ABC
After graduating from Georgetown University in 2000, O'Keefe began his career as a desk assistant at ABC. He later worked as a reporter and producer covering Capitol Hill and the 2004 presidential campaign. His roles also included producer at This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Senior Political Editor, Managing Editor of ABCNews.com, and Executive Producer of ABCNews.com. [7] [8] [9]
O'Keefe's first day on Capitol Hill was 9/11. Linda Douglass and O'Keefe convinced then-Senator Joe Biden (D-Dela.) to appear on ABC News. Biden was the first government official to publicly state that the terrorist attacks were likely conducted by al-Qaeda. [10]
O'Keefe covered the 2004 presidential election and spent nearly 16 months on the road with Sen. John Kerry, and O'Keefe was the first to report Kerry's concession live on-air in an ABC News Special Report with Charlie Gibson. [11]
O'Keefe is credited with breaking the story that led to the resignation of then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. At the 100th birthday party for Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-Miss.), Lott remarked that if Thurmond, who ran on a segregationist platform in 1948, had won, “we wouldn't have had all these problems all these years.” [12] O'Keefe wrote the story for ABCNews.com, marking the first time an online blog story led to major breaking news. His effort became the subject of a Harvard University study: "Big Media Meets the Bloggers: Coverage of Trent Lott's Remarks at Strom Thurmond's Birthday Party." [13] [14] [15] [16]
After the 2004 election, O'Keefe covered the Senate confirmation hearings of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court alongside George Stephanopoulos. [17] O'Keefe then joined Stephanopoulos at the Sunday show This Week with George Stephanopoulos, where he interviewed George Clooney on Darfur, [18] Nora Ephron, [19] Stephen Colbert, [17] Sigourney Weaver, [20] and John Updike. [21]
As Executive Producer, O'Keefe guided the editorial direction of ABCNews.com and brokered a partnership between Yahoo! and ABC News. [8] [9]
CNN
After two years at NowThis, O'Keefe became the VP of CNNMoney and CNN Politics. [22] [23] In 2016, O'Keefe became the SVP of Premium Content, overseeing strategy for CNN's Money, Politics, Style, Tech, Travel, Media & Entertainment, Arabic, and HLN divisions. [24] In 2018, O'Keefe became the SVP of Content Development, overseeing CNN's mobile, social, video, podcast, virtual reality, newsletter, and subscription services. [25] These efforts included The Axe Files with David Axelrod, and CNN's original documentary podcast Election 2000: Over/Time. O'Keefe was also involved in launching ExplorePartsUnknown.com, the digital component to the Parts Unknown series with Anthony Bourdain. [26] [27] [28] [29]
Harvard Kennedy School
In January 2019, the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School announced its Spring 2019 class of fellows, including Adam Serwer, Maria Hinojosa, and O'Keefe. At Harvard, O'Keefe published research on news streaming in his paper “Streaming War Won.” He also researched Theodore Roosevelt, examining unpublished letters, correspondence, and written records, particularly originating during Roosevelt's time in North Dakota. [1] O'Keefe conducted this research primarily for his forthcoming book, The Loves of Theodore Roosevelt.
