Mark Preston (born July 21, 1971) is Vice President of Political & Special Events Programming at

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 ...

, and a CNN Senior Political Analyst. His role is to oversee CNN’s election night coverage across its broadcasting and online platforms, organize CNN’s presidential debates and forums, and serve as CNN's main contact with political campaigns at both the state and national level, and to lead the conception and execution of CNN's political events. Preston also provides political analysis for CNN,

CNN International CNN International (CNNI, simply branded on-air as CNN) is an international television channel that is owned by CNN Global. CNN International carries news-related programming worldwide; it cooperates with sister network CNN's national and inter ...

and CNN.com, regularly appearing on CNN's major news analysis shows such as '' New Day'', ''

Erin Burnett OutFront ''Erin Burnett OutFront'' is an hour-long television news program hosted by Erin Burnett on CNN. The show premiered on October 3, 2011 in the 7:00pm time slot to replace '' John King, USA''. Until the launch of ''CNN Tonight'' in 2014, ''OutFron ...

'', ''

Anderson Cooper 360° ''Anderson Cooper 360°'' (commonly shortened to either ''AC-360'' or ''360'') is an American television news show on CNN and CNN International, hosted by CNN journalist and news anchor Anderson Cooper. Since May 20, 2019, ''360°'' has been br ...

'', '' Cuomo Prime Time'' and '' CNN Tonight with Don Lemon'', and was promoted to Senior Political Analyst in January 2017. He was formerly CNN's Political Director, a post subsequently taken by

David Chalian David Marc Chalian (born July 20, 1973) is an American journalist and political analyst who serves as political director for the American cable news channel CNN.Arlington High School, a public secondary school in the town of Arlington,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, from which he graduated in 1990, followed by the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

, known as ''UMass Amherst'', where he studied Journalism and History. While there, he worked on the Massachusetts ''

Daily Collegian The ''Daily Collegian'' is a student-produced news outlet, with a newspaper and website, that is published independently at the Pennsylvania State University. The newspaper is printed twice a week during the fall and spring semesters, and once ...

'', and freelanced 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 ...

. After a month, he was hired to work for the office of Senator

Edward Kennedy Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...

. Preston graduated from ''UMass Amherst'' in 1994, with two

B. A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degrees, in Journalism and History.

Life and career

Preston started his career as a print journalist. He was a correspondent at ''States News Services'', a wire service in Washington D.C. and at the ''

Marietta Daily Journal The ''Marietta Daily Journal'' (MDJ) is a daily newspaper published in Marietta, Georgia. It has a daily paid circulation of approximately 17,000 copies, and covers local, national and international news. It is the primary local newspaper of C ...

'' in

Marietta Marietta may refer to: Places in the United States *Marietta, Jacksonville, Florida *Marietta, Georgia, the largest US city named Marietta *Marietta, Illinois *Marietta, Indiana *Marietta, Kansas *Marietta, Minnesota *Marietta, Mississippi *Mar ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, during which he won several Georgia Press Association and Georgia Associated Press reporting awards. Preston was a senior staff writer for the

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill, in addition to being a metonym for the United States Congress, is the largest historic residential neighborhood in Washington, D.C., stretching easterly in front of the United States Capitol along wide avenues. It is one of the ...

newspaper ''

Roll Call ''Roll Call'' is a newspaper and website published in Washington, D.C., United States, when the United States Congress is in session, reporting news of legislative and political maneuverings on Capitol Hill, as well as political coverage of c ...

'', during which he was a congressional correspondent revealing important policy and political decisions made behind closed doors. He appeared on many media outlets as a guest analyst, including CNN,

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...

, ABC Radio,

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

and Radio America, as well as local media outlets. Early in his career, Preston saw the collapse of the newspaper industry and the rise of 24-hour news. He decided to leave print journalism to join CNN.

Career at CNN

Preston joined CNN in 2005 as political editor. He played a key role in the network’s election night coverage in 2006, which won an ''

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

'', and of CNN’s 2008 campaign coverage, which won a ''

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...

''. In 2011, he became CNN’s Political Director. The network received another ''Emmy Award'' for its coverage in 2012. Preston's work contributed to CNN receiving

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

’s i-3 Mirror Award for the

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

presidential debates and an ''

EPpy Award The EPPY Awards are a premier accolade for media-affiliated websites, presented by ''Editor & Publisher'' magazine. Designed in 1996 to honor newspaper companies that did an "outstanding job in creating online services," the awards were originally ...

'' for Best News/Politics Blog. In 2014, he became Executive Editor of ''CNN Politics'' while retaining his work as an on-screen political analyst, appearing on a wide variety of CNN programs. In January 2017, he was promoted to CNN Senior Political Analyst.

SiriusXM Satellite Radio

Preston co-hosted with Chris Frates the weekly satellite radio program ''Politics Inside Out'', on

Sirius XM Satellite Radio Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting company headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. It was formed by the 2008 merger of Sirius ...

's Channel 124, known as P.O.T.U.S. In July 2017, he left the program, which was retitled ''Politics Inside Out with Chris Frates'', while Preston began single-hosting a new political program, ''Full Stop with Mark Preston''.

Personal life

Preston married Meredith Ray Bonner on July 8, 2000, while a reporter at the

newspaper ''

'', at the Holy Spirit Catholic Church in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, the U.S. state in which they first met as reporters at the ''

'', in the city of

. The couple spent their honeymoon in

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

References

External links