Taking advantage of opportunities lead to successful career in media
January 9, 2020
Opportunities are all around us.
However, what will make the difference is when we recognize and act on them.
Accepting an unpaid internship at CNN in 1998 opened the door for Ryerson University Radio & Television Arts program graduate Andrea Harry Bibbs to work with Turner Broadcasting System Inc. for 19 years before becoming the Director of Diversity & Inclusion Strategy with WarnerMedia News & Sports last July.
The American mass media conglomerate comprises CNN Worldwide, Turner Sports and the AT&T SportsNet regional networks.
In the newly created role, Harry Bibbs is responsible for driving the division’s diversity and inclusion strategy, core vision and internal & external programs in addition to creating and cultivating strategic partnerships with external stakeholders, including industry and community organizations.
Developing programs and opportunities to generate awareness of the division’s efforts to build exposure and excitement among employees are also part of her job portfolio.
Johnita Due, WarnerMedia News & Sports Senior Vice-President and Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, offered Harry Bibbs the position at the company which, in September 2018, announced a ‘Production Diversity Policy’ that includes a commitment to report on its diversity and inclusion efforts annually.
“This is the first time that there are permanent positions focused on diversity and inclusion and I jumped at the opportunity,” she said. “The onus is on us to bring in people, especially younger folks, from all different backgrounds and ensure they have a chance to work here. It is also about looking at programs and partnerships with schools and non-profits to ensure we are getting a diversity of interns and making sure they know that this is an industry they should be part of. It is important that we are getting people from all different perspectives here to help tell the stories of this country.”
Prior to taking up the new assignment, Harry Bibbs spent 12 years with HLN which is now owned by WarnerMedia.
As a Project Manager for two years until 2008, she conceptualized the development of HLN’s television shows websites, developed the website and other digital extensions for the network’s top-rated morning show that led to increased interactivity and an expanded audience engagement and spearheaded the creation of two groundbreaking consumer promotion sweepstakes for the morning show, one of which was recognized as CNN’s most successful consumer promotion at the time.
For six-and-a-half years, Harry Bibbs was HLN/HLNtv.com TV/Web and Ad Sales Integration Manager before been promoted to Director of Ad Sales Integration in the summer of 2014.
Under her leadership in the latter role, HLN’s new studio and the network’s first e-commerce segment – HLN Deals – were launched
“I was brought in at HLN to help grow and establish all of the digital extensions for the network,” she said. “I built a team that worked to maintain the social media pages and websites. I was also part of a team that was at the forefront of launching HLNtv.com. that no longer exists. As part of the small team, I helped choose the agency that designed the site, helped to manage the team that created the website and assisted in hiring the team of producers and writers. I felt like I had my hands in everything and I am proud of that.”
Working in media in the United States wasn’t part of Harry Bibbs plans after graduating from university in 1999.
Born in Montreal in the mid-1970s to Guyanese immigrants Ronald and Carol Harry who met in England, she came to Toronto with her parents at age three. After a year, the family relocated to Mississauga.
In high school, Harry Bibbs ran track and played basketball.
“In Grade 12, I visited two Division Two schools in the United States, but wasn’t sure that track and field was something I wanted to pursue full-time,” she said. “I wanted to get into Journalism, but the schools that I visited had basic Communications programs. I wanted something more and the one school that had what I was looking for was Ryerson. That’s when I decided to put track and field on hold and focus on school.”
Andrea Harry Bibbs graduated from Loyola Catholic Secondary School in Mississauga
While visiting a paternal uncle in Atlanta over the Xmas holidays in 1997, Harry Bibbs toured CNN.
When the guide learnt she was pursuing Journalism studies, he encouraged her to apply for an internship.
Before leaving, Harry Bibbs picked up an application form.
“I was part of a Black student organization at Ryerson that had planned to be in Atlanta for spring break in February the next year which was the deadline,” she said. “I decided I was going to bring it back with me and take it in in person when I came back.”
The Loyola Catholic Secondary School graduate was offered a voluntary position at CNN two months after submitting the application.
One of 16 summer students, she was the lone Canadian and the only one who didn’t have a family or friend connection to the news network.
“I was supposed to go in two to three days a week, but I went in every day and on weekends if they needed someone,” she noted. “I raised my hand when any task was needed to be done and I was the ‘go-to’ intern for transcribing.”
At the end of the internship, Harry Bibbs presented a ‘Thank You’ card to everyone she worked with and some of the senior executives took her to lunch.
“During lunch, I asked if they hired Canadians and the response was ‘yes’,” she said. “They also mentioned that the company only sponsored executives and on-air personnel and it was highly unlikely that I would be hired after graduation. I was disappointed to hear that.”
Harry Bibbs, however, had a few things going in her favour.
Demonstrating a commitment to work hard and always willing to go the extra mile, she remained in touch with the CNN Internship Co-ordinator and it paid off.
“My first job after graduation was at a start-up in Toronto and I kept her informed as to what I was doing,” said the married mother of two children. “One day, she called requesting I send her my resume right away. I did and she called back saying it looked like they might have someone else in mind for that position. She also said that when my name came up, one of the executives remembered me from my time as an intern and wanted to talk to me because he might have something. I spoke to him and was offered a job at CNN. He was one of the executives who took me to lunch and he remembered me talking about my love of sport and computers.”
In her final year at Ryerson, Harry Bibbs took a convergence of digital and television course.
“I think that was the most impactful course I did in my four years,” she pointed out. “Then is when I knew I wanted to work with digital media and TV which is what I ended up doing for most of my career.”
Hired as an Associate Producer with CNN/Sports Illustrated and CNNSI.com, Harry Bibbs served as a liaison between the two entities to integrate on-air content to the website and digital content into the network on-air shows, interviewed athletes for digital and TV specialty segments, managed viewer e-mail and integrated comments for broadcast shows, executed web chats with anchors and athletes and played a lead role in executing one of the first interactive telecasts for CNN/SI by developing a process to integrate viewer comments into the top-rated live evening sports shows.
She’s eternally grateful to Bill Galvin who provided her first job at CNN.
“He was an executive producer at the time and he’s someone that has been instrumental in my career,” Harry Bibbs, who competes in half-marathons and 10k races, said. “He was more than just my first boss. He was really a sponsor. He talked to other executives about me and the work I did.”
About 18 months into the job, it was announced that CNN/SI, which was launched in December 1996, was closing in May 2002. A few months before the closure, the head of CNNSI.com was appointed the CNN. com General Manager.
“He had said that if anything happens there, I should come and see him,” she said. “I e-mailed him when the announcement was made and he offered me a job within two weeks. So I was able to leave three months before the network shut down.”
Harry Bibbs spent 45 months as an Associate Producer at CNN.com in Atlanta and 16 months as a Senior Associate Producer at CNN/com working out of their London office before joining HLN in 2007.
Less than 24 hours after returning from England, Galvin again extended a helping hand to Harry Bibbs.
“I had mentioned to him that I wanted to be on the business side and he offered to show me different parts of that,” she said. “He was now with Headline News and he had a recruiter call me because he had a position. I got my first management role working for him.”
While juggling a full-time job with a family life, Harry Bibbs still finds time to volunteer.
She’s the Vice-President of The Flourish Foundation Inc. that promotes economic advancement and financial empowerment, a board member of the RRHolmes Scholarship Organization for Caribbean Advancement, Co-Chair of the Black Professionals at Turner Development Committee, a member of the Turner Women’s Programming Board and mentor on a program that's a part of the Black Professionals at Turner business resource group.
Harry Bibbs is also on the Board of the resuscitated Canadian Association of Black Journalists.
