, get our names out there, show them our resumes.”
“But,” Rodriguez added, “they’re really nowhere to be seen.”
CNN Vice President of Communications Shani George declined to comment as to why the company was not present at the expo this year.
The company offered a single invite-only workshop titled “CNN MasterCraft: The Digital Essentials.” The three-hour-long workshop featured a panel centered around growing the skillset necessary to adapt to a digital newsroom.
But for Rodriguez and Solis, finding the workshop posed another challenge.
“I didn’t even know where it was,” Rodriguez said.
The event was hosted in the Joliet Room on the hotel’s third floor, located at the opposite end of the hall from most of the other sessions and workshops.
In a statement to The Latino Reporter, NAHJ’s national board President Dunia Elvir expressed gratitude for NAHJ’s sponsors, including CNN.
“The level of prominence of our sponsors can vary by year and by city, but we appreciate all the media companies, including CNN, and other sponsors who allow us to make this conference such a rich professional experience for NAHJ members,” Elvir’s said.
Gian Marco Velasquez is working towards earning a combined Bachelor’s in Journalism and Master’s in Laws in Media and Entertainment from the University of Southern California. He’s an intern with the investigative unit at Telemundo 52 Los Angeles. You can reach him at gian [dot] velasquez35 [at] gmail [dot] com or on Instagram @gianmvelasquez.
