We are living through unprecedented social and political times. As the pandemic alters every aspect of our lives, each day holds anticipation for what is to unfold.
News headlines and social media feeds can feel overwhelming and daunting. But it is important to stay informed in these hard times.
CNN is one of the world’s top publications and they have millions of subscribers. We were curious to find out their top Journalists who create more engagement across social media channels.
Here are 43 journalists from CNN to follow and stay in the know.
This list was compiled using Social Animal.
1. Jay Croft
Atlanta communicator. Fitness, stories. Host of Optimal Aging podcast.
Twitter: @JayCroft
Twitter Followers: 2,118
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 64
- Average engagement: 158246.9 shares
- Average word count of an article: 346.9
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Twitter: 15852.7
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 2
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 11
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 4
2. Jim Acosta
CNN Anchor Saturday 3-6p and Sunday 4-6p eastern, Chief Domestic Correspondent. Author of NYT Bestseller “The Enemy of the People.”
Twitter Followers: 2.2 M
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 46
- Average engagement: 109295.8 shares
- Average word count of an article: 365.1
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 72615.13
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: –
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 12
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 2
A graph showing social media platforms where people have engaged the most with CNN.
3. Daniel Dale
Reporter for CNN, fact-checking the president and others.
Twitter: @ddale8
Twitter Followers: 1.2M
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 198
- Average engagement: 72844.7 shares
- Average word count of an article: 667.67
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 64749.74
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: –
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 64
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 9
4. Kaitlan Collins
CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent
Twitter: @kaitlancollins
Twitter Followers: 1.1M
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 64
- Average engagement: 66040.52 shares
- Average word count of an article: 310.73
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 44133.28
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 1
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 18
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 1
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5. Oliver Darcy
Senior media reporter, @CNN. covering the intersection of media & politics. sometimes tech.
Twitter: @oliverdarcy
Twitter Followers: 173.4K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 157
- Average engagement: 52837.83 shares
- Average word count of an article: 364.64
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Twitter: 38411.38
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 3
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 30
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 10
6. Alisha Ebrahimji
Journalist @CNN | Proud daughter of immigrants, Texan, Indian & @TXST alumna·
Twitter: @AlishaEbrahimji
Twitter Followers: 4870
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 135
- Average engagement: 52226.8 shares
- Average word count of an article: 588.16
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 29975.07
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 2
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 18
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 19
7. Jeremy Herb
Natsec/Congress reporter @CNN. Former @politico, @thehill, @startribune. Bay Area native.
Twitter: @jeremyherb
Twitter Followers: 35.2K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 175
- Average engagement: 48100.91 shares
- Average word count of an article: 669.10
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 31102
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 1
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 7
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 19
8. Paul P Murphy
Reports for @CNN | Loves the @RedSox |
Twitter: @murphy
Twitter Followers: 2762
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 88
- Average engagement: 44899.45 shares
- Average word count of an article: 557.8
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 30755.42
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: –
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 21
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 2
9. Kara Scannell
CNN reporter. Formerly FT, WSJ.
Twitter: @KaraScannell
Twitter Followers: 18.8K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 95
- Average engagement: 42802.41 shares
- Average word count of an article: 481.22
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 23520.75
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 1
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 16
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 9
10. Kate Bennett
@CNN White House Correspondent: @FLOTUS , the East Wing, the first and second families and White House misc.
Twitter: @KateBennett_DC
Twitter Followers: 97.2K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 146
- Average engagement: 41810.13 shares
- Average word count of an article: 654.07
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 32635.09
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 1
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 19
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 32
11. Paul LeBlanc
Breaking News Reporter @CNNPolitics . Pats fan. Elon grad.
Twitter: @CNNPaul
Twitter Followers: 2531
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 382
- Average engagement: 41767.52 shares
- Average word count of an article: 444.88
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 31834.73
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 1
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 64
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 16
12. Kelsie Smith
@CNN Cross-Platform Associate Producer
Twitter: @_kelsie_smith
Twitter Followers: 141
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 87
- Average engagement: 40359.84 shares
- Average word count of an article: 407.81
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 27192.11494
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 1
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 9
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 0
13. Zachary Cohen
National security reporter @CNN . Terp. Braves fan.
Twitter: @ZcohenCNN
Twitter Followers: 17.2K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 85
- Average engagement: 37541.35 shares
- Average word count of an article: 765.2235
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 38037.12
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 11
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 28
14. Alaa Elassar
Journalist writing for @CNN Digital. Master’s student @ColumbiaJourn . Ex CNN International, Storyful, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, AtlantaMuslim.
Twitter: @alaaelassar
Twitter Followers: 1109
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 477
- Average engagement: 31975.48 shares
- Average word count of an article: 514.27
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 18971.22
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 1
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 60
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 29
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15. Rob Picheta
Digital Producer at @CNN / @CNNi in London. Sometimes I complain about Fulham and the New York Giants.
Twitter: @robpicheta
Twitter Followers: 1052
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 264
- Average engagement: 29448.65 shares
- Average word count of an article: 490.97
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 17370.53
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 1
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 12
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 21
16. Amir Vera
@CNN Writer | Previously: @virginianpilot , @progressindex | @VCU alumnus | @aabjorg Prez
Twitter: @TheAmirVera
Twitter Followers: 3,514
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 156
- Average engagement: 29108.54 shares
- Average word count of an article: 323.92
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 18048.63
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 23
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 9
17. Maggie Fox
Facts matter. And truth is not liberal bias. I do Health/Science/Tech in plain English. Senior health editor at CNN.
Twitter: @maggiemfox
Twitter Followers: 21.6K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 222
- Average engagement: 28198.14 shares
- Average word count of an article: 610.47
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 17367.7
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 32
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 32
18. Katelyn Polantz
Justice, courts n’at @CNN
Twitter: @kpolantz
Twitter Followers: 52K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 212
- Average engagement: 28173.13 shares
- Average word count of an article: 498.99
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 20158.34
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 33
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 23
19. Brian Fung
Tech reporter for @CNN . Backpacking, bikes and video games. There are four lights. Formerly @WashingtonPost , @TheAtlantic & @NationalJournal .
Twitter: @b_fung
Twitter Followers: 33.7K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 194
- Average engagement: 27499.12 shares
- Average word count of an article: 153.72
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 15425.31
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 1
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 13
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 4
The length of the articles published by CNN and the social engagement they’ve had.
20. Chandelis Duster
Reporter @CNNPolitics | Fmr. @NBCNews @MSNBC | @VCU @AmericanU Alum| ΔΣΘ | #EndoStrong | Bama Girl |
Twitter: @Chandelis
Twitter Followers: 2178
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 191
- Average engagement: 27392.1 shares
- Average word count of an article: 425.37
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 18909.27
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 23
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 3
21. Veronica Stracqualursi
@CNNPolitics writer. Prev @ABC . @umassjournalism alum.
Twitter: @VeronicaStrac
Twitter Followers: 2596
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 327
- Average engagement: 27022.97 shares
- Average word count of an article: 474.34
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 17156.14
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 1
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 38
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 11
22. Eric Bradner
National political reporter for @CNN . Based in Chicago.
Twitter: @ericbradner
Twitter Followers: 25.1K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 155
- Average engagement: 26697.03 shares
- Average word count of an article: 705.5226
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 15825.8
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 1
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 12
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 35
23. Christina Maxouris
writer @CNN | occasional cook | above all Greek
Twitter: @its_xristina
Twitter Followers: 489
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 421
- Average engagement: 26378.67 shares
- Average word count of an article: 501.71
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 14799.1
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 52
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 52
24. Harmeet Kaur
Reporter @CNN . Appalachian ➡️ ATLien ➡️ Brooklynite. Will evangelize about Southern hip-hop to anyone who will listen.
Twitter: @harmeetkaur
Twitter Followers: 2033
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 247
- Average engagement: 25470.12 shares
- Average word count of an article: 622.35
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 12445.95
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 1
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 26
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 42
25. Alicia Lee
Writer at CNN
Twitter: @byalicialee
Twitter Followers: 100
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 25
- Average engagement: 131152.9 shares
- Average word count of an article: 465.2
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 81486.48
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 25
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 1
26. Kevin Liptak
CNN White House reporter
Twitter: @Kevinliptakcnn
Twitter Followers: 44.3K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 258
- Average engagement: 24719 shares
- Average word count of an article: 809.6434
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 14934.79
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 5
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 88
27. Devan Cole
Writing about politics for @CNN | @GWtweets & @SMPAGWU alum | West Michigan ➡️ Washington, D.C.
Twitter: @devancole1
Twitter Followers: 1801
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 236
- Average engagement: 24241.72 shares
- Average word count of an article: 380.05
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 17289.7
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 32
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 5
28. Dan Merica
National Political Reporter for @CNN . @BentleyU & @AmericanU grad. Nats fan.
Twitter: @merica
Twitter Followers: 85.2K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 161
- Average engagement: 23234.93 shares
- Average word count of an article: 836.87
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 12502.47
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 11
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 54
29. Leah Asmelash
sad minnesota sports fan and culture/news/trends writer @CNN. she/her, child of God and immigrants
Twitter: @asmeleah
Twitter Followers: 833
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 334
- Average engagement: 23196.33 shares
- Average word count of an article: 394.9222
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 14335.28
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 36
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 8
30. Lisa Respers France
Senior writer for CNN’s Entertainment team. Passionate about too many things. Only Judy can judge me.
Twitter: @LisaFranceCNN
Twitter Followers: 17.4K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 685
- Average engagement: 22416.0 shares
- Average word count of an article: 275.41
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 18551.43
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 1
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 23
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 10
31. Manu Raju
Chief Congressional Correspondent, @CNN . Roaming the Capitol halls, covering the Hill and politics. Die-hard Chicago sports fan. Wisconsin Badger for life.
Twitter: @mkraju
Twitter Followers: 583.9K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 20
- Average engagement: 126654.2 shares
- Average word count of an article: 699.9
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 97079.4
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 20
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 4
32. David Williams
Social Discovery @CNN . I get to see the world through social media. RTs not endorsements.
Twitter: @da12vid
Twitter Followers: 4491
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 222
- Average engagement: 22277.53 shares
- Average word count of an article: 447.42
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 13173.32
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 14
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 4
33. Madeline Holcombe
Associate writer for CNN Digital, Emory University alum, literature nerd, and bunhead.
Twitter: @mnholcombe
Twitter Followers: 425
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 344
- Average engagement: 21851.22 shares
- Average word count of an article: 650.52
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 13751.96
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 32
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 62
34. Scottie Andrew
writer, culture & trends @cnn // she/her
Twitter: @scottieandrew
Twitter Followers: 729
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 317
- Average engagement: 21820.32 shares
- Average word count of an article: 514.02
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 14567.9
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 1
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 26
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 44
35. Maeve Reston
CNN National Political Reporter covering the 2020 presidential | Wilderness First Responder
Twitter: @MaeveReston
Twitter Followers: 31.5K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 132
- Average engagement: 29080.44 shares
- Average word count of an article: 828.55
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 16503.44
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 16
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 63
36. Harry Enten
Son of a man who was far from perfect, but I loved him anyway.
Twitter: @ForecasterEnten
Twitter Followers: 204.4K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 278
- Average engagement: 19120.99 shares
- Average word count of an article: 542.98
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 13873.05
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 32
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 4
37. Stephen Collinson
Senior Reporter CNN Politics.
Twitter: @StCollinson
Twitter Followers: 10K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 327
- Average engagement: 17281.46 shares
- Average word count of an article: 791.64
- Best social platform by engagement: Twitter
- Average share count on Twitter: 8978.46
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 128
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 144
38. Chris Isidore
Sr Writer CNN Business, covering autos, airlines, bankruptcies & anything else that comes my way. AKA Hairy Prophet of Doom. “
Twitter: @chrisidore
Twitter Followers: 3,371
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 233
- Average engagement: 15926.9 shares
- Average word count of an article: 109.1845
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 11134.54
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 9
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 3
39. Lauren Johnson
Some call me Pineapple. Writer @CNN. All news, all sports, all the time.
Twitter: @ljdigital
Twitter Followers: 466
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 296
- Average engagement: 15857.1 shares
- Average word count of an article: 354.85
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 20891.23
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 23
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 3
40. Jordan Valinsky
writer for @cnnbusiness covering
Twitter: @jordan327
Twitter Followers: 4,182
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 283
- Average engagement: 15827.48 shares
- Average word count of an article: 103.25
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 15933.25
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 1
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 15
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 3
41. Ashley Strickland
CNN Space & Science. Writer, photographer, Janeite, keen viewer of historical dramas, fitness enthusiast, music lover.
Twitter: @CNNAshley
Twitter Followers: 17.1K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 407
- Average engagement: 14294.88 shares
- Average word count of an article: 2261.25
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 9995.69
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 19
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 258
42. Kristen Holmes
@CNN National Correspondent, host of CNN’s “Election 101”. Former elementary school teacher, Oklahoma native, ranch dressing enthusiast.
Twitter: @KristenhCNN
Twitter Followers: 15.8K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 67
- Average engagement: 57233.21 shares
- Average word count of an article: 638.50
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 30762
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 0
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 12
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 18
43. Jeff Zeleny
Chief National Affairs Correspondent, @CNN . Covering the White House, Washington and the state of politics in America.
Twitter: @jeffzeleny
Twitter Followers: 310K
Engagement Statistics:
- Total number of articles written: 42
- Average engagement: 79982.83 shares
- Average word count of an article: 580.83
- Best social platform by engagement: Facebook
- Average share count on Facebook: 56184.79
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares: 2
- Number of articles that gained over 50k shares: 8
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000: 9
Methodology:
Tools used: Social Animal
Social Animal’s article search feature was used to perform an exact search for the domain cnn.com.
The insights tab provided the list of Top 50 authors for cnn.com and also great data points like average engagement, best network to post, best day to post, title length to target, etc.
The accumulated number of articles was more than 83K. The articles were listed out based on their authors.
Articles containing more than one author were eliminated from the final list.
After the final list was sorted, the average of total engagements, word count, share counts of Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, and Reddit was calculated.
A few other data points listed below were calculated.
- Total number of articles written
- Average engagement
- Average word count of an article
- Best social platform by engagement
- Average share count on Facebook
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares
- Number of articles that gained over 1 million shares
- Number of articles more than word count of 1000
Conclusion:
A huge shoutout to all the CNN Journalists who have gained so much engagement for their articles.
Here are a few pointers observed in the process of creating this article.
- Most authors have higher engagement on Twitter compared to Facebook
- The Twitter following of the author is immaterial to their article’s social media reach
- The articles with higher engagement counts on Facebook and Twitter did not perform well on Pinterest.
- The articles with more than 10,000 Twitter engagements have an average word count of 500.
- The articles with good engagement rates on Facebook also have good engagement in reading it as well.
Do you find anything else interesting in this article? If you believe we have missed someone on the list, feel free to mention in the comments.
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While our picks are fantastic sources for information and news, not all information out there is credible and trustworthy.
But it is important to recognize the journalists who grind day in and day out to keep us informed. We see you and thank you!
