David Culver

Background

About David Culver

David Culver is a Senior National Correspondent for CNN Worldwide. His award-winning storytelling has played a central role in CNN’s coverage around the world. Most recently, Culver has reported on critical global issues such as the ongoing migration crisis impacting the US-Mexico border, civil unrest in Haiti, and gang violence in Ecuador. Additionally, Culver has delivered hour-long specials featuring immersive reporting on psychedelics from Jamaica and the Running of the Bulls in Spain. Previously, Culver was based in Beijing, where he covered major news stories from China and the Asia-Pacific region. He reported extensively on the coronavirus and the country’s unprecedented containment measures, staying within China’s nearly sealed-off borders for more than two and a half years. His coverage included traveling to Wuhan, the original epicenter, and enduring the severe Shanghai lockdown. Culver’s reporting led to his being recognized with three of the most prestigious awards in journalism: the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in TV Journalism, the Overseas Press Club of America’s David Kaplan award, and the George Polk Award. This achievement marked the first time in the 73-year history of the George Polk Awards that the top honor for Foreign Reporting went to a television report. Culver’s work in China also includes coverage of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the US-China trade war, the NBA controversy, and the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. Through his reporting, Culver has chronicled the rapid rise of China as a military and economic superpower. Before joining CNN, Culver was an anchor and reporter for NBC Washington, where he also reported on multiple national breaking news events, including the Parkland school shooting, the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, and various hurricanes that devastated parts of the US. Of Cuban American descent, Culver has made multiple trips to Cuba, reporting on significant events such as the reopening of the US Embassy, Pope Francis’ visit, and Fidel Castro’s death. He also produced a 30-minute Emmy award-winning documentary, “Rediscovering Cuba: A Journey Home”, which chronicles his mother and grandmother’s return to their native Cuba more than 50 years after fleeing the island nation. Prior to NBC Washington, Culver served as an anchor and reporter for WAVY-TV in Hampton Roads, Virginia.