Longtime CNN Correspondent Suzanne Malveaux Leaving Cable News Channel

More changes are afoot at CNN.

The cable news channel is losing one of its longest-tenured on-air journalists, national correspondent Suzanne Malveaux, who told colleagues Friday that she will depart the cable news channel to spend more time with her family, and to pursue new endeavors.

“After 20 years of delivering groundbreaking stories for the audiences of CNN, I’ve made the heartfelt decision to put myself and my family first and to pursue my long-desired professional passions: using storytelling to promote wellness, resiliency and social justice,” Mealveaux wrote in a note Friday morning.

Malveaux, whose partner is White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, says she approached CNN executives last fall about pursuing new opportunities and projects, and a bout with COVID around the holidays crystallized that decision.

“I’m thrilled one of those projects will be a collaboration with a great grandson of Nelson Mandela to tell stories and spotlight communities in conflict poised to find peace. Stay tuned,” she wrote.

Malveaux joined CNN in 2003 as a correspondent after working in a similar role at NBC News. She would go on to anchor a dayside news hour, and the program Around the World, and work for more than a decade as a CNN White House correspondent.

After Jean-Pierre was named press secretary, Malveaux stopped covering politics, the White House, and Capitol Hill to focus on other beats.

“Throughout Suzanne’s 20-year career at CNN, she has brought historic interviews to our audiences, broken news from around the world and mentored countless journalists across multiple bureaus,” a CNN spokesperson said in a statement. “We are excited for her and her next chapter and wish her all the best.”

Read Malveaux’s note to colleagues, below.

To My Colleagues and Friends, 

Happy New Year! 

This new year brings new beginnings for me and my family that I’m excited to share with you. 

As some of you know, during the holiday I faced a second round of Covid 19. There is nothing like being quarantined in your basement to help one gain some momentum from contemplating to actually exploring what lies ahead. So after 20 years of delivering groundbreaking stories for the audiences of CNN, I’ve made the heartfelt decision to put myself and my family first and to pursue my long-desired professional passions: using storytelling to promote wellness, resiliency and social justice. 

I will forever be grateful for the opportunities CNN afforded me. Starting with hiring me in 2003 to cover the White House — a 10-year stint that enabled me to interview five US Presidents, and the highlight of my career to cover Barack Obama’s historic campaign. Then, promoting me as one of its first black women to solo anchor a CNN weekday show– and later as co-anchor of the “Around the World” show– before returning to my storytelling roots. I have felt especially honored to showcase the stories of human resilience from post-Katrina New Orleans to Cairo, Kabul, Washington, and Lviv. I hope my work helped our audiences better understand the world as it changed around us. 

It’s been an amazing journey! 

CNN’s platform enabled me to bring global awareness to those brave people battling ALS, including my mother Myrna Malveaux who fought to keep us whole as a family during her illness. While I’ve thrived on the energy from covering breaking news and politics, the rhythm of my life has shifted to the more personal. I love being a mom, and the time I have with my eight-year-old daughter is priceless. I am so thankful that my mother and daughter had a chance to develop a beautiful relationship before she passed. 

I am grateful that when I approached CNN in the fall of 2022 about focusing on my family and possibly pursuing some new opportunities, they supported me. I’m thrilled one of those projects will be a collaboration with a great grandson of Nelson Mandela to tell stories and spotlight communities in conflict poised to find peace. Stay tuned. 

I will forever cherish the talented, dedicated professionals of CNN who I grew up with over the past two decades, those I mentored, and many who have become dear friends. Especially my show team family in Atlanta! 

With love and gratitude, I wish you all the very best. 

I will see you again soon! 

Suzanne