Daryn Kagan

Daryn A. Kagan (born January 26, 1963) is an American newscaster, who is host of the United States late-morning news show CNN Today. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, she has been an employee of CNN since 1994.

Education and career

Kagan graduated from Beverly Hills High School. Kagan has claimed on the air that she was the best-behaved teenager in that part of Southern California.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

She received a degree in American studies from Stanford University in 1985. After graduating, she sent out hundreds of demo tapes and ended up in a Santa Barbara television station, KEYT-TV. She got laid off from that job when the station ceased news operations. Kagan next landed in Phoenix at KTVK-TV. Tired of reporting typical local news stories while in Phoenix, she moved into weekend sports reporting in addition to her weekday anchor duties.

Related Topics:
Stanford University - Santa Barbara - Phoenix

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

CNN's then head of sports reporting, Jim Walton, hired her in 1994. She went on to cover other areas besides sports. For a while, she was on a personal finance show and host of People in the News before Paula Zahn took over that responsibility. Rick Kaplan, former head of operations for CNN, promoted Kagan to an anchor position.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kagan has done on location reporting for the Washington sniper story and for the second Gulf War. She accompanied U2's Bono entourage on a trip to Africa to raise awareness of famine in the continent. Kagan also hosted several pre-Oscars shows and coverage of the Monterey Jazz Festival. Critics of Kagan have said her CNN career nadir was when she interviewed Ron Michaelson, the actor who plays Ned the Banker in commercials run by loan company ditech.com.

Related Topics:
Gulf War - Bono - Africa - Famine - Oscars - Ron Michaelson

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~