An Interview: Clare Duffy, CNN Business
This week I sat down with Clare Duffy, tech writer for CNN Business and host of the CNN podcast “Terms of Service with Clare Duffy.”
Did you always want to be a journalist?
Yes. I was one of those weird people who has known what I wanted to do since high school. Growing up, we always watched 60 Minutes on Sunday nights as a family. I grew up in a small town, so having access to the world and different types of people and perspectives from around the world was fascinating to me.
What was the turning point or experience that made you take the path of journalism?
There were a number of things that occurred that proved over and over again that this is what I loved doing and wanted to do. In high school, I got involved with the student newspaper and was hooked. In college, I also joined the school newspaper and I joke that I majored in The Beacon (University of Portland college paper) because I spent more time on that than anything else in college.
My first internship in college was at The Bulletin in Bend, Oregon. It was a small paper, and that was great because I had so many amazing opportunities and they let me run with it. There were some really big news stories in the area that summer and I got to knock on doors and go out to find sources. I had stories land on the front page. All of that might not have happened at a bigger outlet and it really reinforced that media was the right path for me.
You've been a journalist for a decade, working at Portland Business Journal and for the past six years, CNN. What are some of the stories you're most proud of and why?
I spent two-plus years covering Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, and what happened as he transformed it into X. It was such a marathon of a story—so many different pieces, from what employees thought about the purchase, to what it meant for them and the platform, to back-and-forth on lawsuits and the cultural impact of the takeover. This has been one of the biggest stories I’ve covered at CNN.
Another story I’m proud of is from a few years ago about a round of major layoffs at Google. I talked to current and former employees about what it said about the “cultural transformation” within Google. Google has long been a leader in setting corporate culture, so it was a fascinating story and important to hear from employees on the ground talking about how the experience of working in Silicon Valley was changing.
As a tech reporter for CNN, you cover social media, artificial intelligence, and the strategies of Big Tech companies — as well as how technology affects our daily lives. Can you give us some examples of the stories you're writing?
I think about my beat as “tech that impacts consumers,” and that means a lot of different things as tech touches our lives in so many ways.
Some stories I’m writing include how AI is going to impact the job market. Of course, there are opportunities going forward in terms of making people more efficient—but AI is also poised to take jobs away from human workers.
I’m also focused on competition and state of play in the AI market—how the biggest players in tech and the startup world are grappling for leadership positions, the fight for talent, acquisition strategies, etc.
Also interesting to me is the cultural impact of AI and how it’s affecting relationships with people in our lives. For example, how people are using AI to level up their dating game is fascinating to me. Will it help make us more connected? Will we be better engaged, or will it pull us further apart? That is a big question for me right now.
You also host the CNN podcast, “Terms of Service with Clare Duffy.” Can you give us some examples of the podcast guests you’re booking?
The goal of the show is to be “news you can use” about tech showing up in everyday life right now. For CNN.com, I write a lot about what’s coming in the future and what new innovations could mean 5-10 years down the road, but for the podcast, I want to connect the dots for our audience about how tech is changing lives right now.
Podcast guests run the gamut. With CEOs and executives, we focus on how companies are changing tech that we use every day. For example, we did an episode with Roblox’s CEO about how they’re managing online and video game safety for young people. We’ve also interviewed academics, researchers, and journalists who are covering different areas of the tech world.
My favorite episodes are a combination of talking with academics or executives who are working on a certain type of tech or product—but also with an everyday person who can talk about their experience using it. I did an episode where I spoke with a psychologist and a young woman on the topic of AI “grief bots.” The young woman used ChatGPT to recreate her dad with AI and shared her experience, which ended up being somewhat negative. I love hearing from people who are actually incorporating these new tools into their lives.
How do you decide which stories get an online write-up versus who you bring on as a podcast guest?
At CNN, we’re trying to do a bit of both and we’re trying to leverage the folks we speak to for digital stories to go on the podcast.
For the podcast, we want to dive deeper into whatever we’re talking about, so there needs to be enough substance when it comes to a trend or app, and we need to have a good sense of what it means for people’s lives. Sometimes it can take a minute to figure out what the implications of new technologies really are — for better or worse — and how people can adapt to them. Also for the podcast, we’re less concerned about breaking news versus having concrete, “news you can use” takeaways.
For CNN.com, we’re more focused on breaking news generally, although we also do feature stories and often there is overlap, where the feature might make sense for the podcast.
What upcoming episode of “Terms of Service” are you most looking forward to, and why?
I spoke to the CEO of The Recording Academy, Harvey Mason Jr., about what AI will mean for musicians and their careers — and also for those of us who enjoy listening to music. There have been concerns from artists about how AI systems may be trained on their work without compensation or credit, and then how the technology could replace them in the future, so I was eager to hear from Harvey about where he saw this going. He was much more optimistic than I expected—he said in some ways, this is a tool that musicians have to experiment with and learn how to use. He believes there should be IP protection for artists, but was more optimistic than I expected. I’m excited for folks to hear that one.
How, in your opinion, has the role of journalism changed over the past few years?
To me, I don’t know that the role of journalism has changed, when we think about the big picture mission, which is about giving readers accurate information to help them make life decisions and understand the world around them, following the facts, holding power to account. I don’t think the core of what we do has changed, but I do think we continue to try to include a diverse range of voices and perspectives in our work, and reach audiences where they are.
I love working at CNN because we serve such a broad audience. And when we think about the business and tech worlds, there are forces that have huge implications for people’s lives. And we get to help people understand those implications in a way that is accessible and transparent. We’re reporting the facts and giving information that will inform their lives and decision-making. That is what motivates me.
What are some trends in journalism you're seeing and which are here to stay?
Everything is changing so quickly. One of the things that is interesting to watch as a tech reporter is the way people are increasingly getting news from social media. It’s been true for years, but short-form video is changing the game again. There are lots of creators who are just trying to generate engagement, journalists who are trying to share news and information — and there are some reporters who have really cracked the code on how to do both.
On the flip side, there is a need for journalists to correct false or misinformed content that so often spreads on social media. It’s something I am definitely still trying to sort out. How do I show up on social? Which platforms should I engage on? And how does my work get seen there?
Another thing I’m noticing is journalists as brands, which is also funny because the industry has been talking about this for a long time. But, in this moment, there are so many questions about how we know what to believe online. People form relationships with people, so I’m always impressed with the reporters who are good at showing up online in an authentic way and building a relationship with the audience, so that the audience trusts them and the work they’re doing.
Who are some journalists / people that are doing this well?
My colleagues Kaitlan Collins and Sara Sidner at CNN do it well. Kaitlan has really figured out a great formula for short-form video to highlight the work she’s doing covering the White House. And I respect Sara so much because she shows up on social media in such an authentic way, people get to see her lovely personality. She’s also been so open about sharing her breast cancer journey, in a way that absolutely is going to help people. Journalists need to invest in engaging with their audience because people trust people and want to know who’s putting out the news and information.
As a journalist, do you consider yourself a content creator?
I think yes. We are creating content, although a very specific type of content. We are creating videos, podcasts, and written stories. But I don’t think every content creator is a journalist—it doesn’t go both ways.
A journalist is someone who cares about the importance of getting the facts right, and also fairness. This is very important to us at CNN. We always want to approach all parties in a story and get their side of the story, their perspective. This is something that is important to journalists, which may not necessarily be important to a creator making an engaging video about a news event. Accuracy, fairness, and transparency in gathering information in a thoughtful and responsible way is important.
What do the best PR pitches you get include?
Pitches that are tailored to the kind of work I do. It’s helpful if someone has a sense of the stories I’m writing and their pitch is reflective of the big theme(s) or news I have covered in the past.
It’s also good to offer executive interviews or data or research that can further the coverage on a topic I’ve done. And even better if what they’re offering is exclusive — we’re really focused on giving audiences something they can’t read elsewhere.
Also, keep your pitches short and sweet. I like to hop on the phone and talk through ideas. For example, “I have this executive who I can get you on the phone with about this topic…” or “We just put out a report on this topic in case you’re doing any follow-up stories…”
I’m looking at what will push the topic or storyline further—I’m not going to do the same story over, so it needs to be something to push it forward.
What's the best way to pitch you a story?
Email is best. I try to keep up with LinkedIn DMs, but that gets busy. I’m happy to hop on the phone after receiving an email. I prefer email and phone over text. Despite my best efforts, people still pitch me on my personal email and I block those right away—please pitch me on my CNN email, clare.duffy@cnn.com.
I use Signal, but that’s more for sources than PR folks.
If you’re a PR person pitching a news announcement from a company, email is best. I’m always happy to work with PR folks as we’re talking about big trends, like how companies are incorporating AI agents or working to stay ahead of competitors.