Soledad O'Brien
Soledad O'Brien
María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brienis an American broadcast journalist and executive producer. She is the chairman of Starfish Media Group, a multi-platform media production company and distributor. O'Brien continues to be a television anchor and correspondent and lists CNN, HBO and their sports news program Real Sports and the Al Jazeera America news program America Tonight, among a growing list of networks she is working with through her Starfish Media Group. She also served as executive producer and moderator...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNews Anchor
Date of Birth19 September 1966
CitySt. James, NY
CountryUnited States of America
I've had the great good fortune over the last probably decade of getting to work together with His Holiness the Dalai Lama . ... I've learned to tell the truth in a more compassionate way. I'm trying to be a kinder and gentler speaker.
I've been speaking in many places on the subject of peace, on the conceptualizing of peace,
Oh, my goodness, this sounds to me like a kid who is planning on shooting up our school?
CNN, a part of the Time Warner company, lives for news about everything and anyone. In the office, the bosses openly discuss the need for a diverse staff and diverse stories, and each time we draw new viewers, the effort intensifies.
Stories, as we're taught in journalism school early on, are told through people. Those stories make our documentaries powerful. You can explore someone's culture, you can explore their experience, you can explore an issue through human beings who are going through it.
Audiences want great story telling; it's why white people watch my show 'Black in America.' It's why black people watch 'Latina in America.' All of that is statistically shown and proven but it was because it was good story telling about people who were outsiders.
HBO is undeniably a leader in meaningful storytelling in a wide array of formats. I'm honored to join the REAL SPORTS team and look forward to continuing my fervor for uncovering unique and impactful stories.
Am I a liberal or conservative? I'm neither. Like most Americans, I find politics very frustrating. Like most Americans, I'd like to hear from politicians the facts. That is what drives me.
I started a lecture series that was inspired by my reporting on race in America. The 'Black in America' series launched on CNN in 2007 as an opportunity to freshen the national conversation on race.
It is truly not fun to be the family that sticks out in an all-white community. On the other side, I have five brothers and sisters; we all look exactly the same, and we're very, very tight. The lessons about race were not pleasant, but there are things that I loved about my childhood.
Morning TV is about habits. What you really need is for viewers to find you, get comfortable with you, make you part of their mornings. If you can make news, deliver things they value, you can be successful.
We struck an unusual deal. I'll get to leave CNN with my catalog and documentaries. We were able to create a brand at CNN - 'Black in America' - that I now own. I can take that brand and extend it in any way I want.