Alumni Gazette

As a child in Thailand and India, Thomas (Tommy) Evans 鈥99 thought about working for the United Nations when he grew up. But instead of the UN, Evans found his calling at another global organization: CNN, one of the world鈥檚 leading producers and distributors of news media. 鈥淚 always wanted to do something international,鈥 he recalls, 鈥渂ut never really considered journalism.鈥
Evans visited the River 人妻少妇专区 in February, where he met with students, faculty, and administrators, and lectured at the Humanities Center on the global view of the 2016 American presidential election.
With an eye for photography and an interest in politics, Evans double majored in studio art and political science at Rochester, before earning a master鈥檚 degree in international politics at London鈥檚 School for Oriental and African Studies. He was living in New York City and working at CNN as an associate producer when the September 11 attacks took place.
鈥淪uddenly, my master鈥檚 dissertation, which focused on terrorist political theory, became pertinent to what everyone was covering,鈥 he says.
鈥淓veryone鈥 included Evans, who covered the aftermath of the attacks, and would go on to cover other major stories, such as the 鈥7/7鈥 bombings in Central London and Hurricane Katrina, both in 2005. He was developing as a journalist, something he credits to good mentorship.
Among his mentors was CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, whom Evans respectfully dubs one of the 鈥渄rill sergeants in my journalist鈥檚 boot camp.鈥
In 2006, Evans moved to Baghdad to cover the war in Iraq as a field producer. He spent the next five years living in the city鈥攁s opposed to the Green Zone, the center of the city鈥檚 international presence鈥攁nd working with correspondent Michael Ware and dozens of Iraqis. He was regularly embedded with coalition forces. 鈥淵ou have to be willing to take professional risks and leave your comfort zone,鈥 he says. 鈥淚 think my career has benefited greatly from this mentality.鈥
Today Evans is vice president and the London bureau chief at CNN International, which broadcasts news abroad while also supplying international content for CNN鈥檚 domestic outlets. He oversees the award-winning news operations across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.
鈥淢y newsroom is like a little United Nations. There are people from everywhere and they speak something like 40 languages,鈥 he says. 鈥淲e have an amazingly diverse staff and audience.鈥
His team has a wide variety of reporting and storytelling technologies available, too.
鈥淭here are doom-and-gloom people who say social media and digital technology are killing traditional TV news. I鈥檓 an optimist who thinks this is a golden era and an exceptionally creative time in the industry. We have the freedom to tell stories the best way, not necessarily the way it鈥檚 always been done.鈥
He鈥檚 particularly proud of his team鈥檚 coverage of the migrant and refugee crisis in Europe. 鈥淭elling that story wasn鈥檛 just our job鈥攊t was the right thing to do.鈥 His team ended up winning an Emmy Award in recognition of their outstanding reporting.
But the network has had its critics. President Donald Trump, for example, has sometimes singled out CNN when he thinks the network has reported 鈥渧ery fake news.鈥
Evans says that CNN鈥檚 reporters are doing what the media are supposed to do: setting (and keeping) the factual record straight. 鈥淲e鈥檒l continue to take him to task when he says things that aren鈥檛 true.鈥