Sara Sidner (born May 31, 1972) is an American journalist. She is a correspondent for
CNN and
CNN International based at CNN's
Los Angeles bureau.
She also anchored ''Big Picture with Sara Sidner'' on
CNN+, the network's shortlived subscription service.
Early life
A native of
Miami Lakes, Florida, Sidner was born to an
African-American father and a
British mother. She graduated from
Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School 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.
Career
Sidner began her on-air reporting career at
WUFT-TV
WUFT (channel 5) is a PBS member television station in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is owned by the University of Florida alongside low-power independent station WRUF-LD (channel 10), NPR member WUFT-FM (89.1), and commercial radio ...
in
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the county seat of Alachua County, Florida, Alachua County, Florida, and the largest city in North Central Florida, with a population of 141,085 in 2020. It is the principal city of the Gainesville metropolitan area, Florida, Gaine ...
. This was followed by periods at
KFVS-TV
KFVS-TV (channel 12) is a television station licensed to Cape Girardeau, Missouri, United States, serving Southeastern Missouri, the Purchase area of Western Kentucky, Southern Illinois, and Northwest Tennessee as an affiliate of CBS and The CW. ...
in
Cape Girardeau, Missouri,
WINK-TV in
Fort Myers, Florida
Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...
, and
KDFW-TV in
Dallas, Texas. At KDFW, she spent three years as a consumer reporter/anchor.
She also distinguished herself by reporting on the
Space Shuttle Columbia disaster
The Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster was a fatal accident in the United States space program that occurred on February 1, 2003. During the STS-107 mission, Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disintegrated as it reentered the atmosphere over Texa ...
.
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.
Sidner has received many journalism awards. These include a Regional
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
, a Lone Star Award, and several
Associated Press Awards.
CNN
Currently, Sidner is a national and international correspondent for
CNN, based in Los Angeles. She has previously been based in
Jerusalem,
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area.
...
, and
New Delhi.
At CNN, Sidner has reported on a wide range of subjects including the
2011 Libyan civil war
The First Libyan Civil War was an armed conflict in 2011 in the North African country of Libya that was fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and rebel groups that were seeking to oust his government. It erupted with the Liby ...
, the launching of India's first unmanned
lunar probe, and the
Mumbai terrorist attacks
The 2008 Mumbai attacks (also referred to as 26/11, pronounced "twenty six eleven") were a series of terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist terrorist organisation from Pakistan, c ...
.
On Sunday May 31, 2020, while in Minneapolis covering the
protests sparked by the
murder of George Floyd by police officer
Derek Chauvin
Derek Michael Chauvin ( ; born March 19, 1976) is an American former police officer who was convicted for the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Chauvin was a member of the Minneapolis Police ...
, 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.
In January 2023, CNN announced plans to revamp its daytime programming, Sidner will co-anchor with
John Berman and
Kate Bolduan from 9 a.m. until noon on their new program in Spring 2023.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sidner, Sara
1972 births
Living people
American expatriates in the United Arab Emirates
American expatriates in India
American expatriates in Israel
African-American women journalists
African-American journalists
American women television journalists
American television news anchors
American television reporters and correspondents
University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications alumni
People from Miami Lakes, Florida
CNN people
American people of British descent
African-American television personalities
Florida Gators women's volleyball players
21st-century African-American people
21st-century African-American women
20th-century African-American people
20th-century African-American women