Mary Cunningham
Mary Cunningham covers how shifts in the economy and new technology, especially artificial intelligence, filter down to ordinary workers, investors and consumers. She is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch, where she focuses on the stock market, tech, energy prices, the job market and the broader economy, translating complex trends into clear, practical coverage.
AI, work and a changing economy
Cunningham makes AI’s impact on work and money a recurring lens for her business reporting. In her coverage of recent commencement season, she tracks how graduates are booing AI-themed speeches and growing skeptical about the technology’s role in their careers, tying those reactions to broader polling that shows rising public wariness about AI. She connects that skepticism to labor-market data, noting research that job openings in occupations highly exposed to AI have fallen below pre-pandemic levels and flagging vulnerable roles such as legal assistants and proofreaders. Across this work she contrasts corporate enthusiasm with the anxiety of younger workers trying to secure stable employment, grounding the tension in surveys from organizations such as the Pew Research Center and internal CBS News polling.
She carries the same scrutiny into personal finance coverage of AI, reporting on how more Americans are turning to AI tools to manage their money while highlighting the risks of hallucinations, bad advice and privacy issues. In that context she leans on named experts, including CBS News business analyst Jill Schlesinger, to spell out when AI can be useful for basic financial education and when big decisions still require human advisers. The through-line is a focus on the practical consequences of AI for work and personal finances rather than on the technology in isolation.
Job market stress, layoffs and entrepreneurship
Cunningham’s MoneyWatch beat includes coverage of the workplace from both the employer and worker side. In a report on sweeping layoffs at The Washington Post, she details the scale of the cuts, the sections being closed, and how the restructuring will shrink foreign news coverage and books coverage, tracking what that means for journalists and readers. The piece reflects her interest in industry reshaping and how corporate decisions reverberate through specific jobs and newsrooms.
She also writes for people contemplating leaving traditional employment. In a service-focused article on starting a business, she walks would-be entrepreneurs through the less glamorous parts of that decision, such as health insurance options, COBRA coverage, Affordable Care Act plans and association health plans. She explains tax obligations and business structures like S corporations and LLCs, again filtering expert advice from Schlesinger into straightforward guidance. Taken together with her AI-and-jobs coverage, this work shows her attention to both job loss and self-employment, and to the concrete trade-offs people face when the labor market shifts.
Personal finance and the everyday investor
A significant strand of Cunningham’s reporting focuses on the choices everyday readers make about saving, investing and managing risk. Her piece on using AI for financial advice examines how people rely on chatbots for budgeting and retirement questions, then lays out why that can be dangerous if used as a sole source of guidance. She highlights privacy concerns, citing research on how AI systems may retain user data, and emphasizes the importance of reading privacy policies before sharing sensitive information.
Instead of treating technology as a cure-all, she points readers back to more established tools such as employer-sponsored retirement plans, index funds and exchange-traded funds offered by large investment firms. She also notes the role of money management apps alongside traditional resources like financial professionals and financially savvy relatives. More broadly, her professional profile underscores that she regularly covers markets and energy prices, situating those day-to-day decisions within the wider economic picture. The tone across these stories is explanatory and grounded, prioritizing clear steps over jargon.
From broadcast production to the business desk
Cunningham brings a mixed background in broadcast production and digital reporting to her current business beat. She is a reporter for CBS MoneyWatch and has previously worked at “60 Minutes,” CBSNews.com and CBS News 24/7 as part of the CBS News Associate program, combining long-form television experience with fast-paced digital news. Earlier biographical notes describe her starting in local news before joining “60 Minutes,” where she assisted with production efforts. Her professional profile also highlights experience in both digital journalism and broadcast production and notes that she has covered subjects including the economy and climate change.
Beyond CBS News, Cunningham’s work has appeared in a range of outlets. Her social bio credits bylines with Guardian US, City Limits and ClearHealthCosts, reflecting experience that spans national and local audiences as well as specialized reporting on issues like costs and access. That mix of platforms and formats helps explain a style that pairs narrative awareness with tight, service-oriented writing: she tends to frame stories around how economic forces shape individual choices, then anchors those stories in data, research and named expert voices.
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