12 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • MARCH 2019
SOLEDAD O’BRIEN:
BY SHERYL NANCE-NASH
Soledad O’Brien has always been curious
and adventurous, whether exploring
the woods in Long Island where
she grew up in St. James, horseback
riding, serving as a lifeguard, or doing
scientific research on local marshes.
That spirit still defines her today.
Currently she is CEO of Starfish
Media Group, a multiplatform media
production company that was
founded to tell empowering and authentic
stories on a variety of social
issues. She anchors and produces the
Hearst Television political magazine
program Matter of Fact with Soledad
O’Brien. She also reports regularly
for HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant
Gumbel and PBS NewsHour.
Earlier in her career, O’Brien co-anchored
on Weekend Today, and
contributed segments to the Today
show and NBC Nightly News. It was in
2003 that she joined CNN and became
one of America’s favorite journalists,
beloved for her straight shooting and
warm, folksy style. O’Brien anchored
two CNN morning news programs
and their documentary unit, and
created the In America documentary
series, Black in America and Latino
in America.
She is a three-time Emmy award
winner. Her coverage of Hurricane
Katrina for CNN earned her and the
network a George Foster Peabody
Award. She also won the Peabody for
her coverage of the BP Gulf Coast Oil
Spill, and her reporting on the Southeast
Asia tsunami garnered CNN an
Alfred I. DuPont Award. O’Brien
authored two books, her critically
acclaimed memoir The Next Big Story
and Latino in America.
Nearly a decade ago, O’Brien and her
husband Brad Raymond created the
PowHERful Foundation, which helps
young women get in and through
college. No doubt she is a role model
for women and particularly minority
women who aspire to a career in broadcast
journalism. Not only is she good
at what she does, she is compassionate,
smart, and real. Her million-dollar
smile makes anyone’s day.
O’Brien chated with the Long Island
Press about her career, her family,
thoughts on the state of media today
and more.
How did growing up on Long Island
impact you? I learned to be self-sufficient.
I swam at the beach. I liked
horseback riding, so I babysat to help
pay for riding lessons. Some of the
people I babysat for were prominent
members of the community; they
had incredible history. Living on
Long Island, I had the opportunity
to meet amazing people who were
well traveled. I learned from them. I
have fond memories of swimming in
Long Beach. We spent time playing
in the woods on our own. There was
no need to worry about us. It was a
different time.
You haven’t forgotten your
Long Island roots. What
inspired you to donate to
Stony Brook University’s
School of Journalism?
My dad was one of the
founding professors
of Stony Brook. I
grew up on campus.
Our family
went to church
at St. Phillips in
St. James, but
we also went to
church on campus.
When did you know
you wanted to pursue
journalism? I was a
premed student studying
chemistry along with my sister.
She told me that just memorizing
information wasn’t meaningful. She
told me to go with my passion. I didn’t
love what I was doing. So I pursued
journalism. I fetched coffee and mail
at a television station. I was 20 years
old. I knew I could get good at it.
What was it like in the beginning
in such a competitive field? I didn’t
think of it as being competitive. I
focused on getting my foot in the
COVER FEATURE
The host of
Matter of Fact
with Soledad
O'Brien grew up
in Saint James.
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