I n his earliest career, Lemon reported as a weekend anchor for WBRC in Birmingham , Alabama , and WCAU in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania as well as an anchor and investigative reporter for KTVI St. Louis . [1] Lemon reported for NBC News ' New York City operations, including working as a correspondent for Today and NBC Nightly News and an anchor on Weekend Today and MSNBC . In 2003, he began at NBC O&O station WMAQ-TV (5 in Chicago), and was a reporter as well as local news co-anchor. [1] Lemon joined CNN in September 2006. [1] He has been outspoken in his work at CNN, criticizing the state of cable news and questioning the network publicly. [3] He has also voiced strong opinions on ways that the African-American community can improve themselves, which has caused some controversy. [4] Since 2014, he has hosted CNN's New Year's Eve special from New Orleans . In a much-reported broadcast in January 2018, Lemon introduced his broadcast with, “This is C