Seung Min Kim (born August 4, 1985) is an American journalist who is a White House correspondent for the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

and a political analyst for

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 ...

Early life and education

Kim, of

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

heritage, grew up in

Iowa City, Iowa Iowa City, offically the City of Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the time ...

. She states that she had wanted to be a journalist since the age of 12, and in her first year at the

University of Iowa The University of Iowa (UI, U of I, UIowa, or simply Iowa) is a public university, public research university in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1847, it is the oldest and largest university in the state. The University of Iowa is org ...

in 2004, she joined the student newspaper ''

The Daily Iowan ''The Daily Iowan'' is an independent, 6,500-circulation student newspaper serving Iowa City and the University of Iowa community. During the 2020–2021 academic year ''The Daily Iowan'' transitioned from printing daily to producing a print edi ...

''. She graduated from the University of Iowa with a BS in journalism and political science in 2007, before earning an MA in journalism from

American University The American University (AU or American) is a private federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Its main campus spans 90 acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, mostly in the Spring Valley neighborhood of Northwest D.C. AU was charte ...

. She married Jeff Lee in 2016; the couple currently reside in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county is ...

Career

Kim started her career while still a student at the University of Iowa, working as a reporter at a number of newspapers including ''

The Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junctio ...

'', the ''

St Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', previously named the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It has won fourteen Pulitzer Prizes since 1964, and in 2009, won two in a single ...

'' and ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...

''. One of her earliest experiences was covering the Iowa presidential caucus in 2004 as a college freshman. Kim joined ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' as a reporter in Washington DC in 2008, before moving to become a reporter covering the Senate and immigration policy for ''

Politico ''Politico'' (stylized in all caps), known originally as ''The Politico'', is an American, German-owned political journalism newspaper company based in Arlington County, Virginia, that covers politics and policy in the United States and intern ...

'' in 2009. She became a White House correspondent writing about the

Trump administration Donald Trump's tenure as the List of presidents of the United States, 45th president of the United States began with Inauguration of Donald Trump, his inauguration on January 20, 2017, and ended on January 20, 2021. Trump, a Republican Party ...

for ''The Washington Post'' in 2018. During this time, she led coverage on major topics such as the

Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination On July 9, 2018, President of the United States, President Donald Trump nominated Brett Kavanaugh for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States to succeed retiring ...

, and Donald Trump's impeachment trial. In 2022, Kim joined the Associated Press. In early 2021, Kim became the target of online abuse after a photo of her interviewing Senator

Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann Murkowski ( ; born May 22, 1957) is an American attorney and politician serving as the senior United States senator for Alaska, having held that seat since 2002. Murkowski is the second-most senior Republican woman in the Senate, after S ...

(R-Alaska) was circulated on social media. The Washington Post later issued a statement denouncing the "racists and sexist attacks". Kim's experience mirrors other female journalists who face criticism that extends beyond their professional capabilities into their personal lives. This trend has been exacerbated by social media, and media organizations have struggled with how to deal with online abuse which disproportionately targets women. Her experience was cited as an example when

The Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...

(SPJ) issued a message at the end of

Women's History Month Women's History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with ...

in March 2021 calling on newsrooms to stand up for minority journalists who endure harassment and abuse. Kim has appeared on CNN and ''PBS Washington Week'' as a political analyst. She is also a member of the

Asian American Journalists Association The Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit educational and professional organization based in San Francisco, California with more than 1,500 members and 21 chapters across the United States and Asia. The current presi ...

, which honored her in 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Seung Min 1985 births Living people University of Iowa alumni American University alumni People from Iowa City, Iowa Journalists from Iowa 21st-century American journalists American women journalists American writers of Korean descent American political journalists Politico people The Washington Post journalists USA Today journalists CNN people 21st-century American women