O’Brien’s consistently high-quality journalism enabled her to move up the ranks of media broadcasting, joining NBC News in New York as a field producer for Nightly News and Today. She became a local reporter and bureau chief for San Francisco’s NBC affiliate for three years and ultimately started work as an anchor at MSNBC in 1996.
This past year, O’Brien anchored the CNN morning show “Starting Point,” in which her confrontational one-on-one interview style became a trademark.
“Soledad does not suffer fools lightly,” said Bondy. “She knows when to call bullshit because she does her homework.”
After leaving Starting Point this past March, O’Brien launched her own production company, StarFish Media, through which she will continue to produce documentaries and expand her “Black in America” documentary series.
O’Brien is currently a visiting fellow at the Graduate School of Education and will deliver the Class Day speech at Harvard’s 376th commencement exercises.
—Staff writer Amna H. Hashmi can be reached at amnahashmi@college. harvard.edu. Follow her on Twitter @amna_hashmi.