[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/22/emily.dalberto.art.jpg caption="Emily D’Alberto remains in constant contact with producers, writers, and John and Kiran during the show."]

Each Friday in “Meet AM,” we’ll introduce you to the people who get American Morning to air.

Today, we’d like you to meet Emily D’Alberto. Emily is our anchor producer – she helps John and Kiran get ready for their day’s interviews, makes sure the graphics and video they want for these segments are ready, and otherwise makes sure the interviews go well. She’s been with AM for 4 years total.

How did you end up doing what you doing?
I majored in foreign policy at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. But after an internship with PBS my senior year, I decided journalism was my future. I started out as production assistant, and worked my way up through the business. Although I left television to work in politics for the Giuliani presidential campaign, I couldn’t stay away from the news business for long. I re-joined the American Morning staff last year as the show’s anchor producer.

Describe your average day:
My alarm goes off at 2:20am – and I immediately check my blackberry to catch up on the emails I missed while I was sleeping. I get into the office by 3am – and it’s non-stop till the show ends at 9am ET. I read the papers, go through the interview segments and help the anchors prepare for their interviews. I race into the control room at 6am. During the show I’m talking with the anchors, working with the writers and making sure the interviews go off without a problem.

What’s the hardest part of your job?
The schedule…as much as I love my job and the people I work with, I never get enough sleep!

What do you like most about working at AM?
I love the fast-paced environment, interesting stories, but most importantly – the people. There is no way I could come in at 3am if I didn’t love the team I worked with everyday.

What do you do outside of work? What do you do for fun?
I love to travel, good food and yes, the gym. It’s the gym that gets me through the constant tiredness!

From CNN's Aparnaa Seshadri

[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/15/rappa.john.art.jpg caption="John Rappa sits at his switcher before the show starts. The switcher is how he controls what goes on the show."]

Each Friday in “Meet AM,” we’ll introduce you to the people who get American Morning to air.

Today, we’d like you to meet John Rappa. John is our very busy technical director. Whether you’re seeing live video from a camera, great video from yesterday, or still graphics, John is the one who’s putting it there. So as you can imagine, he’s great at keeping his eye on everything! He’s been with AM for six years.

How did you end up doing what you do?
I went to school at SUNY Plattsburgh, which has a student run television station. I received a Bachelor of Science with a major in Mass Communication from there. We aired about 5 hours of programming daily, some of which was live. I always knew I wanted to do something on the technical end of media. I’m not a big fan of writing, so the editorial side isn’t for me. I started with ENG camera before I switched to working in the studio and eventually the control room. I’ve done most positions on the crew, from camera and stage managing to videotape and audio and then TD and directing. Since graduating, I’ve held several different jobs including NEWS12, WNBC and MSNBC before I came to CNN.

Describe your average day:
I come in the early morning and start loading and checking all the equipment. This is somewhat time-consuming because I have to interface with so many individual pieces of equipment. I have to make sure cameras on the fifth floor, graphics on the fourth floor and server clips from Atlanta are all in working order, and then send the program feed back to master control in Atlanta. The most important piece of equipment I use is called a production switcher which is essentially a router for all the video sources used during American Morning. All the studio cameras, remote cameras, prerecorded clips and graphics funnel into the switcher where I composite the images into the program you can see on television. After American Morning I work on other programming for CNN.

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[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/08/gottlieb.caroline.art.jpg caption=" CNN's Caroline Gottlieb sits in the back row of the control room, checking banners and ordering graphics throughout the show."]

Each Friday in “Meet AM,” we’ll introduce you to the people who get American Morning to air.

Today, we’d like you to meet Caroline Gottlieb. Caroline is the Graphics Associate Producer on the show, which means she is the graphics coordinator. She makes sure all on-air graphics are ordered correctly and look good on air.

She also checks banners, which are the text at the bottom of the screen that change from story to story. She’ll have been at AM for three years in July.

How did you end up doing what you doing?
I’ve always been a news junkie and a big CNN fan. I lucked out and got an internship with American Morning during college and was determined to work at the show after college. After graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (go Badgers!) with a double major in Journalism and History, I learned the ropes as a PA (prompter, scripts, tapes, etc.) and then moved on into working with the graphics department. I became the Graphics AP in the fall of 2007.

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[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/05/01/chandra.art.jpg caption="CNN's Lola Ogunnaike begs Chandra for an 8:50 hit time. Chandra wonders how much it’s worth to Lola."]

Each Friday in “Meet AM,” we’ll introduce you to the people who get American Morning to air.

Today, we’d like you to meet Chandra Whitt. Chandra is the senior planning producer. This means she is the one who figures out which reporters we want to cover which stories – both for our show the next day, and for the coming weeks. She also keeps on top of what reporters are already chasing. This means she’s one of the few AMers who doesn't have to come in before 5am! Chandra is also one of the few AMers based out of Atlanta – she comes up and visits us in New York occasionally, and we’re happy to have her here this week. Chandra’s been with us for seven years.

How did you end up doing what you do?
I majored in communications in college and landed an internship at CNN my last quarter in school. From there I worked my way up the ranks of CNN – so you could sort of say this is my first job out of college, although I have had many jobs at CNN.

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[cnn-photo-caption image=http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/04/24/eric.brodsky.cnn.art.jpg caption="Eric Brodsky, Technical Production Manager, manages all the shots coming into our control room in the morning."]

Each Friday in “Meet AM,” we’ll introduce you to the people who get American Morning to air.

Today, we’d like you to meet Eric Brodsky. Eric is the technical production manager here at AM, also known as TPM. This means that he is the one who coordinates all the live shots you see on our show, whether it’s Candy Crowley reporting in the field, or a guest in our Washington studio. Eric’s been with us for four and a half years.

How did you end up doing what you do?
I worked at NBC for 3 years as a Production Manager booking studios and setting up remote locations. I transitioned to a TPM when I moved to MSNBC. The biggest difference between the two jobs is that a production manager is in the field and as TPM you are in the control room managing all the live shots. I got the chance to make the switch to CNN and haven’t looked back. Working on the morning news has always been something I wanted to do. It’s great to be able to work on a show that sets the trend for the newsday.

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[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/04/17/ed.keohane.art.jpg caption=" Ed Keohane talks to reporters and makes sure everything goes smoothly during the show."]

Each Friday in “Meet AM,” we’ll introduce you to the people who get American Morning to air.

Today, we’d like you to meet Ed Keohane. Ed produces the first hour of American Morning – he decides what happens on air for that hour, and sits in the control room during the show to guide the plan along. He’s been with AM since October 2006.

How did you end up here?
Back in 2005 I was producing a morning show in Boston. Our sister station in New Orleans got knocked off the air during Hurricane Katrina forcing the staff to relocate to Orlando. A skeleton crew of anchors and producers worked round-the-clock from there, broadcasting live shows that got beamed back into NOLA. Within a few days the team in Florida called for some Beantown backup. I caught a flight, headed south and ended up working alongside a guy who later became CNN's New Orleans bureau chief. We stayed in touch after the storm clouds cleared and a few months later he told me about a job with AM. The stars lined up and I got the chance to come do TV in Manhattan – the news capital of the world!

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