Sara Sidner (born May 31, 1972) is an American TV reporter who is a co-anchor of the morning edition of CNN News Central. She anchored Big Picture with Sara Sidner on CNN+, the network's short-lived subscription service.
On May 31, 2020, while in Minneapolis covering the protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd by police officer Derek Chauvin, 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.[8]
In January 2023, CNN announced plans to revamp its daytime programming. Sidner was named a co-anchor along with John Berman and Kate Bolduan from 9 a.m. until noon on their new program titled CNN News Central, which later debuted on April 3, 2023.[9]
On October 11, 2023, Sidner was accused of streaming false information spread by the Israeli Prime Minister office regarding victims of the Kfar Aza massacre carried out by Hamas in Southern Israel.[10] She had reported that "babies and toddlers were found with their (quoted) heads decapitated in Kfar Aza in southern Israel after Hamas' attacks in the kibbutz over the weekend, a spokesperson for Israel's prime minister says."[11][12] CNN later reported that the Israeli government cannot verify the claim that Hamas beheaded infants, but indicated that Hamas murdered the babies by other means.[13] U.S. President Joe Biden initially claimed that he had seen evidence of Hamas terrorists beheading children, before the White House clarified that they cannot confirm whether any beheadings took place.[14][15][16] Sidner then apologised via her personal Twitter account and alleged that she had been misled by other parties.[17][18][19][12]
Health
On January 8, 2024, during the end an episode of CNN News Central, Sidner revealed that she had been diagnosed with stage IIIbreast cancer.[20] She underwent treatment while maintaining her journalistic duties, regularly updating her followers on social media about her treatment progress and raising awareness about breast cancer.[2] She had a double mastectomy, 16 rounds of chemotherapy and 25 rounds of radiation, completing her treatment on October 10, 2024.[21][22]
References
^Stephen Battaglio (December 22, 2011). "The Biz: CNN's Sara Sidner Talks War Reporting". TV Guide. Retrieved June 3, 2022. My mother is British. My father is African-American. For me It's been an advantage...Being this color, I can kind of blend in, and I don't get the kind of unwanted attention you might get if I walked in and everyone has dark hair and olive skin and I have blonde hair and blue eyes.
^ abcd"Sara Sidner". Oakland, California: KTVU-TV. Archived from the original on August 4, 2010. Retrieved August 24, 2011. Sidner has received many journalism awards, including a Regional Emmy Award, a Lone Star Award, and several Associated Press Awards for her work at KDFW-TV in Dallas where she reported on the Columbia space shuttle tragedy.
^"Former Gator Sidner Achieves Broadcasting Dream". Florida Gators. January 28, 2009. Archived from the original on October 4, 2012. Retrieved June 3, 2022. In a November 17, 1991 Florida volleyball match-day program, former Gator Sara Sidner (1990–92) was quoted as saying 'Florida has an excellent journalism school, which is one of the reasons why I came to UF. I am interested in broadcast journalism.'
^"Anchors & Reporters: Sara Sidner". CNN. Retrieved August 24, 2011. Sara Sidner is CNN's multiple award winning, Jerusalem-based international correspondent and is responsible for the network's coverage of India and South Asia.
^Fernandez, Sofia M. (August 23, 2011). "CNN's Sara Sidner Hit by Shell While Reporting From Libya". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 24, 2011. CNN reporter Sara Sidner experienced the hazards of covering an unstable region Tuesday when she was hit by a shell of a bullet shot in celebration of the rebel takeover of Tripoli in Libya.
