Soledad O'Brien Named Journalist of the Year by the NABJ

The National Association of Black Journalists named CNN's Soledad O'Brien Journalist of the Year at its spring Board of Directors meeting. O'Brien will join other top honorees at the association's Salute to Excellence Gala, on July 31 in San Diego, during NABJ's 35th Annual Convention and Career Fair, the largest gathering of minority journalists in the country.

O'Brien is the impetus of CNN's acclaimed "In America" franchise, which began with CNN's "Black In America" in 2008, a groundbreaking documentary, which took an in-depth look at the challenges confronting blacks in America.

In 2009 CNN followed up with "Black In America 2" which was the highest-rated cable news documentary of 2009, sparking conversations and town hall gatherings across the country to further examine the intersection of race, class and gender – subjects that can be challenging for the media to explore.

"Soledad's work in the 'Black in America' series offered extraordinary and gripping stories of successful community leaders who are improving the lives of African Americans," said NABJ President Kathy Y. Times. "This was an example of great reporting, and through her work and platform she shared the stories in our communities that often go untold. She is truly worthy of NABJ's Journalist of the Year honor."

O'Brien crisscrossed the U.S. and included reporting from Ghana and South Africa as she uncovered the people and programs at the forefront of change – people inspiring volunteerism, programs that are improving access to quality healthcare and education, and leaders working to address financial disparities and develop strong families.

"Soledad is a solid journalist with a long list of accomplishments," said Bob Butler, NABJ Vice-President of Broadcast. "Her reporting is always done with great thought and perspective. We are proud to have her in the NABJ family."



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Soledad O'Brien To Speak at Leadership Conference

Bay Path College (MA) will hold its annual Women’s Leadership Conference on April 30. The 2010 keynote speakers are human activists from the local to the global community level.

One of those will be special investigations correspondent and host of CNN’s In America documentaries, Soledad O’Brien.

This year’s conference theme is Community Matters. Other speakers will be the mother-daughter team of Leigh Anne and Collins Tuohy, mother and daughter of the family who inspired the 2010 Academy Award-nominated film The Blind Side; Cambodian human rights advocate and CNN Hero Somaly Mam; and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times columnist and co-author of the best-selling book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide Nicholas D. Kristof.

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CNN on Haiti

More information on CNN's Rescued documentary hosted by Soledad O'Brien, and their continuing Haiti coverage can be found at:
http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2010/haiti.quake/

You can continue to contribute to Haiti relief through CNN’s Impact Your World webpage at:
http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/impact.your.world/



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O'Brien Speaks to Grambling Students

Grambling State University students heard from Soledad O'Brien this month.

Sponsored by the Tech's Student Government Association, the event was the first of a series of inspirational engagements to be hosted by GSU's Student Lyceum.

O'Brien's topic of discussion, "Pioneers Paving the Way for Tomorrow's Leaders," included her thoughts on the importance of diversity in a competitive society.

"Diversity is an opportunity to hear from a wide range of voices. As a team, we have to start using our diversities to advance in our careers. Expertise is not the only quality of importance; diversity should be brought forth so a variety of ideas and personalities are involved."

O'Brien has worked as a special correspondent for CNN since 2003. She started at the network as the co-anchor of the American Morning program. The past few years, she has focused on long-form documentaries such as "Black in America" and "Latino in America."

Her recent coverage of the Haitians' struggles after the earthquake, and her coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in Thailand earned her the first Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Goodermote Humanitarian Award in 2008.

"The stories I feel blessed to be able to tell are the ones that push people to think." They are about 2-year-olds in Haiti after the earthquake, when all they knew had been destroyed, with eyes like 85-year-olds. A story I felt compelled to tell was the time I met with the FEMA director after Hurricane Katrina and he bragged about a response to the wounded and homeless that came five days after the storm; that was a little too much for me to keep to myself.

My mother is half Cuban and half black, and my father is half Caucasian and half Australian," O'Brien said. "They faced being turned away from restaurants in Baltimore in 1958, and everyone advised them to never have children because they would be different. It turns out I am number five of six children they had, and we learned from our parents that being different is a good thing. My mother always told me you can't let other people's ideas define what you do or how you think."

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"Rescued" Documentary on CNN

Rescued

Premiere: Sat. May 8,and Sun., May 9, 8 p.m., 11 p.m., 2 a.m. (one hour; all times Eastern)

CNN anchor and special correspondent Soledad O’Brien investigates the plight of those left most vulnerable in the wake of Haiti’s devastating earthquake – Haiti’s children in a new documentary, Rescued.

Told through the eyes of 7-year-old Cendy Jeune and former child slave Marckenson Oliphi, O’Brien reports on how Haiti’s orphans struggle to overcome immense obstacles – crushing poverty and the shame of child slavery.

Along the way, O’Brien interviews people connected to Haiti’s almost 400,000+ orphans – missionaries, aid workers, and relatives, all who themselves must overcome bureaucracies and a frail recovery from the powerful earthquake.

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Don't forget that Mother's Day is May 9th

 

CNN's "Rescued" with Soledad O'Brien

In CNN's Rescued, you meet some of Haiti's orphans and their rescuers. The documentary will air Saturday May 8 at 8 p.m. ET on CNN.

View a video preview

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Perceptions of Race

Soledad is working on a new project with Anderson Cooper that will be unveiled in a week long series in May about perceptions of race.

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If It Takes A Village, Build One

Soledad with Malaak Compton-Rock

Soledad's book recommendation (via Facebook): Malaak Compton Rock's book: If It Takes A Village Build One: How I How I Found Meaning Through a Life of Service.

Service is the rent we pay for living" says preeminent children's advocate Marian Wright Edelman and this is the motto by which Malaak Compton Rock, dedicated humanitarian and wife of comedian Chris Rock, lives her life. From a childhood grounded in the importance of giving back to her work in public relations at The U.S. Fund for UNICEF to becoming a full-time mother and humanitarian, Malaak's life has fully embodied this sentiment.

Part memoir, part practical guide, If It Takes a Village, Build One offers readers insightful advice on everything from how to find just the right volunteer opportunity, how to get kids involved in a life of service, how to research charities, and even how to start a nonprofit, as Malaak did several years ago. All of this practical wisdom is grounded in inspirational anecdotes about her own experience with service, including her work with Katrina rebuilding and her recent brainchild, Journey for Change: Empowering Youth Through Global Service, a program for at-risk kids from Bushwick, Brooklyn, which takes teens on a two week service mission to South Africa to volunteer and experience the world.

The book also features interviews with other well known humanitarians, like PR powerhouse Terrie M. Williams, activist Bobby Shriver, and journalist Soledad O'Brien and engaging sidebars with interesting facts about service and nuggets of advice. At the end of the narrative readers will find a compendium of information including Malaak's favorite charities, unique service ideas, and suggested reading and web resources, which will make this a book to be visited time and time again.

Far from being preachy or sanctimonious, Malaak's warm voice reminds us all that giving back is ultimately easier and infinitely more fulfilling than we thought it could be. Warm, honest, and accessible, If it Takes a Village, Build One will be the must-have book (and perfect gift!) for aspiring do-gooders.

        Amazon review

RELATED  http://soledadobrieninfo.blogspot.com/2009/08/soledad-obrien-with-malaak-compton-rock.html



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CNN Documentary on Haitian Orphans

Soledad O'Brien's CNN documentary, Rescued, about orphans in Haiti will air May 8th.

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Soledad with Martina Navratilova

Soledad with Martina Navratilova after her CNN interview

 Nine-time Wimbledon tennis champion Martina Navratilova said last week that she has breast cancer. She has a noninvasive form of the cancer, called ductal carcinoma in situ, that was detected during a mammogram. The cancer was surgically removed in a procedure called a lumpectomy. Navratilova will undergo radiation treatment, she said.

"I'm very hopeful," the tennis legend said in an interview on CNN's Larry King Live.

MORE   http://edition.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/04/07/navratilova.breast.cancer/

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Soledad O'Brien at NALIP

Soledad O'Brien will be speaking at NALIP's (National Association of Latino Independent Producers ) 11th national conference, set for April 9 - 11, 2010 in Santa Monica, California.

NALIP 2010: NAVIGATING IN A SEA OF CHANGE is presented by HBO, Time Warner and the National Latino Media Council. This year showcases what is actually working right now for writers and directors, performers and producers: What genres? What funding strategies? What distribution plans to deliver real revenues? And what partnerships in a wild and confusing sea of possibilities?

Soledad's most recent project, Latino in America, was a wide-ranging look at Latinos living in this country, how they’re reshaping America, and how America is reshaping them. Previously, she reported for Black in America 2, a four-hour documentary series focusing on successful community leaders improving the lives of African-Americans. She has also reported for the CNN documentary Words That Changed a Nation, featuring a never-before-seen look at Dr. King’s private writings and notes, and investigated his assassination in Eyewitness to Murder: The King Assassination. Her Children of the Storm project and One Crime at a Time documentary demonstrate her continued commitment to covering stories out of New Orleans.

Soledad’s many recognitions include part of the coverage teams that earned a George Foster Peabody award for its Katrina coverage, and an Alfred I. duPont Award for its coverage of the Thailand tsunami. She received the 2009 Medallion of Excellence for Leadership and Community Service Award from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. In 2008 she was the first recipient of the Soledad O’Brien Freedom’s Voice Award for being a catalyst for social change. In 2007, the NAACP honored her with its President’s Award for her humanitarian efforts and journalistic excellence.

Soledad is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. She is a graduate of Harvard University.

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