Campbell Brown
"It can be tough when you've got two under two."
by Amy Reiter
July 2, 2009
Has your take on the news changed?
I think we've adjusted some of our coverage based on me taking a little break from the program, being on maternity leave and having a chance to watch as a viewer, which you don't always get to do, because you're so in it. I found as I was watching that I wanted more news, more information, more analysis about events and less opinion. I wanted our hour to deliver that. We pack in as much actual news as we can, rather than just giving one perspective.
Maybe everyone should take a maternity leave from time to time, come back with a new perspective. Has motherhood changed your worldview?
Absolutely. You think of everything in terms of your children. The world seems more fragile to me. I worry much more because I'm so protective. You have that mama-bear instinct, so the world seems scarier than it did when I was single, because I have these two people who are totally dependent on me.
Are there stories that you gravitate toward more now that you're a mother and others that you feel less interested in?
My interest has always been hard news, the news that shapes our world. I've never really had an interest in tabloid stories. The stories I cover affect us all and the future we're giving our kids. So it hasn't necessarily meant a change in stories. But my kids do make me more emotional about certain things than I was before. I cry at sappy Hallmark commercials. Someone recently pitched a story about a puppy that got hurt and I was like, "You know, no. If my son saw that on TV, he'd be devastated. I don't want to do that."
Do you miss the career freedom you had before kids, being able to take assignments in far-off lands and dangerous places?
No. I mean, I loved that as a journalist. I feel like I've truly had that experience — from Baghdad to the Middle East to Hurricane Katrina to traveling with former President Bush when I was a White House Correspondent — so I don't feel like I've missed out. But at the same time, when there's a big story, you want to be part of it.
"I think a mother's brain works differently."
I'm so fortunate in being at CNN because the resources here are unparalleled. So no matter what the story, be it the elections in Iran or what's happening on the streets there now, I feel like we can cover these stories even though I'm in the anchor chair and not out there in the field.
Is it difficult to shift focus back and forth from the big issues of the world to the quotidian concerns of childcare?
Not so much. I think a mother's brain works differently. We can be refilling the sippy cup while doing our conference call at the same time. You learn to compartmentalize. You learn to multitask. It's how you survive. You learn little tricks, and sometimes it feels like you're managing perfectly and sometimes it all falls apart. But at the end of the day, you wouldn't give up either. Nothing's more important than your family, and when you have a job like I have, a job that I love that's so rewarding, you do whatever you can to make it all work.
Are there things you've learned as a mother that you use on TV, and vice versa?
You definitely learn patience. Style-wise, I think when I was a younger correspondent, certainly at the White House, I was maybe more aggressive about my approach to stories or to questioning guests, and since I've gotten older, and this may have something to do with motherhood, I'm less interested in the combative aspect of that and much more interested in trying to find common ground where possible. That's in fact become part of our show. We're extending more of our panels and interviews to let people make their case without being cut off and without it becoming a shout-fest and to try to dig a bit deeper than the soundbite of the day. It's not always black and white. It's not right and left. There's a lot of gray and a lot of diversity of opinion. And I want to hear that.
You and your husband are from very different backgrounds. How does that come into play as you raise your kids?
I think different perspectives enrich the experience as a family. But you have to be a team. It's the only way you can make it work.
©2009 Amy Reiter and Babble
About the Author
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Amy Reiter has written for Glamour, Marie Claire, The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, Time Out New York Kids and Wine Spectator, among other publications, as well as the anthology "Maybe
Baby." A former editor at Salon, she lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children. |
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