In 1983, he completed his second Staatsexamen, followed by extended dissertation research stays in New York City and Washington, D.C., for which he was awarded scholarships from Studienstiftung and DAAD.

[3] Kleber financed his 14 semesters of studying law as a freelancing radio reporter and anchor for SWF (a public service station).

After completing his PhD, Kleber became a journalist and worked during the 1980s as the Washington correspondent for Deutschlandfunk (DLF), a German public broadcaster.

In the spring of 1989, Kleber returned to Germany as Chief Editor of RIAS, a major broadcaster in Berlin under the control of the United States Information Agency.

[6] A few months into the new job, he received an offer to become managing editor and principal anchor of heute journal, the 30 minute late evening news show of ZDF, the other public television channel besides the ARD.

With his long-standing professional partner, Angela Andersen, he has created documentary films, including India – Unstoppable (2006) for the DVD market.

[14] Kleber's book Amerikas Kreuzzüge ("America's Crusades") won the 2005 Corine Literature Prize for best non-fiction work.

Claus Kleber and his ZDF partner anchor Marietta Slomka were awarded the prestigious Grimme Prize in 2009 for their merits on the evolution of television.