Kathleen Sullivan (journalist)
Encyclopedia
Kathleen Sullivan is an American television
journalist
.
She was one of a small group of anchor
s and reporters which launched CNN
, a cable news channel, which led to the 24-hour news cycle
of the U.S. cable news
broadcast within the field of journalism
. Her career has been involved in nearly every area of broadcasting
. For more than ten years, Sullivan was a news anchor, working at CNN, ABC News
and CBS News
. She is a blog
ger for The Huffington Post
.
, California
.
She became the first American woman to broadcast live from the Soviet Union
when she went there to interview Russian cosmonauts for the Soviet Pre-Olympic festival. In 1980, Sullivan helped Ted Turner
create the Cable News Network, also known as CNN.
in 1982, substituted for co-host Joan Lunden
on Good Morning America
, anchored ABC World News Saturday, and started the first national-network health program, The Health Show. During the 1980s, Sullivan reported live from political convention
s, summit meetings
, state funeral
s and the Olympics Games. She broadcast live from Buckingham Palace
in London
to report the royal wedding
of Charles, Prince of Wales
and Diana, Princess of Wales
.
In 1984, Sullivan became the first woman to anchor a telecast of the Olympic Games. She was an in-studio anchor for ABC's coverage of the Olympics
during the 1984 Winter Olympics
, held in Sarajevo
, and later that year during the 1984 Summer Olympics
, held in Los Angeles
, California.
, held in Barcelona
, for NBC's pay-per-view
Olympics Triplecast.
and as a drive-time anchor for the all-news station KFWB.
Ronald Reagan
to a 1987 White House
state dinner
honoring Soviet President
Mikhail Gorbachev
and celebrating the end of the Cold War
. Her reporting in 1989 on Hurricane Hugo
in South Carolina
won her and CBS News an Emmy Award
for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Breaking News Event.
In the mid-1990s, she appeared in television and magazine ads as a spokesperson for Weight Watchers
.
– a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
– to which she was appointed in 2003 by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services
Tommy Thompson
.
s as herself in various entertainment television programs including the episode "Millions from Heaven" (1996) of the television situation-comedy series Roseanne (1988–1997), reporting on the Conner family winning the lottery.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
.
She was one of a small group of anchor
News presenter
A news presenter is a person who presents news during a news program in the format of a television show, on the radio or the Internet.News presenters can work in a radio studio, television studio and from remote broadcasts in the field especially weather...
s and reporters which launched CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, a cable news channel, which led to the 24-hour news cycle
24-hour news cycle
The 24-hour news cycle arrived with the advent of television channels dedicated to news, and brought about a much faster pace of news production with increased demand for stories that can be presented as news, as opposed to the day-by-day pace of the news cycle of printed daily newspapers...
of the U.S. cable news
United States cable news
Cable news refers to television channels devoted to television news broadcasts, with the name deriving from the proliferation of such networks during the 1980s with the advent of cable television. In the United States, early networks included CNN in 1980, Financial News Network in 1981, and CNN2 ...
broadcast within the field of journalism
Journalism
Journalism is the practice of investigation and reporting of events, issues and trends to a broad audience in a timely fashion. Though there are many variations of journalism, the ideal is to inform the intended audience. Along with covering organizations and institutions such as government and...
. Her career has been involved in nearly every area of broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
. For more than ten years, Sullivan was a news anchor, working at CNN, ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
and CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
. She is a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger for The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
.
Early life and education
She was born in PasadenaPasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
CNN
Starting her career in local television, Sullivan rose quickly after being the first anchor hired by CNN.She became the first American woman to broadcast live from the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
when she went there to interview Russian cosmonauts for the Soviet Pre-Olympic festival. In 1980, Sullivan helped Ted Turner
Ted Turner
Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III is an American media mogul and philanthropist. As a businessman, he is known as founder of the cable news network CNN, the first dedicated 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he founded WTBS, which pioneered the superstation concept in cable television...
create the Cable News Network, also known as CNN.
ABC News
Moving to ABC News, she debuted ABC News This Morning with co-anchor Steve BellSteve Bell (anchorman)
Steve Bell is the former news anchor of ABC News programs "Good Morning America" and "World News This Morning", and professor emeritus of telecommunications at Muncie's Ball State University....
in 1982, substituted for co-host Joan Lunden
Joan Lunden
Joan Lunden is an American journalist, author and television host. She was the co-host of ABC's Good Morning America from 1980 through 1997 and is the author of 8 books...
on Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, anchored ABC World News Saturday, and started the first national-network health program, The Health Show. During the 1980s, Sullivan reported live from political convention
Political convention
In politics, a political convention is a meeting of a political party, typically to select party candidates.In the United States, a political convention usually refers to a presidential nominating convention, but it can also refer to state, county, or congressional district nominating conventions...
s, summit meetings
Summit (meeting)
A summit meeting is a meeting of heads of state or government, usually with considerable media exposure, tight security and a prearranged agenda.Notable summit meetings include those of Franklin D...
, state funeral
State funeral
A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honor heads of state or other important people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition...
s and the Olympics Games. She broadcast live from Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace, in London, is the principal residence and office of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to report the royal wedding
Royal Wedding
Royal Wedding is a 1951 Hollywood musical comedy film known for Fred Astaire's dance performance on a ceiling and another with a coat rack. The story is set in London in 1947 at the time of the wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip, and stars Astaire, Jane Powell, Peter Lawford, Sarah...
of Charles, Prince of Wales
Charles, Prince of Wales
Prince Charles, Prince of Wales is the heir apparent and eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Since 1958 his major title has been His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. In Scotland he is additionally known as The Duke of Rothesay...
and Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales
Diana, Princess of Wales was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, whom she married on 29 July 1981, and an international charity and fundraising figure, as well as a preeminent celebrity of the late 20th century...
.
In 1984, Sullivan became the first woman to anchor a telecast of the Olympic Games. She was an in-studio anchor for ABC's coverage of the Olympics
Olympics on ABC
The Olympics on ABC was the branding for Olympic Games coverage which aired in the United States on the broadcast network ABC. ABC first televised the Winter Olympic Games in 1964. ABC first televised the Summer Olympic Games in 1968...
during the 1984 Winter Olympics
1984 Winter Olympics
The 1984 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIV Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from 8–19 February 1984 in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Other candidate cities were Sapporo, Japan; and Gothenburg, Sweden...
, held in Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
, and later that year during the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
, held in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California.
NBC News
Sullivan also anchored the 1992 Summer Olympics1992 Summer Olympics
The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, in 1992. The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same...
, held in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, for NBC's pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...
Olympics Triplecast.
Radio
She has also worked in radio, doing weekly commentaries for ABC News and working in Los Angeles as a talk-show host on KABCKABC (AM)
KABC is a Los Angeles radio station, and a West Coast flagship station for the Cumulus Media company. A pioneer of the talk radio format, the station went "all-talk" in 1960 and was one of the first stations to do so...
and as a drive-time anchor for the all-news station KFWB.
CBS News
Sullivan was the only American journalist invited by U.S. PresidentPresident of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
to a 1987 White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
state dinner
State dinner
A state dinner is a dinner or banquet paid by a government and hosted by a head of state in his or her official residence in order to renew and celebrate diplomatic ties between the host country and the country of a foreign head of state or head of government who was issued an invitation. In many...
honoring Soviet President
President of the Soviet Union
The President of the Soviet Union , officially called President of the USSR was the Head of State of the USSR from 15 March 1990 to 25 December 1991. Mikhail Gorbachev was the only person to occupy the office. Gorbachev was also General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between...
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...
and celebrating the end of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. Her reporting in 1989 on Hurricane Hugo
Hurricane Hugo
Hurricane Hugo was a classical, destructive and rare Cape Verde-type hurricane which struck the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe, Montserrat, St. Croix, Puerto Rico and the USA mainland in South Carolina as a Category 4 hurricane during September of the 1989 Atlantic hurricane season...
in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
won her and CBS News an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for Outstanding Live Coverage of a Breaking News Event.
Later work
After leaving CBS News, Sullivan was the host of two syndicated health shows in the 1990s.In the mid-1990s, she appeared in television and magazine ads as a spokesperson for Weight Watchers
Weight Watchers
Weight Watchers is an international company that offers various dieting products and services to assist weight loss and maintenance. Founded in 1963 by Brooklyn homemaker Jean Nidetch, it operates in about 30 countries around the world, generally under names that are local translations of “Weight...
.
E!
Sullivan received an Emmy nomination for Best Sportscaster – a first for a woman – and received two Emmy nominations for her work as anchor of E! Entertainment's E! News Daily, which she hosted after anchoring full-time coverage of the 1995 O.J. Simpson murder trial.Awards and honors
She has been nominated for Emmy Awards in news, sports and entertainment.Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Sullivan is a member of the National Advisory Board of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services AdministrationSubstance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is charged with improving the quality and availability of prevention, treatment, and rehabilitative services in order to reduce illness, death, disability, and cost to...
– a branch of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
United States Department of Health and Human Services
The United States Department of Health and Human Services is a Cabinet department of the United States government with the goal of protecting the health of all Americans and providing essential human services. Its motto is "Improving the health, safety, and well-being of America"...
– to which she was appointed in 2003 by the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services
United States Secretary of Health and Human Services
The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services is the head of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, concerned with health matters. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet...
Tommy Thompson
Tommy Thompson
Thomas George "Tommy" Thompson , a United States Republican politician, was the 42nd Governor of Wisconsin, after which he served as U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Thompson was a candidate for the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, but dropped out early after a poor performance in polls...
.
In popular culture
She has made various cameo appearanceCameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s as herself in various entertainment television programs including the episode "Millions from Heaven" (1996) of the television situation-comedy series Roseanne (1988–1997), reporting on the Conner family winning the lottery.