Jennifer Christensen :::
Jennifer Christensen
Graduated in 1990
Inducted in 2009
Jen Christensen earned the two highest awards in broadcasting -- the Peabody and the DuPont -- as an investigative news producer and documentary filmmaker. A 1990 LT graduate, she attended Butler University and London School of Economics, earning degrees in political science and broadcast journalism. In London she worked as a policy analyst/speech writer for NATO’s Atlantic Committee. At 19, she signed her first book contract to become co-author of Women Public Speakers in the United States. Her groundbreaking career in journalism began while still in school. WXIN-TV (Indianapolis) hired her to run its assignment desk and to field produce, making her the youngest manager in station history. While there, she earned four Emmy- nominations and the City of Indianapolis award for tutoring Vietnam Vets. In 1997, WTVQ (Lexington, KY) hired her to produce its main newscast. She launched the station’s investigative unit and earned another Emmy nomination. She founded a National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Association (NLGJA) chapter in Kentucky and served on the Board of Fairness, which expanded the city’s non-discrimination law to include sexual orientation/gender identity. She was elected to NLGJA’s national board, began its national mentoring program and later became the organization’s vice president. In 2000, WSOC (Charlotte, NC) hired her to manage its investigative unit, and in 2002, CNN Newsource hired her as an archivist. She co-authored a second book, Women Confronting Retirement. In 2004, CNN hired her to help launch its investigative unit, which covered domestic terrorism, corporate corruption, and Hurricane Katrina. In 2006, she became a producer in CNN’s medical unit and then CNN Presents hired her to produce documentaries. She produced the award-winning Martin Luther King Jr.: Words that Changed a Nation; Eyewitness to Murder; Generation Islam; and Sarah Palin Revealed, for which she won a Gracie. She interviewed President Obama for her Barack Obama Revealed and President Carter for her God’s Warriors, which is the most-watched and most-honored documentary in CNN history.