Jason Samuels
Studio 20, NewsDoc
Jason Samuels is an Emmy Award-winning broadcast news producer.
In July 2010, Jason was named as a lead producer for "In America," CNN's long-form documentary unit which explores untold stories in underreported communities.
In 2011, Jason produced two CNN documentaries, “Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door” and “Black in America: The New Promise Land - Silicon Valley” - both featuring anchor Soledad O’Brien.
Prior to joining CNN, Jason served as the executive producer in charge of documentary programming and news specials for Black Entertainment Television, where he launched and managed the award-winning documentary series "Heart of the City."
Before BET Jason served as a senior producer for ESPN’s innovative Emmy award-winning newsmagazine E:60.
Previously Jason worked as a senior producer for ABC News (2006-2008). In that role, Jason supervised all of the digital content of “ABC World News” and led production of “the World News Webcast with Charles Gibson,” the first, live daily network newscast produced exclusively for a digital audience. Jason also briefly served as the executive producer in charge of the “ABC World News Saturday” and “ABC World News Sunday” broadcasts.
Prior to joining ABC News, Jason spent 11 years at NBC News (1995-2006) where he produced several award-winning long-form projects for “Dateline NBC” on subjects ranging from welfare reform to post-traumatic stress-disorder. Most notably in 2004 Jason produced the “Dateline NBC” documentary: “A Pattern of Suspicion.” This groundbreaking examination of racial profiling was awarded several of the most prestigious prizes in broadcast journalism including an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, an RTNDA-Edward R. Murrow Award and an Investigative Reporter and Editor Award.
Jason has won numerous other awards for his work including one Emmy Award, five Emmy nominations - including three for coverage of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, a Freedom Forum Excellence in Urban Journalism Award, a Cine Golden Eagle Award, a Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism, a New York Association of Black Journalist Awards for Overall Excellence, and an American Women in Radio and Television Grace Award. In 2008 Jason was selected to participate in the 12- month Punch Sulzberger News Media Executive Leadership Program at Columbia University, a joint business/journalism program for emerging industry leaders.
Born and raised in New York City, Jason began his career in journalism as a news writer and producer at WCVB-TV in Boston (1993). He is a graduate of the Ethical-Culture Fieldston School in New York, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Tufts University and a Master of Journalism degree from the University of California at Berkeley.
