Soledad O’Brien

Soledad O'Brien is a broadcast journalist, executive producer, and philanthropist. She is the chairman of Starfish Media Group, a 360-media production company and distributor that she begin in 2013.

O'Brien was born September 19, 1966, in St. James, New York. She is a graduate of Harvard University.

From 2003 to 2013, O'Brien was an anchor and special correspondent for CNN. Most recently, she was anchor of "Starting Point." From 2007 to 2012, she hosted "In America" documentaries, guest-anchored CNN news shows, and anchored CNN's exit poll coverage during the primaries and caucuses in the 2008 presidential race. From 2003 to 2007, she co-anchored CNN's "American Morning." She covered the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and, in December 2004, visited Thailand to cover the disaster and aftermath of the tsunami that took more than 155,000 lives. In fall 2003, O'Brien was the only broadcast journalist permitted to travel with First Lady Laura Bush on her trip to Moscow.

Prior to joining CNN, she anchored NBC's "Weekend Today" from 1999 to 2003. During that time, she contributed reports for the "Today Show" and weekend editions of "NBC Nightly News." Before "Weekend Today," O'Brien anchored MSNBC's award-winning technology program "The Site" and the cable network's weekend morning show.

O'Brien's work has been honored numerous times, including a local Emmy for her work as a co-host on Discovery Channel's "The Know Zone." She was named Journalist of the Year 2010 by the National Association of Black Journalists. In 2008, she won the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Goodermote Humanitarian Award for her reporting of Hurricane Katrina and the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. Also in 2008, she became the first recipient of the Soledad O'Brien Freedom's Voice Award, an award created in her name by Morehouse School of Medicine. In 2007 she was honored with the NAACP President's Award, and in 2005, she was awarded Groundbreaking Latina of the Year by Catalina magazine. She was included in Crain's Business Reports' "40 under 40" and Essence magazine's "40 under 40," both in 2004. She has been named to Irish American Magazine's "Top 100 Irish Americans" on two occasions. In 1997, she was awarded the Hispanic Achievement Award in Communications by Hispanic Magazine.

She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.

Sources:

The History Makers (2014, February 21). “Soledad O'Brien” The History Makers. Retrieved November 28, 2022. https://www.thehistorymakers.org/biography/soledad-obrien

Matter of Fact (n.d.). “About Soledad” Hearst Media Production Group, LLC. Retrieved November 28, 2022. https://www.matteroffact.tv/about-soledad/