Sara Sidner (born May 31, 1972) is an American TV reporter who is a co-anchor of the morning edition of CNN News Central. She anchored Big Picture with Sara Sidner on CNN+, the network's short-lived subscription service.
Sara Sidner | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 31, 1972 Miami Lakes, Florida, U.S. |
| Education | University of Florida |
| Occupation | Correspondent (CNN) |
| Website | www.cnn.com/... |
Early life
A native of Miami Lakes, Florida, Sidner was born to an African-American father and a British mother.[1] She graduated from Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School[2] and the University of Florida with a telecommunications degree. While a student at the university, she played on the women's volleyball team, which made the Final Four during her last year.[3][4]
Career
Sidner began her on-air reporting career at WUFT-TV in Gainesville, Florida. This was followed by periods at KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, WINK-TV in Fort Myers, Florida, and KDFW-TV in Dallas, Texas. At KDFW, she spent three years as a consumer reporter/anchor.[3] She also distinguished herself by reporting on the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.[3] In January 2004, Sidner joined KTVU in Oakland, California, where she served as a weekend co-anchor of KTVU Channel 2 News at 6 and The Ten O’Clock News. She also served as a weekday reporter for the station.[3]
Sidner has received many journalism awards. These include a Regional Emmy Award, a Lone Star Award, and several Associated Press Awards.
CNN
Previously, Sidner was a national and international correspondent for CNN, based in Los Angeles. She has previously been based in Jerusalem, Abu Dhabi, and New Delhi.[5] At CNN, Sidner has reported on a wide range of subjects including the 2011 Libyan civil war, the launching of India's first uncrewed lunar probe, and the Mumbai terrorist attacks.[6][7]
On May 31, 2020, while in Minneapolis covering the protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin, Sidner conducted a newsmaking live interview with the city's police chief, Medaria Arradondo, in which Arradondo expressed his opinion that the three other officers who were present during the murder also bore responsibility.[8]
In January 2023, CNN announced plans to revamp its daytime programming. Sidner was named a co-anchor along with John Berman and Kate Bolduan from 9 a.m. until noon on their new program titled CNN News Central, which later debuted on April 3, 2023.[9]
On October 11, 2023, Sidner was accused of streaming unverified information regarding victims of the Kfar Aza massacre carried out by Hamas in Southern Israel.[10] She had reported that "babies and toddlers were found with their (quoted) heads decapitated in Kfar Aza in southern Israel after Hamas' attacks in the kibbutz over the weekend, a spokesperson for Israel's prime minister says."[11][12] CNN later reported that the Israeli government cannot verify the claim that Hamas beheaded infants, but indicated that Hamas murdered the babies by other means.[13] U.S. President Joe Biden initially claimed that he had seen evidence of Hamas terrorists beheading children, before the White House clarified that they cannot confirm whether any beheadings took place.[14][15][16] Sidner then apologised via her personal Twitter account and alleged that she had been misled by other parties.[17][18][19][12]
Health
On January 8, 2024, during the end of CNN News Central, Sidner revealed that she had been diagnosed with stage III breast cancer.[20]
References
External links
- Sara Sidner on X
- Sara Sidner at IMDb
