Leinz Valdes is an Adjunct Professor of Communication here and also works as a Digital Producer at CNN. To accommodate both jobs he is constantly on the move between New York City and Mercer’s West Windsor campus.
A typical day, before his son was born, consisted of teaching Public Speaking and Human Communication at Mercer in the morning, hitting the gym, then doing errands. After that Valdes’s job at CNN begins at 4:30pm and ends around midnight or 1am when he drives an hour drive back home. Since his son was born of course the schedule has gotten even more complex in order to have time for parenting, but Valdes manages to keep up.
Gabby Utlak, a second year Exercise Science major who is one of Valdes’s students says, “[he] has a good sense of humor that keeps class lighthearted and makes the fear of speaking publicly easier to manage.” She continues, “He makes sure to incorporate real life into what we are learning in class.”
Valdes graduated with an undergraduate degree in Journalism from Rutgers and first worked for an education non-profit to help at-risk students. Though he liked the job, he longed to go back to journalism, so he went back to school and got a Masters degree in Journalism from Columbia University. From there he was able to move on and get a job at CNN.
Valdes says he had his eye on CNN from early on.
“It’s great to know what you want to do [ in life], and know where you want to work,” Valdes says, explaining that having a specific goal in mind made it easier to identify the steps needed to get there.
Valdes started freelancing at local news stations including News12 and NY1 by working as a photojournalist and editor. Tired of the inconsistent workflow, a job opened up in CNN’s media operations. The job focused on quality control and color correcting all of the video content that comes into CNN. It was a tech job that helped Valdes get his foot in the door.
Valdes worked in the production and editorial side at CNN before transitioning to digital media in 2012. He says being a digital producer has lead to a wide range of opportunities. For example, after the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti in 2010, he was able to go there and document the recovery efforts. Footage he shot was used on Anderson Cooper 360. Other shows he has worked on at CNN include Lou Dobbs Tonight, Heros, & Erin Burnett OutFront.
Valdes has been teaching on and off at Mercer since 2008. The overlap between being a journalist, Communications Professor, and media producer, is the constant learning of information and “learning the audience,” Valdes says.
Aaron Burt, a second year Business Administration major who has Valdes for class says “Valdes is a great professor. He goes above and beyond to connect with all of his students in class. He has a modern teaching style.”
