Soledad O'Brien

Soledad O'Brien
Born	(1966-09-19) September 19, 1966 St. James, New York
Occupation	News anchor (CNN)
Spouse	Bradford Raymond
Children	3

María de la Soledad Teresa O'Brien (born September 19, 1966 in St. James, New York) is a television journalist of Irish Australian and Afro-Cuban heritage. She 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 to April 3, 2007, with Miles O'Brien; their common surname is coincidental.

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

Personal life

O'Brien's parents, both immigrants, met at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, 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.

O'Brien's parents married in 1959 in Washington, D.C.. Her father Edward, an Australian (from Toowoomba, Queensland) of Irish descent, was a mechanical engineering professor. Her mother Estella, who is Afro-Cuban was a French and English teacher. O'Brien is the fifth of six children, 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; eye surgeon Estela (b. 1964); and anesthesiologist Orestes (b. 1967).

At the time, interracial marriage in Maryland was illegal, so O'Brien's parents married in Washington, D.C where marriage laws were less restrictive. The newly wedded O'Briens then moved to the Long Island community of St. James, on Long Island's affluent North Shore, where O'Brien 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.

Despite her partial Hispanic 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. Since 1995 O'Brien has been married to Bradley Raymond, co-head of investment banking at Thomas Weisel Partners. Together they have two daughters and twin sons: Sofia Elizabeth (born October 23, 2000); Cecilia (born March 20, 2002); and Charlie and Jackson on August 30, 2004.

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 co-anchored Weekend Today with David Bloom beginning 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 moved to CNN where she joined Bill Hemmer to co-anchor CNN's flagship morning program American Morning from New York City in July 2003. On April 3, 2007, reportedly due to lagging ratings, O'Brien was replaced by former Fox News anchor Kiran Chetry (Miles O'Brien was replaced also; Hemmer had previously moved to Fox News).

O'Brien 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, mainly hosting Special Investigations Unit and occasionally filling 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. She also has filled in for Paula Zahn on Paula Zahn Now whenever Zahn was unable to make the broadcast (Zahn has since stopped working for CNN as of August 2, 2007).

O'Brien anchored a CNN special, Black in America in July.

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 Hot 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 Humane Letters honorary degree. She was also the convocation speaker at Cornell University's Commencement on May 26, 2007.

O'Brien was also invited to Stony Brook University to speak as part of the university's School of Journalism's 'My Life as...' series. Her section is titled, 'My Life As a CNN Anchor'.

O'Brien also spoke at the Binghamton University commencement in December 2007 and received a standing ovation after her speech detailing her disbelief in advice.

O'Brien served as the keynote speaker for the 2008 annual National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) Conference in Boston, MA in March 2008.

In April, 2008, she had the rare honor of becoming the first recipient of the Soledad O’Brien Freedom’s Voice Award, an award created in her name by Morehouse School of Medicine. "The award was created to recognize her accomplishments and willingness to be a voice for the voiceless in our society, and her determination to cover stories that might otherwise go untold. It will be given annually to mid-career professionals who serve as catalysts for social change in their given fields."

Career timeline

• July 1999-July 2003: Weekend Today co-anchor
• July 2003-April 2007 American Morning co-anchor

External links

• Soledad O'Brien, CNN.com biography
• Soledad O'Brien Unofficially
• Hispanic Magazine Online - 2005 Cover Story
• Soledad O'Brien at IMDb
• Interview with O'Brien
• Soledad O'Brien Biography