Barbara Walters

Barbara Walters is considered one of the most famous and highly regarded journalists of the 20th and 21st centuries. She is an icon who paved the way for the future of females in journalism.

New York Times

This is the cover image for her book Rulebreaker.

Barbara Walters was born on September 25, 1929 in Boston, Massachusetts. Her father, Lou Walters, was a nightclub owner who expanded his business from Boston to Miami, Florida in 1929. 

She attended private schools in New York City and graduated from Miami Beach High School in 1947. 

Because of being in Miami, she was exposed to being around celebrities from a young age, which some believe is why she appeared so nonchalant when interviewing famous people.

Walters went on to attend Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. She received a B.A. in English and graduated in 1953. 

After working for an advertising agency for a short time, she landed her first job in news as the assistant to the publicity director of the NBC affiliate WRCA-TV in NYC. Next she was hired as a writer and producer for CBS's Morning Show. It is clear that Walter's career was already setting her on a fast track towards success.

It was her next career move that changed her life. In 1964 she was hired to work for the Today show. Her role was small and mainly involved reading commercials and making small talk, but she took that role and ran with it until she grew her reputation and responsibilities. 

Today

Walters on the set of the Today show.

She asked to be put on an assignment to travel with the First Lady, Jacqueline Kennedy, which propelled her career forward. Just 10 years later in 1974, she was named co-host of the Today show alongside Hugh Downs. She was the first woman to hold such a position for an American news network. In 1975 she won her first Emmy.

In 1972 she was a part of the press corps which traveled with President Richard Nixon on an important trip to China. After 11 years making her mark at the Today show, Walters left to join ABC where she became the first woman co-anchor of a network evening news program. 

In 1976, Walters began her famous series entitled Barbara Walters Specials. This is when Walters made her mark as a world renowned interviewer, interviewing everyone from Jimmy Carter to George Clooney. In addition to launching this show, Walters left ABC nightly news and joined 20/20 in 1979, where she stayed until 2004. In 1997 Walters also began cohosting The View. 

Throughout her career, Walters earned many awards and accolades, including induction into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. 

Yahoo Money

Walters and President Richard Nixon on ABC's 20/20.

2014 was the end of an era. Walters retired from The View and all broadcasting she has been working on. She did however make some guest appearances and recorded a few interviews after her retirement.

On December 30, 2022, Barbara Walters died at the age of 93.

Barbara Walters set the standard for how journalists should conduct interviews while teaching the world about some of its most well-known figures with her own in depth interviews. She is loved and admired by many because of her incredible work.

As a young college students myself about to enter the work force in a year, I have so much admiration for Walters. She was a pioneer for women in journalism, and who knows what the future of women in journalism would have been like without her. 

She turned journalism from a field dominated by males into one that I would personally say seems to be dominated by women. The Today show and other network broadcasts have more female anchors than ever before.

Thank you Barbara Walters for paving the way for female journalists like me.