Giannone edited the student magazine "Varsity" magazine at Cambridge, which led to work experience at Anglia Television and on graduation in 1997 she joined the regional ITV station in Norwich as a news trainee, producing, reporting and presenting for regional news bulletins. In 1999 her language and broadcasting skills helped her land a role as a reporter and presenter for Channel 4’s "Football Italia" series, where she covered the Italian Soccer scene for a season, flying between the UK and Italy every week. She returned to Anglia in 2000 as a presenter and reporter, this time for the programme for the east of the region covering Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. She also followed troops from the region for a series of reports from Afghanistan in 2002.