Will Ripley
Will Ripley
Will Ripley (born May 1981) [undefined] is a CNN correspondent. He is based at CNN's Tokyo bureau. He is responsible for covering major news stories from Japan and across the Asia Pacific region. [undefined]
Early Life & Education
Will Ripley spent his childhood in Connecticut. He attended Manchester High School where he developed an interest in journalism. He particularly became interested in broadcast news, which led him to intern at WTIC-TV in Hartford. In addition, he did freelance on-camera work for The Weather Channel and served as News Director of his high school television station MHS-TV.
After graduating high school, he attended the University of Missouri and eventually earned a Bachelor's degree in Journalism. While there, he was a reporter and photographer for The Columbia Missourian and Vox Magazine in Columbia, Missouri.
Career
NewsChannel 5
In 2004, Will Ripley joined KRGV-TV's NewsChannel 5 in Rio Grande Valley. He was a co-anchor for NewsChannel 5 This Morning. [undefined]
His reports earned him four regional Edward R. Murrow awards. He was the first reporter since 2005 to be honored by the Texas Association of Broadcasters with the Steve Pieringer award for outstanding valor in news coverage. [undefined] [undefined]
During his time as co-anchor, he won a Lone Star Emmy award for best morning newscast.
KUSA-TV
He was an investigative reporter and anchor for KUSA-TV in Denver, Colorado from 2012 to 2014. [undefined]
CNN
Will Ripley reporting on Japan's women in politics
In February 2014, Will Ripley joined CNN.
Ripley was the only television journalist to interview three American detainees in North Korea, making headlines around the world.
He also contributed to breaking news coverage of the Ukrainian crisis, the crash of Malaysia Airlines MH17, the Sinking of MV Sewol (the South Korea ferry tragedy), and the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. [undefined]
Ripley has reported exclusively from Pyongyang after missile launches and nuclear tests. He was the only American journalist in North Korea when U.S. prisoner Otto Warmbier was released just days before his death. Ripley was the first foreign journalist to visit North Korea's satellite control center and was among a handful of reporters granted unprecedented access to leader Kim Jong Un's first Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea. Ripley's exclusive CNN documentary Secret State: Inside North Korea was the top rated cable news program (among adults aged 25-54) when it premiered in the United States. [undefined] [undefined]
Ripley was among the first non-local journalists to interview Yuriko Koike (Tokyo's first female governor) and Renho Murata (first female leader of Japan's Democratic Party). [undefined]
In China, Ripley was one of the first journalists to report live about the 2015 Tianjin explosions. [undefined] [17][18] He also told the story of Jason Wilson (formerly known as JiaJia), who was adopted by an American family and moved to the United States. [undefined]