Jade Cunningham: The Reporter Who Built a Career Across Four Newsrooms and Three States
Jade Cunningham has spent more than a decade building a broadcast journalism career the way many local TV reporters do — one market at a time, taking on nearly every role a small newsroom can offer before landing in a major market. Today, as a reporter for 12News in Phoenix, Arizona, she brings with her a reporting résumé shaped by breaking news, natural disasters, and years of daily community storytelling across the country.
Quick Facts
| Name | Jade Cunningham |
| Native of | San Diego, California |
| Education | University of Colorado Boulder (Broadcast News, minor in French) |
| Employer | 12News (KPNX-TV), Phoenix, Arizona |
| Previously | WWL-TV New Orleans, KTAL Shreveport, KGWN Cheyenne |
| Career start | 2011, Cheyenne, Wyoming |
Early Life and Education
Jade Cunningham is a native of San Diego, California. She went on to attend the University of Colorado Boulder, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in broadcast news, with a minor in French — a combination that reflects both her focus on a broadcasting career and a broader interest in language and communication beyond the newsroom.
Starting Out in Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cunningham’s professional broadcasting career began in Cheyenne, Wyoming, at CBS affiliate KGWN, where she took on a remarkably wide range of roles for a young journalist — working as a reporter, weather forecaster, anchor, and producer all at the same station. That kind of multi-role start is common in smaller television markets, where reporters often have to learn every part of the broadcast operation, and it gave Cunningham a broad skill set early in her career.
Her work in Cheyenne earned recognition in 2011, when she received the Wyoming Association of Broadcasters’ first-place award for “Best Breaking News Reporter” — an early honor that reflected her ability to handle fast-moving stories under pressure, a skill that would come to define much of her later career.
Moving to Shreveport
In 2012, Cunningham took on a new reporting and anchoring position at KTAL, the NBC station serving Shreveport, Louisiana. She spent three years there building on the broad journalism foundation she developed in Wyoming, continuing to grow as both a reporter and an on-air anchor before making her next move to a larger media market.
Seven Years in New Orleans
In December 2015, Cunningham joined WWL-TV in New Orleans as a multi-media journalist and general assignment reporter, a role she held for seven years. At WWL, she took on anchor duties for the noon newscast in addition to her afternoon reporting work, becoming a familiar face across multiple parts of the station’s daily lineup.
Her time in New Orleans put her at the center of some of the region’s most significant news events. She covered the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, one of the most destructive storms to hit Louisiana in recent history, reporting on the widespread damage and the long recovery that followed. She also covered the shooting death of former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith, a story that drew national attention, along with major sporting events and the city’s signature Mardi Gras celebrations each year.
Cunningham’s reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic also earned professional recognition: the Press Club of New Orleans recognized one of her medical stories as among the top three in the city that year, underscoring her ability to cover complex health stories with clarity during one of the most challenging periods for local news reporting in recent memory.
Joining 12News in Phoenix
In July 2022, Cunningham moved to Phoenix, Arizona, joining 12News (KPNX-TV) as a reporter and multi-skilled journalist contributing across all of the station’s shows and platforms. The move came within the TEGNA broadcasting company, as both WWL-TV and 12News are TEGNA-owned stations, making the transition a lateral move within the same media company rather than a jump to an entirely new corporate structure.
At 12News, Cunningham’s reporting spans a wide range of subjects, including health and wellness, food and beverage stories, animal care, healthcare policy, and sports business, alongside her continued focus on breaking news, crime, and community events across the greater Phoenix area. She has covered stories ranging from officer-involved shootings in Chandler to unresolved missing-persons and death investigations, as well as lighter community features and civic milestones, such as young people being sworn into public service roles.
She has also periodically filled in on 12News’ morning anchor desk, continuing to build on the anchoring experience she first developed years earlier in Wyoming and Louisiana.
Personal Life
Cunningham has described herself publicly as a “boy mom” and a self-described food lover, alongside her long-running affection for the New Orleans Saints, reflected in her continued use of the fan hashtag “#whodat” even after her move to Arizona. Outside of work, she has said she enjoys trying new recipes and staying active outdoors, with hiking, biking, kayaking, and snowboarding among her regular pursuits — interests that trace back to her early years reporting in the mountain landscapes of Wyoming and Colorado.
FAQ
What station does Jade Cunningham work for?
She’s a reporter for 12News (KPNX-TV) in Phoenix, Arizona, where she has worked since July 2022.
Where did Jade Cunningham work before Phoenix?
She spent seven years at WWL-TV in New Orleans, and before that worked at KTAL in Shreveport, Louisiana, and KGWN in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
What major stories has Jade Cunningham covered?
Her coverage includes the aftermath of Hurricane Ida, the shooting death of former New Orleans Saints player Will Smith, and recognized medical reporting during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Where is Jade Cunningham from?
She’s a native of San Diego, California, and earned her broadcast news degree from the University of Colorado Boulder.
A Career Built Market by Market
Jade Cunningham’s path from a multi-role reporting job in Cheyenne to a major-market position in Phoenix reflects a familiar but demanding trajectory in local television news — one built on steadily proving herself in progressively larger markets, through hurricane coverage, high-profile crime stories, and a pandemic that tested every local newsroom in the country. More than a decade in, she remains a reporter whose range, from health policy to breaking news, continues to expand.
