CNN contact email: how to send a news tip and get on CNN

By Zach Schleien

CNN's news tip email is tips@cnn.com, but CNN says it isn't for press releases. Here are the routes CNN lists, how to find the right producer, and how to pitch them.

CNN's public contact email for news tips is tips@cnn.com, and CNN's tips page says regular email isn't secure, so for sensitive tips it also offers an encrypted ProtonMail address and a mailing address. If you want to get on CNN as a founder or expert, skip the tips inbox and pitch the producer or reporter who covers your topic, because CNN says those tip channels aren't for press releases.

Below is every route CNN lists on its own pages, what each is for, and how to pitch the right person. I've earned 200+ media placements in 25+ countries, including 18 TV appearances, and I've never hired a PR agency. This is what I'd do if I wanted a story on CNN today.

Rather not pitch CNN yourself? I can pitch them for you. Book a press call.

Key takeaways

• News tips: email tips@cnn.com. CNN calls regular email convenient but not secure.
• Sensitive tips: use cnn.tips@protonmail.com, which supports encrypted email. CNN posts its public key on the tips page.
• Mail: Tips, c/o CNN Investigates, 30 Hudson Yards, Fl 21, New York, NY 10001.
• Feedback about something you saw on CNN goes to CNN's feedback form, not the tips inbox.
• To be a guest or get your business covered, pitch the producer or reporter on the show or section that fits you. CNN's tips page doesn't list a guest booking email.

What CNN covers, and where a founder fits

CNN is a national and global network, not a local station. Its About page says CNN International is distributed in over 200 countries and territories, and that CNN reaches more than 120 million people online every month. So your story has to matter to people who live nowhere near you.

There are two sides to pitch: the TV shows and CNN.com.

On TV, CNN's show list includes CNN This Morning, CNN News Central, CNN Newsroom, The Lead with Jake Tapper, The Situation Room, Erin Burnett OutFront, Anderson Cooper 360, The Source with Kaitlan Collins and CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip. Its transcripts page also lists interview and debate shows like State of the Union, Inside Politics and Smerconish. Your best shot as a founder is to be the person who can explain one part of a story that's already on the air.

On CNN.com, the sections are where most founders and experts fit:

• Business, with Tech, Media, Markets and Investing.
• Health, with Life, But Better, Fitness, Food, Sleep, Mindfulness and Relationships.
• Travel, Style, Science and Climate.
• CNN Underscored, CNN's shopping guide. Its about page says its editors work independently from the CNN newsroom, so a product pitch belongs with them, not in the tips inbox.

CNN also has podcasts, including Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, The Assignment with Audie Cornish, Terms of Service with Clare Duffy and All There Is with Anderson Cooper. Listen to a few episodes before you pitch one.

Some CNN.com reporters also explain their stories on TV, and their profile pages list both. So a reporter is worth pitching even if your goal is TV.

Every CNN contact route, and what each one is for

These are the routes on CNN's tips page and its feedback link, as of November 2026:

1. tips@cnn.com. This is CNN's news tip email. Don't use it if you need to stay anonymous.
2. cnn.tips@protonmail.com. For sensitive tips, CNN offers this ProtonMail address plus a public key for encrypted (PGP) email. CNN points out that even encrypted email doesn't hide the sender, the recipient, the time or the subject line.
3. Postal mail. Send it to Tips, c/o CNN Investigates, 30 Hudson Yards, Fl 21, New York, NY 10001. CNN calls first-class mail "still among the safest ways to communicate securely." If you want a reply, put your contact details inside the letter.
4. The feedback form. CNN's tips page sends feedback about something you saw on CNN or CNN.com to a separate form. That link opens the CNN Help Center, which handles the app, sign-in and subscriptions, not pitches.

Two lines on CNN's tips page matter most if you're a founder:

• "These channels are not for press releases."
• "Tips should be newsworthy, meaning they concern systemic problems of timely and broad public interest."

CNN also says it can't respond to or investigate every tip. Tip letters go to CNN Investigates. So if your news is a product launch or a funding round, the tips inbox is the wrong door. If you have proof of a real problem that affects a lot of people, it's the right one.

What I'd skip: CNN "booking emails" and phone numbers posted on random sites. Check anything like that against CNN's own pages first.

How to find the right CNN producer or reporter

At an outlet as big as CNN, "CNN" isn't a person. You're pitching a person and their beat, never the outlet.

Here's how to find them:

• Bylines and profiles. CNN.com stories show who wrote them. CNN's profiles page lists hundreds of its journalists, and each profile shows the person's title, what they cover and their latest stories.
• Transcripts. CNN posts transcripts of its shows on its transcripts page, sorted by show and by day. Read a week of the show you want, and you'll see the topics it covers and the kinds of guests it books.
• LinkedIn. Search for the show's name plus "producer." For guest spots, the producers who book the show are the people to find.
• The show itself. Watch it for a few days and note every segment that looks like yours.

List everyone whose recent work looks like your story. At a single outlet, there can be up to about 20 people who fit. If your story is big, offer it to the best-fit person first as an exclusive, then go wide after it runs. One of Filteroff's biggest press hits was an exclusive I gave to Business Insider.

People move around a lot in TV news. Check that each person is still at CNN before you send anything.

What CNN producers and reporters look for

Here are the four things I'd make sure a CNN pitch has:

1. A national reason. CNN's audience is spread across the country and the world. Your story needs to matter to someone who has never heard of your company.
2. A reason to run it now. Tie your story to something already in the news, a date, a new rule or a number that just came out.
3. Proof. CNN's tips page says the strongest tips can be backed up with documents or evidence. A pitch works the same way: data you own, a document, or a customer who'll talk on camera.
4. An easy yes. Be free on short notice, have a tested video setup at home, and make your point in about 30 seconds.

You don't need to be big. The Washington Post featured my mental health community, 18percent, on July 2, 2018, when it had about 150 members. Journalists cover stories, not company size.

One placement can also lead to the next. After my dad's New York Times op-ed ran on April 9, 2020, I rode three news cycle waves with his story. The first was his COVID survival story, which went to Fox News, Good Morning America, CNN's Don Lemon, CBS and WABC. The second was children's health in May, and the third was the school reopening debate in September. I covered how to reach Good Morning America in Good Morning America contact email: how to reach GMA and get on the show.

Example angles for CNN

These are made-up examples to show the shape, not real pitches:

• The expert on today's story. When COVID hit, I pitched one angle to essentially every journalist covering the pandemic, not just dating and tech reporters: singles stuck at home were video dating on Filteroff. A made-up example for CNN: a company announces a big data breach, and a founder who runs a small security firm explains the two things readers should do tonight.
• The money angle. One real pitch from my archive: when gas prices spiked, the angle became that high gas prices mean fewer first dates. A made-up example for CNN Business: a moving company founder shows how mortgage rates changed what families are booking this fall.
• The useful health or life story. A made-up example for CNN Health: a sleep coach explains what to change the week the clocks go back.
• A weird true story. At Filteroff, we built an AI system that spotted scammers and bots and quietly moved them into a separate fake dating pool full of other scammers and bots. TechCrunch and Gizmodo both covered it. Strange true stories travel.

How to write the pitch

Keep it under 150 words. Your subject line should say what the story is, why it matters now, and that you're available.

Here's a made-up example you can copy:

Subject: Founder on what [today's news] means for small businesses, free to talk today

Hi [first name],

I saw your story on [their recent story]. [One sentence on the news hook and why it matters to people across the country right now.] I run [company], and I can explain [the one specific thing] in plain words, with [your proof: your data, a document or a customer who'll talk].

I can join by video any time today or tomorrow.

Would you like to interview me?

[Your name, phone number and one line on past press]

End with a plain question that's easy to say yes to. One sentence that got me booked on live TV was "Would you like to interview the founder?" I broke down each part of a pitch in How to write a PR pitch that actually gets a reply, and there are six more pitches you can copy in Media pitch examples: 6 pitches you can copy and why they work.

For my own campaigns, I write one master pitch in 1 to 2 hours, change only the journalist's name and publication, and send it to the 200 to 1,000 journalists who cover that beat. Your CNN list will be shorter, so add a line about each person's recent work.

Do-it-yourself checklist

• Pick the one show, section or podcast that fits you best, and read a week of its transcripts or a month of its stories.
• Write your angle in one sentence: who you are, what's new, and why people across the country should care this week.
• List every CNN producer and reporter who covers your kind of story, up to about 20.
• Check that each one is still at CNN.
• Write one short pitch and change the opening line for each person.
• If you have a real tip with evidence, send it to tips@cnn.com, or to the ProtonMail address if it's sensitive.
• Have a headshot, a one-line bio and a tested video setup ready.
• Follow up once, a few days later, with something new to add.

Mistakes that get CNN pitches ignored

• Sending a press release to the tips inbox. CNN says those channels aren't for press releases. In my Top Romp days, I sent roughly 20 to 40 generic press releases to company contact pages, spent hours on each one, and got zero replies. What changed it was watching my friend Michael pitch press, asking him a ton of questions, and then doing it myself.
• Pitching "CNN" instead of a person. A general inbox can't book you. A producer can.
• No national reason. A story that only matters in your town is a better fit for local TV first.
• A pitch that reads like an ad. Producers want news, an explanation or a story. Your company is the reason you're the right person to tell it.
• Not being ready. If a producer asks about tonight and you can't do it, they'll find someone who can.
• Pitching once and quitting. To get my dad's op-ed into the New York Times, I sent roughly 70 pitches to every Times writer covering that beat. One of them forwarded it to the op-ed editor.