Jason Bellini (born July 12, 1975)
is an American journalist. Since 2012, he has been a correspondent for ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
''. Bellini was a
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...
correspondent from 1998 to 2005, where he produced stories often using only a hand-held digital camera and laptop computer.
Early life
Bellini and his brother,
Jarrett Bellini
Jarrett Bellini (born October 3, 1978) is an American writer and journalist.
Career
In January 2004, Bellini joined CNN in Atlanta, and in June 2006 began writing and hosting a video podcast called ''The Gryst'' on CNN.Com. On July 26, 2007, afte ...
, were born and raised in
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
. In 1992, Bellini became a
U.S. Senate Page in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
The next year, Bellini graduated from
Chaparral High School in
Scottsdale,
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
where he worked on the school newspaper and became an Eagle Scout. In 1997, Bellini earned a bachelor's degree in history from
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...
.
Professional career
In 1998, Bellini began his career with CNN as a production assistant and contributor to a news program for middle school and high school students. He also served as a field producer for CNN International, covering the
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
airstrikes against
Serbian forces in Kosovo. One of his Kosovo stories achieved Medalist Status in the 1999 New York Festival Awards.
In 2000, Bellini worked for
MTV
MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
where he served as part of that network's "street team" for MTV's Choose or Lose election coverage that followed the presidential candidates on the campaign trail during Election 2000. He was also a freelance writer for Washingtonpost.com and Channel One News. In 2001 Bellini spent months in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
covering the aftermath of the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
as the crisis evolved into an international war on terrorism. He later traveled to Central Asia to report on the story from
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. He also covered the
Kashmir
Kashmir () is the northernmost geographical region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term "Kashmir" denoted only the Kashmir Valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal Range. Today, the term encompas ...
conflict from India. Bellini received a gold medal from the New York Festivals for "Jason's Journal: The Holy Land", a program he produced on the
Israeli–Palestinian conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is one of the world's most enduring conflicts, beginning in the mid-20th century. Various attempts have been made to resolve the conflict as part of the Israeli–Palestinian peace process, alongside other ef ...
. In 2003, Bellini reported as one of CNN's 18 embedded journalists during
Operation Iraqi Freedom
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
. He reported, often from the front lines, from his position with the
U.S. Marines
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary warfare, exped ...
. In February 2003, Bellini was part of the team of CNN correspondents and anchors that covered the breaking news story of the
Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the Columbia Rediviva, first American ship to circumnavigate the upper North American Pacific coast and the ...
tragedy.
In 2005, Bellini became the lead news anchor for ''
CBS News on Logo''. Until August 2008 was the lead news anchor for CBS News on
Logo
A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...
. He received the 2006 "Journalist of the Year" award from the
National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association
NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists, is an American professional association dedicated to unbiased coverage of LGBTQ issues in the media. It is based in Washington, D.C., and the membership consists primarily of journalists, students, edu ...
(NLGJA). In 2008, he was based in Singapore as a correspondent for Bloomberg TV. From 2009 to 2010: Bellini freelanced for ''
The Daily Beast
''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. It was founded in 2008.
It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief from 2018 to 2021. In a 20 ...
'' and ''The Wall Street Journal.'' In 2012, he produced a
CNBC
CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk sho ...
documentary, ''UPS/FedEx: Inside the Package Wars''.
In 2012, Bellini became a senior producer and reporter at ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
.'' From 2013 to 2014, Bellini was a frequent guest on FOX NEWS' ''
On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren
''On the Record'' was an American news television program on Fox News hosted by the lawyer Greta Van Susteren. Prior to the show's cancellation after the 2016 election, the show was hosted by the television journalist and political commentator, ...
''. In 2017, Bellini began hosting and producing a WSJ video series called "Moving Upstream."
Personal life
He is
openly gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
.
Bellini is the older brother of
Jarrett Bellini
Jarrett Bellini (born October 3, 1978) is an American writer and journalist.
Career
In January 2004, Bellini joined CNN in Atlanta, and in June 2006 began writing and hosting a video podcast called ''The Gryst'' on CNN.Com. On July 26, 2007, afte ...
, a writer and journalist. Jason currently lives in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellini, Jason
1975 births
Living people
American broadcast news analysts
American reporters and correspondents
American television journalists
Georgetown College (Georgetown University) alumni
American LGBT journalists
American LGBT broadcasters
American gay writers
American male journalists