Soledad O'Brien

Soledad O'Brien was an American journalist and producer who became one of the most trusted faces in news during the late '90s and early 21st century. Born in St. James, NY, O'Brien was the fifth of six children born to Edward O'Brien, an Australian-born mechanical engineering professor at SUNY Stony Brook, and Estela O'Brien, a French and English teacher of Afro-Cuban descent. O'Brien graduated from Smithtown High School East in Long Island in 1984, and attended Harvard-Radcliffe College, studying journalism. She left school shortly before she was scheduled to graduate, taking her first jobs as an associate producer and news writer at WBZ-TV, Boston's NBC affiliate, in 1988 (she would eventually go back to Harvard and receive her degree in 2000). O'Brien joined NBC News in New York City in 1991, working as a field producer for the Nightly News and Weekend Today for two years, before taking a job as a local reporter and bureau chief for KRON, San Francisco's NBC affiliate, in 1993. Around 1996, MSNBC decided that they needed to take advantage of the dot com boom, and offered O'Brien a job anchoring their weekend morning show, as well as the technology program The Site. She held down this position until 1999, when she returned to NBC to co-anchor the program Weekend Today with David Bloom. During this time, O'Brien also acted as a contributor for "The Today Show" (NBC, 1952-) and the weekend edition of "NBC Nightly News" (NBC, 1970-). She covered events ranging from JFK Jr.'s fatal plane crash to the Columbine massacre. After four years in this position, O'Brien once again moved on, becoming co-anchor on CNN's "American Morning" (CNN, 2001-2011) in 2003. She made a name for herself on the network with her incisive coverage of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, especially her interview of disgraced FEMA chief Michael Brown. After "American Morning" was cancelled by CNN, O'Brien was offered a lead anchor position on a new program, "Starting Point" (CNN, 2012-13). She would host this program for a year, before announcing on February 21, 2013, that she was leaving CNN to start a production company, Starfish Media Group, alongside her husband, investment banker Brad Raymond. That same year, Starfish Media Group signed a first-look rights development deal with HBO, and O'Brien became a correspondent on "Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel" (HBO, 1995-). She continued her work on that show when she began her own news show, "Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien" (A&E, 2016-). O'Brien also served as a prominent critic of President Donald Trump on social media during his time in office.