SOLEDAD O'BRIEN

'María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien'^[1] (born September 19, 1966) is an American television journalist who is currently the host of ''CNN Special Investigations Unit'' on CNN.
O'Brien is most known for anchoring the CNN marquee morning newscast ''American Morning'' from July 2003 ^[2]- April 3, 2007, with Miles O'Brien; their common surnames are coincidences.
She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists.[1]

Contents

Personal life

Broadcasting career

Honors and recognitions

References

External links

Personal life

Soledad's parents, both immigrants, met at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland in 1958.

My parents were both immigrants—my mother from Cuba, my father from Australia. Both attended daily Mass at the church near campus. Every day my father would offer my mother a ride. Every day, she declined. Finally she said yes. One year later, the day after Christmas, the two of them were married.^[3]

Soledad's parents married in 1959 in Washington, D.C.. Her father Edward, an Australian (from Toowoomba, Australia^[4]) of Irish descent, was a mechanical engineering professor.^[5] Her mother Estella, an Afro-Cuban, was a French and English teacher.^[5] Soledad is the fifth of six kids, who all graduated from Harvard University. Her older siblings are law professor Maria (b. 1961); corporate lawyer Cecilia (b. 1962), Tony (b. 1963) who heads a documents company;^[7] eye surgeon Estela (b. 1964); and anesthesiologist Orestes (b. 1968).^[5]
The O'Briens moved to the Long Island community of St. James, where Soledad was born and raised. On the NPR quiz show ''Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!'', O'Brien explained that in Spanish her full name means, "The Blessed Virgin Mary of Solitude." When she started working in TV, many people recommended that she change her name, but she refused.^[9]
Despite her partial Latina heritage, O'Brien doesn't speak Spanish fluently. That has resulted in some awkward exchanges with people who assume she does, including former vice-president Al Gore.^[10]
Since 1995 Soledad has been married to Morgan Stanley investment banker Bradley Raymond. Together they have two daughters and two sons. Sofia Elizabeth was born October 23, 2000 and Cecilia was born March 20, 2002. On Monday August 30, 2004, twin sons were born. Charlie was born at 6:23 pm est weighing 7 pounds, 1 ounce, and 4 minutes later came Jackson at 6:27pm est weighing 7 pounds, 2 ounces.^[11]

Broadcasting career

She began her career as an associate producer and news writer at WBZ-TV, then the NBC affiliate in Boston. O'Brien joined NBC News in 1991, and was based in New York as a field producer for the ''Nightly News'' and ''Today''. O'Brien then worked for three years as a local reporter and bureau chief for San Francisco NBC affiliate KRON. At KRON she was a reporter on "The Know Zone." The program later moved to CNET without O'Brien.
O'Brien was featured on a regular segment of the Discovery Channel program The Next Step, holding the position of "Sun Microsystems Infogal."
O'Brien then anchored MSNBC's weekend morning show and the cable network's award-winning technology program ''The Site'', which aired weeknights from the Spring of 1996 to November 1997.
O'Brien came to CNN from NBC News, where she had anchored ''Weekend Today'' since July 1999. During that time, she contributed reports for the weekday ''Today Show'' and for weekend editions of ''NBC Nightly News'', and covered such notable stories as John F. Kennedy Jr.'s plane crash and the 1990s school shootings in Colorado and Oregon. In 2003, she covered the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and later anchored NBC's weekend coverage of the War in Iraq. In 2005, she covered the Hurricane Katrina aftermath in New Orleans where she interviewed then head of FEMA Michael Brown.
O'Brien began anchoring CNN's flagship morning program ''American Morning'' from New York City in July 2003², when she joined the network. On April 3, 2007 O'Brien was replaced by former Fox News anchor Kiran Chetry (her co-anchor was also replaced), reportedly due to lagging ratings. Soledad has just completed a documentary entitled, "Children of the Storm," directed by acclaimed director Spike Lee. She continues to work as a reporter for CNN.^[12]

Honors and recognitions

O'Brien's work has been honored several times, including a local Emmy for her work co-hosting the Discovery Channel's ''The Know Zone''. She has been named to ''People's'' 50 Most Beautiful in 2001 and to ''People en Español's'' 50 Most Beautiful in 2004. She was named to ''Irish American Magazine's "Top 100 Irish Americans" on two occasions. She is also on ''Black Enterprise'' magazine's 2005 Hit List. Also in 2005, she was awarded "Groundbreaking Latina of the Year" award by Catalina magazine. Most recently she was awarded the 2007 NAACP President's Award.
She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. She serves on the board of directors of The Harlem School of the Arts.
In May 2007, O’Brien gave the keynote address at the undergraduate commencement at Bryant University and was presented with a Doctor of Human Letters honorary degree. She was also the convocation speaker at Cornell University's Commencement on May 26, 2007.

References

1. CNN's O'Brien embraces her own diversity Courtenay Edelhart
2. Anchors & Reporters Soledad O'Brien
3. http://soledadobrien.info/articles/guideposts4-04.htm
4.
http://soledadobrien.info/soledad95.html
5. http://www.hispaniconline.com/magazine/2005/June/CoverStory/index.html
6. http://www.hispaniconline.com/magazine/2005/June/CoverStory/index.html
7. http://soledadobrien.info/soledad95.html
8. http://www.hispaniconline.com/magazine/2005/June/CoverStory/index.html
9. Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
10. O'Brien encourages diversity in journalism, Butler University Dawgnet, October 30, 2005
11. http://soledadobrien.info/soledad2004.htm
12. http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlny/tv/cnn_flips_american_morning_soledad_miles_obrien_out_john_roberts_scorned_fox_newser_kiran_chetry_in_56315.asp

External links

★ Soledad O'Brien, CNN.com biography

★ Hispanic Magazine Online - ''2005 Cover Story''

★ Pictures of Soledad O'Brien

★

★ Interview with O'Brien