Jessica Schneider is a television news reporter and attorney. She joined CNN as a Correspondent in April 2016. Jessica is based in Washington, D.C. and works as a Justice Correspondent. She previously worked out of New York City as a general assignment correspondent for CNN. Before joining CNN, Jessica was a reporter and fill-in anchor at WCBS-TV in New York City from December 2011 until March 2016. Prior to reporting for CBS2 News, Jessica worked as a lawyer at two New York City law firms.
Reporter
Journalism has always been Jessica's passion. At the age of 16, Jessica's mother encouraged her to join the television club at her Manchester, Connecticut high school, MHS TVNews. Jessica took her mom up on the challenge and soon began reporting, producing, editing and anchoring for the high school's monthly news shows. Jessica still credits her talented classmates with inspiring her and fueling her love of television journalism: her MHS TVNews co-anchor Will Ripley is now a correspondent for CNN; her non-relative Jeff Schneider was a technical wiz-kid while at Manchester High School and is now a producer for ABC's 20/20, and her then-photographer Matt Molloy is now a vivacious digital anchor at Rochester New York's ABC affiliate.
Here's a clip from MHS TVNews circa 1996!
Early Television Years
Jessica attended Boston University where she graduated with dual degrees in Broadcast Journalism and Political Science in May 2002. She had the pleasure of being chosen as the Commencement Speaker for the College of Communication, and was also honored as the school’s “Most Distinguished Journalism Student.” While at BU, Jessica was Executive Producer and anchor for BUTV's newsmagazine "Inside Boston," and a reporter for the local cable program "Neighborhood Network News" which aired to thousands of Boston's Comcast and RCN customers.
From 2002 to 2005, Schneider worked at Capital News 9, now YNN/Time Warner Cable News and the sister station of NY1, in Albany, New York. She was hired as the Amsterdam, NY Bureau Chief and eventually moved to the Albany newsroom where she worked as a reporter for Capital Tonight, the station’s nightly political show. While at Capital News 9, Schneider was part of the Emmy-award winning team for the half-hour special, “Exterior Designs.”
Jessica was hired as the New Haven reporter for WFSB Channel 3 in Connecticut in March 2005. While at Channel 3 Eyewitness News, Jessica transitioned to morning reporter and Weekend Morning Anchor once she decided to pursue her law degree.
Lawyer
Jessica strongly believes that a solid, resourceful reporter must possess as much knowledge as possible; viewers trust a reporter to give them broad insight, and it's only with a wide breadth of knowledge and education that a reporter can deliver on that expectation.
Armed with an undergraduate degree in Political Science and a hunger for continued education, Jessica decided to enroll in law school in 2006. For four grueling years as an Evening Division law student at the University of Connecticut School of Law, Jessica worked the early morning shift reporting for WFSB during the week and anchoring the news on the weekends, and attended classes at night.
While in law school, Jessica immersed herself in as many internships, extracurricular activities and academic pursuits as her schedule allowed. She served as a Judicial Intern for the Honorable Peter Dorsey in federal district court in New Haven, Connecticut; worked at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. while studying in the nation's capital for the fall semester of 2009; and represented criminal defendants in Connecticut Superior Court as part of the Criminal Clinic at UConn Law.
Jessica was an Articles Editor for the Connecticut Journal of International Law, where she was published in the Spring 2010 edition for her article: "The Right to Miranda Warnings Overseas: Why the U.S. Supreme Court Should Prescribe a Detailed Set of Warnings to American Investigators Abroad." (article here: http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals%2Fconjil25&div=20&id&page) Jessica was also a finalist in the prestigious Alva P. Loiselle Moot Court Competition at UConn Law in 2008, Secretary for the Connecticut Moot Court Board, and a Representative for the Student Bar Association.
Upon graduation, Jessica took and passed the New York and New Jersey bar exams, and was admitted to practice law in both states as well as in the federal courts for the Southern District of New York, Eastern District of New York and District of New Jersey.
Jessica worked as an associate at the New York City law firm Sedgwick LLP until she was recruited by one of the firm's partners to join his newly formed boutique litigation firm, Haworth Coleman and Gerstman, LLC. As a litigation associate, Jessica focused her practice on the defense of product liability, construction and catastrophic injury matters in New York and New Jersey. She routinely appeared in state courts to represent the firm in discovery hearings.
In late 2011, Jessica decided that she needed to return to her true journalism passion and work to incorporate her legal knowledge with her love of storytelling.
Return to Television
In December of 2011, Jessica joined WCBS-TV as a reporter. During her four and a half years at CBS2 News, Jessica traveled the country and tri-state area reporting on breaking news, legal cases, and natural disasters. Jessica was one block from the Boston Marathon finish line in 2013, celebrating her brother's completion of the race, when the bombs went off. She reported from the scene all week, and went back to Boston for the one-year anniversary of the attack. Jessica also traveled to Moore, Oklahoma in May 2013 to cover the aftermath of the EF-5 tornado that touched down, destroying neighborhoods and taking lives. In May 2015, Jessica rushed to Philadelphia to report on the Amtrak train crash just north of the city. She was the first to obtain the name of the engineer at the controls of the Amtrak train, and her reporting led CBS News to break the news before any other network.
Jessica's legal expertise was at the forefront during CBS2's continuing coverage of the Etan Patz murder trial in New York City. Her live tweeting of the courtroom proceedings, where cameras weren't allowed, won her praise from journalists and viewers. Jessica was able to offer valuable insight into the legal wranglings of the prosecution and defense, and walk viewers through the epic 17-day jury deliberation that ended in a mistrial.
Jessica won an Emmy award for her Continuing Coverage of the Return Home New Jersey initiative by Governor Chris Christie in March 2016. For 9 months, and over the course of 6 separate stories, Jessica interviewed anxious parents of disabled adults, questioned and confronted Governor Christie and his appointees, and provided detailed analysis of the program that would have forced hundreds of disabled people into group homes in New Jersey, removing them from the facilities they had lived in for decades. As a result of the media coverage, and a relentless push from the parents, Governor Christie backed down in July 2015, canceling the Return Home New Jersey program. A video clip of Jessica's Emmy-award winning continuing coverage of this story is located in the WATCH tab.
Jessica has also won an Emmy award for her role in CBS 2's coverage of Superstorm Sandy, and was nominated for an Emmy for her Spot News coverage of the flooding in Newark, New Jersey in the spring of 2014.
For Fun
Jessica lives in Manhattan where she takes full advantage of all the city has to offer. She completed her first marathon in the world's greatest city, running the TCS New York City Marathon in ridiculously windy conditions in November 2014. She worked as a mentor for high school students as part of iMentor.org. Jessica loves to travel to far-off places, and enjoys just about any adventure that comes her way.