Veteran CNN Correspondent Exits Network After Two Decades
The longtime reporter announced her departure earlier this month.
CNN correspondent Stephanie Elam made her last on-air appearance after working at the outlet for more than 20 years.
Elam, 52, shared some parting words on Friday morning’s broadcast of CNN News Central after she had announced her exit earlier this month.
Co-anchor Sara Sidner said that “everyone here is sad to see” Elam go.
“I want to say thank you for being my friend, helping me through cancer, and being a sister, really,” Sidner, 53, said. “You have been a sister to me. CNN may have brought us together, but ain’t nothing gonna tear us apart.”
Elam covered the death of Michael Jackson during her first stint at the broadcast giant.
Ari Perilstein/Ari Perilstein/Getty Images for Girlboss
“You’re not getting rid of me, I love you,” Elam replied. “Tell everyone there, every stage manager, everyone there, I love you guys. It’s been a joy working with you all.”
Elam shared a statement on social media on April 10 announcing that she was leaving the network, but did not reveal any future plans.
“For more than 20 years I’ve been in the CNN orbit developing and delivering news stories on everything from the environment and entertainment to business and breaking news of all kinds,” she wrote, according to Variety.
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“I’m so proud of my CNN career,” she continued. “Live or taped, writing packages or doing a show-and-tell, I’ve done it all—and having a front row seat to document history has been a gift.”
Elam started her career in New York City, but has lived in and reported from Los Angeles in recent years.
Ari Perilstein/Ari PerilsteinGetty Images for Girlboss
A CNN spokesperson told the Daily Beast in a separate statement that Elam “brought clarity, credibility, and heart to every story she touched over her two decades at CNN.”
“Her versatility and natural ability to connect with audiences made her a trusted voice and a valued colleague,” the statement read. “We are grateful for her many contributions and wish her continued success in her next chapter.”
Elam, a broadcast journalism graduate of Howard University, covered a wide variety of topics throughout her two separate stints at CNN.
Elam's last on-air segment centered on the upcoming Michael Jackson biopic as a testament to one of the biggest stories she covered during her career at CNN.
CNN News Central
She started first as a business news correspondent at the network from 2003 to 2011, before working for a few years at KNBC in Los Angeles. She returned to CNN in 2013, covering events including the eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano and the death of the musical icon Prince.
In March, CNN early-morning anchor Rahel Solomon also announced her departure from the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned network, which was acquired in February by the MAGA-friendly nepo-billionaire David Ellison’s company, Paramount Skydance.
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