"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."[13]
Interracial marriage was illegal in Maryland before 1967, so in 1958 O'Brien's parents married in Washington, D.C., where marriage laws were less restrictive.[15] The newly wedded O'Briens then moved to Long Island, to the town of St. James. O'Brien is the fifth of six children, all graduates of Harvard College.[citation needed] Her siblings are law professor Maria O'Brien[21] (born 1960), GE corporate lawyer Cecilia Vega (born 1961), businessman Tony O'Brien (born 1962), who heads a documents company, eye surgeon Estela Ogiste (born 1964), and anesthesiologist Orestes O'Brien (born 1967).[16][17][22] Her niece is journalist Antonia Hylton.[23]
O'Brien graduated from Smithtown High School East in 1984.[24] She attended Radcliffe College from 1984 to 1988, starting as pre-med and English and American literature, but left to take a job at WBZ-TV.[1][25] O'Brien went back to school while pregnant with her first child and earned her degree from Harvard in English and American Literature in 2000.[1][26]
Careeredit
O'Brien started her career in journalism as a medical reporter on WXKS-FM in Boston because of her background as a pre-med student in college.[27]
NBC and MSNBC (1991–2003)edit
O'Brien began her career as an associate producer and news writer at WBZ-TV, then the NBC affiliate in Boston.[28] She joined NBC News in 1991 and was based in New York as a field producer for the Nightly News and Weekend Today. She then worked for three years as a local reporter and bureau chief for San Francisco's then-NBC affiliate KRON-TV. At KRON she was a reporter on "The Know Zone."[17]
Starting in 1996 and during the dot-com boom, O'Brien anchored MSNBC's weekend morning show and the cable network's technology program The Site, which aired weeknights from the spring of 1996 to November 1997. The show was unique in that she interacted with a virtual character named Dev Null, played by Leo Laporte in a motion-capture suit.[17]
O'Brien moved to CNN, where from July 2003 to April 2007, she was co-anchor of the CNN program, American Morning CNN's flagship morning program that aired live from New York City.[6][29]
In 2004, at the age of 38, she was named to Crain's New York Business "40 Under 40" list.[30]
From January 2012 to March 2013, O'Brien was anchor of the CNN program, Starting Point. After CNN canceled American Morning and replaced it with two new programs, Early Start and Starting Point in 2011, O'Brien began anchoring Starting Point on January 2, 2012.[31] It was announced on February 21, 2013, that O'Brien had reached an agreement with CNN to leave Starting Point for the new Starfish Media Group production company. CNN would provide funding in return for non-exclusive rights to its documentaries.[8] March 29, 2013, was her last day on air at CNN as an anchor.[32]
HBO: Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel (2013–present)edit
In 2023, O'Brien moderated a discussion with former Nickelodeon child stars that served as the concluding episode of Investigation Discovery's (another channel part of Warner Bros. Discovery) Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV regarding abuse with MTV Networks officials.
Other work at Warner Bros. Discoveryedit
In 2009, O'Brien completed a documentary titled Latino In America, documenting the lives of Latinos living in America. She continued working as a reporter for CNN, mainly hosting "In America" documentaries, and occasionally filled in for Anderson Cooper on Anderson Cooper 360. She also anchored exit poll coverage during CNN's coverage of the primaries and caucuses in the 2008 United States presidential race, and filled in for Paula Zahn on Paula Zahn Now before Zahn left CNN in 2007.[citation needed]
O'Brien anchored a CNN special, Black in America, in July 2007. The program documented the successes, struggles, and complex issues faced by black men, women and families 40 years after the death of Martin Luther King Jr. In the first installment, O'Brien investigated how James Earl Ray, an armed robber and escaped convict, had already spent a year on the run a month before his path collided with that of Dr. King in Memphis, Tennessee. In "The Black Woman & Family", O'Brien explored the varied experiences of black women and families and investigated the disturbing statistics of single parenthood, racial disparities between students, and the devastating toll of HIV/AIDS. The fifth installment of the Black in America series aired in December 2012.[34] Her report on children and race featured the work of Margaret Spencer, based on the Doll Tests of the 1940s, polling children on their general color preferences: "white children have an overwhelming white bias, and black children also have a bias toward white, according to a new study.."[35]
O'Brien's Starfish Media Group signed a deal granting HBO first-look rights for new programs or concepts it develops.[11]
Podcastingedit
In January 2022, O'Brien and personal financial journalist, Jean Chatzky launched a podcast, Everyday Wealth, covering personal finance, the economy, wealth management, and other financial topics. It is sponsored by Edelman Financial Engines.[36] In fall of 2023, approaching the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, O'Brien collaborated with actor and film director Rob Reiner on a podcast series to cover the controversial topic, Who Killed JFK?.[5][23]
In June 2013, O'Brien formed the production and distribution company Starfish Media Group.[38][39] Starfish Media Group signed a deal to produce a series of hour-long documentary specials for Al Jazeera America.[40]
In September 2016, O'Brien became a host of the Hearst Television show, Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien; in addition to its broadcast availability, it is carried by FYI on Sunday mornings (a network Hearst partly owns).[41]
In 2018, O'Brien hosted the documentary series Mysteries & Scandals on Oxygen.[42]
In 2016, O'Brien presented the 'I Am Latino in America' tour, with nationwide stops across the United States. The tour was streamed live globally on MOSH.[44]
In May 2022, Soledad O'Brien partnered with JP Morgan to advise and give a lecture at the company's financial health education, wealth-building, and financial inclusion for Dallas' Black and Hispanic communities. O'Brien took the stage to discuss potential impacts and value of the event and its subsequent activity. As an Adviser to the summit, O'Brien stated she had made it her mission to ensure that the event isn't and won't be lip service without action and outlined plans for future events.[45]
Personal lifeedit
In 1995, O'Brien married Bradford "Brad" Raymond, co-head of investment banking at Stifel.[46][47] They have four children: two daughters, Sofia (October 2000) and Cecilia (March 2002), and twin sons Charles and Jackson (August 2004).[48]
O'Brien has said she does not speak Spanish fluently.[1]
O'Brien has been riding horses since she was 13 years old, a hobby which she now enjoys with her family.[3] She and her husband run a foundation called PowHERful Foundation (formerly called the Starfish Foundation, and before that the Soledad O'Brien & Brad Raymond Foundation), which mentors women to send them to college.[47][50] The foundation began in 2011.[51]
On February 7, 2011, O'Brien was inducted as an Honorary Member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
O'Brien, Soledad; Arce, Rose Marie (with) (2009). Latino in America. New York: Celebra. ISBN 978-1-101-14961-4. OCLC 760072829.
O'Brien, Soledad; Arce, Rose Marie (with) (2011). The Next Big Story: My Journey Through the Land of Possibilities. New York: New American Library. ISBN 978-0-451-23284-7. OCLC 706018286.
Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination (CNN)
Gary and Tony Have a Baby (CNN)
Her Children of the Storm
Latino in America: Courting Their Vote
Latino in America 2: In Her Corner
One Crime at a Time
Pictures Don't Lie
Rescued
The New Promised Land – Silicon Valley (Black in America) (CNN)
The Women Who Would be Queen
Unwelcome: The Muslims Next Door (CNN)
Words That Changed a Nation (CNN)
“Who shot Biggie and Tupac”
Referencesedit
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^"Soledad O Obrien – United States Public Records". FamilySearch. June 1, 2001.
^ abBryant, Adam (June 10, 2016). "Soledad O'Brien: Seek Out the Curious and the Fastidious". The New York Times.
^"Starfish Media Group Story". Starfish Media Group. Archived from the original on March 12, 2016.
^ ab"Who We Are". Grady College and University of Georgia. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
^ abcde"Anchors & Reporters: Soledad O'Brien". CNN. Archived from the original on August 28, 2013.
^Ariens, Chris (December 29, 2011). "New CNN Morning Show to Launch Monday". Adweek.
^ ab"CNN O'Brien leaving morning show, starting Starfish Media Group production company". Times Colonist. The Associated Press. February 21, 2013.
^McCarthy, Tom (July 1, 2013). "Former CNN anchor Soledad O'Brien to join Al Jazeera America". The Guardian.
^Watson, Sheridan (July 1, 2013). "Soledad O'Brien on move to Al Jazeera". Entertainment Weekly.
^Florio, Mike (December 19, 2023). "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel ends 29-year run tonight" NBC Sports. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
^O'Brien, Soledad (April 2004). "The Church Across the Street". Guideposts. Archived from the original on August 22, 2004.
^O'Brien, Soledad (October 17, 2010). "Survival of the Fittest" (Book excerpt). Parade.
^ abO'Brien, Soledad; Sun, Rebecca (as told to) (October 19, 2016). "Soledad O'Brien On Her Parents' Struggles as an Interracial Couple: "People Spit on Them in the Street"". The Hollywood Reporter.
^ ab"Soledad 1966–1995". SoledadObrien.info. October 8, 2007.
^ abcdeAnders, Gigi (June 2005). "Running with the News: Soledad O'Brien is authoritative, credible, engaging and intelligent. And she's a great mom, too". Hispanic. Archived from the original on April 25, 2008.
^Gates, Jr., Henry Louis (January 12, 2016). "The Irish Factor: Soledad O'Brien". Finding Your Roots.
^"Soledad O'Brien's Interactive Family Tree". Finding Your Roots. January 13, 2016.
^O'Brien, Soledad (December 19, 2014). "Soledad O'Brien: What my mother left behind". CNN.
^"Maria O'Brien". Boston University. Trustees of Boston University. Retrieved September 28, 2023.
^O'Brien, Soledad (July 24, 2008). "Behind the Scenes: Black and shopping in America". Black in America 2, CNN.
^ ab""He Was A Generous And Kind Human Being": Soledad O'Brien Reflects On Her Father's Death". MadameNoire. February 7, 2019. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
^"Soledad O'Brien: Pride of Smithtown 2002 Recipient". Smithtown Alumni Association. April 2002. Archived from the original on December 10, 2010.
^"Soledad O'Brien Harvard Commencement Speech – Harvard University Commencement 2013" (Video). Harvard University. May 29, 2013. Archived from the original on December 22, 2021.
^Harvard Alumni Directory 2000. Cambridge, MA: President and Fellows of Harvard College. 2000. pp. 1038 (Vol. I) and 300 (Vol II).
^"Soledad O'Brien and three of the interview subjects from her docu discuss the fifth installment of CNN's Black in America series". Retrieved March 21, 2022.
^"Study: White and black children biased toward lighter skin - CNN.com". www.cnn.com.
^Cavanaugh, Laura (January 7, 2022). "Take control of your financial potential in 2022". CBS8.com. Tegna Inc. Retrieved February 1, 2022.
^Keveney, Bill. "'Don't book liars': Soledad O'Brien challenges media at House hearing on disinformation". USA TODAY. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
^"Soledad O'Brien Biography – May, 2015" (PDF). Starfish Media Group. May 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 2, 2017.
^Stelter, Brian (February 21, 2013). "Soledad O'Brien to Take on New Role at CNN". Media Decoder Blog, The New York Times.
^"Al Jazeera America signs Soledad O'Brien as special correspondent". Al Jazeera America. July 1, 2013. Archived from the original (Press release) on July 2, 2013.
^"About Soledad". Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien.
^Flora, Kelsey (May 22, 2013). "Soledad O'Brien Named New Moderator of National Geographic Bee – National Geographic Society Press Room". National Geographic. Archived from the original (Press release) on June 19, 2013.
^Dizdar, Petra (February 12, 2016). "Nation's Top Hispanic Influencers and Business Leaders Coalesce Around New Digital Platform MOSH" (Press release). MOSH.
^"Soledad O'Brien teams up with JP Morgan Chase for Impactful Health & Wellness Event". Dallas Weekly. May 16, 2022. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
^Williams, Ryan (April 22, 2010). "CNN's Soledad O'Brien Named Journalist of the Year by Black Journalists Group – National Association of Black Journalists" (Press release). National Association of Black Journalists.
^"Bryant University Commencement 2007. Soledad O'Brien: Doctor of Humane Letters". Bryant University. 2007. Archived from the original on November 18, 2007.