Journalist, Stand-up Comedian, Mastermind of AJ+ First Comedy Show 'Newsbroke'

Francesca Fiorentini | Biography

Fiorentini has been contributing to news commentary show 'The Young Turks' since March 2017

• By Reena Chikanbanjar
• Original : September 22, 2021

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Francesca Fiorentini is a journalist and stand-up comedian.

Who is Francesca Fiorentini?

Francesca Fiorentini is an Asian-American journalist, activist, and stand-up comedian. She began her journalism career in 2004 as a contributing editor for Left Turn magazine. She then worked in a couple of media companies before joining Al Jazeera Media Network in 2013. She worked as a head writer and host of Newsbroke on AJ+ from 2016 to 2018. Her Newsbroke videos like ‘The Real Deal with the U.S. Mexico Border,’ ‘White Fragility in the Workplace’ and ‘How the Rich Want to Keep you Dumb,’ were viral hits.

She worked as a correspondent for National Geographic Channel’s documentary series Explorer from 2016 through 2017 and hosted an MSNBC special, Red, White, and Who? on 29 December 2019. Furthermore, she has been contributing to The Young Turks since 2017.

Early Life and Education

Francesca Fiorentini was born on 10 September 1980 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a Chinese mother and an Italian father. She grew up in the Bay Area of San Francisco. 

After graduating from Menlo-Atherton High School, Fiorentini went to New York University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Globalization Studies and Women’s Studies in 2005.

Journalism Career

Fiorentini kicked off her career in September 2004 as a contributing editor for a quarterly social movement magazine, Left Turn. She worked there for six years till September 2010. During that time, she served as an editor in chief at War Resisters League’s quarterly magazine called the Nonviolent Activist (now WIN magazine) from July 2005 to August 2007.

In August 2011, she joined Univision Communications and spent two years working as a contributing journalist. 

AJ+ ‘Newsbroke’

After quitting Univision Communications, Fiorentini joined Al Jazeera Media Network in September 2013. She helped the network launch the online news channel AJ+. One of her videos, titled ‘The Real Deal with the U.S. Mexico Border,’ has been viewed 53 million times and shared by 543k people on Facebook as of September 2021.

In 2016, Fiorentini launched Newsbroke, the first comedy show of AJ+. She told Bustle in June 2017 that one of her goals of Newsbroke was to “make the journalistic main operative of Al Jazeera more digestible and accessible for both younger audience and audiences that don’t aggressively seek out hard-hitting journalism.” She believed the use of comedy as an ideal way to bridge that gap.

As a host and head writer of Newsbroke, she covered a variety of issues with comedic twists. Her Newsbroke videos include viral hits such as sketches like ‘White Fragility in the Workplace’ and monologues like ‘How the Rich Want to Keep you Dumb,’ both of which attracted millions of views. In a Twitter post dated 4 June 2018, Fiorentini announced that Newsbroke was canceled after a 91-week run.

National Geographic ‘Explorer’

In addition to her AJ+ career, Fiorentini also worked as a correspondent for National Geographic Channel’s documentary series Explorer from August 2016 to December 2017. She appeared in several episodes, including ‘Do It For Japan,’ ‘How to Donate Your Body to Science,’ ‘Right to Life in El Salvador,’ and ‘Digging up Dinosaurs.’ 

As a correspondent for Explorer, she played matchmaker in Japan, toured a cadaver farm in Texas, and met Oklahomans demanding accountability for fracking-induced earthquakes. In 2018, she won a ‘Media Excellence Award’ from Planned Parenthood for her work on draconian abortion laws in El Salvador.

MSNBC ‘Red, White and Who?’

In 2019, Fiorentini hosted the Red, White and Who?, an MSNBC special focused on the state of healthcare in the United States. She traveled to Texas, New York, and Utah and interviewed doctors, patients, and politicians. The special also featured interviews with politicians such as 2020 presidential candidate and Senator Bernie Sanders. 

Fiorentini also explored the effectiveness of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which was signed into law in 2010. After all the fieldwork, Fiorentini concluded that “healthcare in America is often overpriced and even dysfunctional, but it’s the lack of transparency that can be the most insidious.” The MSNBC special premiered on 29 December 2019. 

‘The Young Turks’

Fiorentini has been contributing to the news commentary show The Young Turks since March 2017. She has also written and produced six episodes of The Young Turks, which airs on several television networks and YouTube. 

Stand-Up Comedy

In addition to a journalism career, Fiorentini started doing stand-up comedy in November 2011 in the San Francisco Bay Area. As a stand-up comedian, she has performed at multiple comedy festivals such as the Asian-American Comedy Festival in Los Angeles in 2015, SF Comedy Day in 2017, and SF Sketchfest from 2017 to 2020. She has also been featured on the podcast Lovett or Leave It and the BBC Arts Hour. 

Boyfriend

Fiorentini is dating comedian, actor, and writer Matt Lieb. 

Lieb was a comedian on the YouTube morning talk show Good Mythical Morning. He also worked as a correspondent on Emmy-winning short form weekly digital variety news show The Star Wars Show and co-creator of Newsbroke on AJ+. 

As a San-Francisco-based stand-up comedian, Lieb was named the ‘2016 Best Comedian in the Bay Area’ by SFist. He had also performed at multiple comedy festivals, including the Bridgetown Comedy Festival, SF Sketchfest, and the 10,000 Laughs Festival. His comedy had also been featured on media outlets, including Viceland, Hulu, and SiriusXM.