Global interests lead USC grad to CNN, China
Following her graduation from Yale University in 2021, Upper St. Clair graduate Claire Zalla, 26, has taken a deep dive into the field of global affairs and come up with some remarkable experiences, including working at CNN and studying in China under a prestigious graduate scholarship.
Zalla is a Schwarzman Scholar and an Emmy Award winner, earned from her time working as Fareed Zakaria’s researcher on his CNN news and analysis program, Fareed Zakaria GPS.
A 2017 Upper St. Clair High School graduate, she recently returned to Pittsburgh from China after earning a global affairs master’s degree from Tsinghua University in Beijing as a Schwarzman Scholar.
Zalla left her position as Zakaria’s researcher in 2024 to study in China.
Her work with the team at CNN for coverage of the Israel-Hamas War was later nominated and awarded an Emmy in breaking news coverage in September 2024, after Zalla was already in China for her master’s program.
“During my time at CNN with the Fareed Zakaria GPS program, we had a total of three Emmy nominations and we won for outstanding breaking news coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, as part of a team effort with the other CNN programming occurring during that weekend,” Zalla said.
“It was a great honor to be included and to be nominated,” Zalla said.
Her weeks at CNN were fast-paced. Zalla said she would spend Tuesday and Wednesday researching and preparing, working with Zakaria on his monologue, and with other producers on their interviews for the show, and then tape the show on Thursday, sometimes only to have to start over in the case of newsworthy events on Friday or Saturday before the show would air.
“When you are covering the world, a lot of things can occur between Friday night and Sunday morning when the show would air. So sometimes, we would have an entire show prepared and something big and newsworthy enough would happen and we would have to essentially throw out a lot of what we had done and do a live show on Sunday mornings. This happened when Russia invaded Ukraine. We did many live shows during the Israel-Hamas war. That’s why we were included in the Emmy that we won,” she said.
Zalla said her desire to gain a deeper understanding of China prompted her to apply for the Schwarzman Scholarship program, which awards a one-year, fully funded master’s degree in global affairs to a limited number of students.
“I applied because in my opinion, China is and will continue to be a significant player on the world stage. I spent a lot of time at CNN reading about China in English language publications, but I wanted to explore the country for myself and broaden my perspective,” Zalla said.
The Schwarzman Scholarship is awarded to about 150 students worldwide, and about 40% of those invited are from the United States, according to Zalla.
“We all lived and studied together in Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University in a curriculum that focused on global affairs, China and leadership,” she said.
Unfortunately, she did some unexpected research on the health system in China after breaking both of her elbows while leading the volleyball team at Schwarzman College. She was given the opportunity to withdraw, but opted to continue with the help of her fellow students.
Day to day living as a result was difficult. “I got creative, and had support from friends in college. Youtube was helpful with learning how to put T-shirts on,” she said.
Zalla persevered and defended her capstone just days after having her arm braces removed, and she gave accolades to the medical staff who treated her.
“I had really excellent care, the hospital staff was amazing, my therapist was great and I had access to English-speaking caregivers. ”
She is not sure what is next. Her injury led to delays in looking for a position in the areas of geopolitical advisory, conflict management, or AI policy, but she is looking forward to the next opportunity.
“I learned so much at CNN; I was paid to learn, covering a different topic every week, Russia, Ukraine, AI, China, whatever it might be, to the point of being able to correct copy that would be used during the show,” said Zalla.
“To me, journalism is a kind of public service and I felt a duty to the public to be as accurate as possible to the best of my ability.”
Of her time in China, she said she “found the people to be really kind and exceptionally hard working,” the food delicious and the natural scenery breathtaking.