Fake news, meet the real deal. Jessica Yellin (she / her) is an independent political journalist providing #NewsNotNoise on social media. But before she became a one-woman show, Jessica was a reporter for ABC and MSNBC, and served as CNN’s chief White House correspondent.

We sat down with the 50-year-old to learn how she made waves in mainstream media, why she went solo, and how bad news leads to bad politics.

Did you always want to be a journalist?
I always knew I wanted to be in a profession that improved the world, and I always loved [being] in the know. As a little kid, I’d sit under the dining room table to hear what the adults were talking about after I was supposed to be in bed. Once, I was [watching] Katie Couric do a big interview and was so intrigued by the influence she had. It was a time when she was treated with a lot of respect while other women in the workplace weren’t, so that stuck with me. When I graduated college, I interned in the Clinton White House and noticed how journalists were helping shape what got prioritized. I thought, “If I got to do that, I could really influence policy.”

What was it like working as an intern in that administration?
I was in the West Wing, where all the decisions are made. There was a TV in the corner of every room, and whenever CNN came on, everyone would freeze and watch. I saw how much power that had and thought, “Why aren’t [the reporters] talking about the policy in our welfare reform [bill]? Why aren’t they talking about the crime bills substantively? If I could be in that box, I could help highlight what matters.” I was naïve.

Have you had to overcome obstacles as a woman in the field?
1,000%! I got to be chief White House correspondent and ended up having a real voice, but I had to prove myself longer to get there than my male peers. I dealt with all sorts of comments about my voice being feminine or people saying I was “too petite” to have authority. Then there was the self-imposed pressure of assuming I had to compete on looks, in addition to all the work. I’ve written a novel [called Savage News], and there’s an entire chapter about how, in my era, everybody had to have iron-straight hair, and I have very curly hair, so that was always a thing.

What has it been like witnessing “the news” lose credibility these past few years?
One of the reasons I got out of mainstream news was because I felt these trends before they became evident. I kept thinking throughout my career, “If I get enough power, I can decide what stories I do and shine the spotlight where I think it’s deserving.” But the pressures are so great that I didn’t find the oxygen and space to do that. The media allows for so much noise and clickbait that people innately mistrust some of the content as a result… We’ve gotten to where you have to agree with someone on everything or they’re the enemy, and that just leads to isolation and fragmentation. That’s bad for democracy. So [we need to] teach people how to understand the media, and be more tolerant and patient of others’ points of view.

How do you separate your own biases from the news you’re reporting?
My natural curiosity allows me to have empathy and compassion for other perspectives. On specific issues where I have a strong point of view, I often visualize somebody I value and love who thinks differently, and try to account for them in how I’m telling the story.

Without the backing of a major news outlet, have you had to reassert your credibility?
There’s a part of my audience that trusts me because I’m not affiliated. I was able to establish trust because I talked to my audience about why I do what I do, and there was one moment that really showed me it worked. In February 2020, I did a report on Covid, and this woman messaged me saying, “I’m very disappointed in you. I live in Italy and you need to know what’s happening here.” She said it was a war zone and started sending me updates every night. I started posting videos saying, “Since I started in 2018, I’ve told you I will not falsely panic you. I will not use fear or scare tactics to get your attention. This is not that. This is serious, and we need to react now.” And people did. To this day, they say that caused them to pay attention and change their behavior.

Do you have any advice for younger women looking to move up in their careers?
Tell people what your goals are, and then do what’s asked of you as long as it aligns with your integrity. I told people all along that I wanted to be a White House correspondent, and they said, “That’s cute, but you’re in Orlando, so you’re going to go cover this fire.” I carried out the assignments with the same passion I eventually brought to White House reporting. So it’s not only, “Do what your end goal is.” You have to work your way there.