CNN names David Chalian SVP and D.C. bureau chief

CNN’s longtime Political Director David Chalian has been promoted to senior vice president and Washington, D.C., Bureau Chief, the network announced Nov. 14, 2024.

In his expanded role, Chalian will now oversee the network’s Washington, D.C. bureau as well as CNN’s Washington political news coverage.

Chalian replaces Sam Feist, who left to help lead C-SPAN earlier in 2024.

He will continue to supervise CNN’s daily political reporting across all platforms, the polling and decision desk operations, and the editorial content for special political programming.

Chalian will remain CNN’s political director and continue to appear across the network as an instrumental part of CNN’s on-air political coverage.

The promotion is indicative of a recent trend in television to have single executives manage multiple areas, rather than hiring additional subordinates to handle different responsibilities. With 2024 election ad dollars dried up and the broadcast industry still trying to figure out digital strategies, this type of arrangement could be appealing to owners who see it as a way to reduce headcount and also distribute responsibilities among fewer people, potentially saving on salary and benefit costs, though this was not mentioned as part of the reason for CNN’s move with Chalian. 

Chalian’s new role comes at a pivotal time in Washington, D.C., journalism with the country facing another Donald Trump administration that, so far, appears to be offering up ample fodder for TV news to report on. It’s also likely to become more challenging given Trump’s history with dealing with the press. Trump has previously directly targeted CNN, among other networks, as the source of what he calls “fake news.”

Chalian joined the network in 2013 and was named political director in 2014. A veteran of political journalism, Chalian has led the editorial direction of CNN’s debates and town halls for nearly a decade, including the network’s historic presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in June 2024.

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Before joining CNN, Chalian served as vice president for video programming at Politico where he oversaw all of the video efforts including live special events coverage and all new video program and product development. Prior to that, Chalian served as Washington Bureau Chief for Yahoo! News, political editor and on-air political analyst for “PBS NewsHour,” and ABC News’ political director.

While at PBS, Chalian oversaw the political coverage that won the prestigious Walter Cronkite Award for excellence in television political journalism. He won an Emmy Award as part of the team that produced ABC News’ presidential inauguration coverage in January 2009.