Folasade Olayinka Baderinwa (born April 14, 1969), known professionally as Sade Baderinwa ( ), is an American broadcast journalist. Since 2003, she has been a

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

WABC-TV WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neigh ...

, the ABC

flagship station In broadcasting, a flagship (also known as a flagship station or key station) is the broadcast station which originates a television network, or a particular radio or television program that plays a key role in the branding of and consumer loyalt ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and currently co-anchors the weekday 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts of ''Eyewitness News'' with

Bill Ritter August William Ritter Jr. (born September 6, 1956) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 41st Governor of Colorado from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the district attorney for Denver before his ele ...

Early life and education

Baderinwa was born to a Nigerian father and a German mother. At age seven, her mother no longer took part in her life and her father returned to Africa, leaving her in the custody of a family friend. She was subsequently adopted in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

WBAL-TV WBAL-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the Flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Hearst Television, which has owned the station since its inception, and i ...

anchor Edie House, whose parents also provided additional support. When Baderinwa was 12, her birth mother eventually took her in to live with her family in nearby

Montgomery County Montgomery County may refer to: Australia * The former name of Montgomery Land District, Tasmania United Kingdom * The historic county of Montgomeryshire, Wales, also called County of Montgomery United States * Montgomery County, Alabama * Mon ...

. She has since continued to maintain contact with her biological parents, as well as with her adoptive family. Baderinwa graduated from the

University of Maryland, College Park The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of ...

's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources with a degree in agricultural business and resource economics.

Career

Early career

Baderinwa began her career as a production assistant for

ABC News ABC News is the journalism, news division of the American broadcast network American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other progra ...

' various programs, including ''

This Week With David Brinkley ''This Week'', originally titled as ''This Week with David Brinkley'' and currently billed as ''This Week with George Stephanopoulos'', is an American Sunday morning political affairs program airing on the ABC television network. It premiered o ...

'', ''

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other network ...

'', '' World News Tonight'', and News One. She went on to become a reporter trainee at WUSA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Washington, D.C., before becoming a reporter at WSLS-TV, the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

affiliate in

Roanoke, Virginia Roanoke ( ) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 100,011, making it the 8th most populous city in the Commonwealth of Virginia and the largest city in Virginia west of Richmond. It is ...

. Baderinwa joined WBAL-TV, the NBC affiliate in Baltimore, in February 2000. There, she anchored the morning and noon newscasts and also hosted a weekly community affairs show.

2003–present: WABC-TV

In 2003, Baderinwa joined WABC-TV as a reporter and anchor for the station's noon newscast'''' before joining Diana Williams as co-anchor of the 5 p.m. newscast. On the evening of July 23, 2004, while preparing a report on location outside of 257 Hudson Street in

Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is a city in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.New Jer ...

about local flooding, she was struck by a

hit and run In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions. Additional obligation In many jurisdictions, there may be an ...

driver who went through police lines, and was rendered unconscious following the collision. After undergoing multiple surgeries and months of physical therapy, Baderinwa returned on-air on December 13, 2004, but continued receiving physical therapy five times a week following her return. The driver in the collision was never caught. On October 27, 2006, Baderinwa appeared on '' The View'' as a guest co-host. In May 2011, Baderinwa became co-anchor of the 11 p.m. newscast with Bill Ritter, replacing Liz Cho, who vacated the slot to anchor the station's new 4 p.m newscast, which debuted after the end of ''

The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...

''. She has also been a regular moderator at the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

' celebration of

International Women's Day International Women's Day (IWD) is a global holiday list of minor secular observances#March, celebrated annually on March 8 as a focal point in the women's rights, women's rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, ...

References

External links