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American journalist Barbara Walters, the first woman to host the evening news in the United States, died on Friday at the age of 93. Throughout his media career, Walters has interviewed every US president, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama, as well as foreign leaders such as Saddam Hussein, Anwar Sadat, Fidel Castro, the Dalai Lama, and other celebrities such as Bette Davis and Angelina Jolie.
The reporter is dead American Barbara Walters, a pioneer in presenting the news in the United States, at the age of 93, announced on Friday the channel “ABC”, where she worked for many years.
The American television star greeted viewers in 2014, with the phrase “see you soon” in French, after more than 50 years of screen work, and was 84 at the time.
The American network did not mention the cause or place of death.
Barbara Walters has interviewed every US president, from Richard Nixon to Barack Obama, as well as foreign leaders such as Saddam Hussein, Anwar Sadat, Fidel Castro, the Dalai Lama and other celebrities such as Bette Davis and Angelina Jolie.
Walters achieved fame in the American news world, most notably on the daily show ‘The View’ which he launched in 1997 on ‘ABC’.
The channel noted that the reporter has won 12 Emmy Awards, all but one with ABC.
Bus ride
When she left the channel in 2014, Walters rejoiced at being a pioneer in a profession long reserved for men. Hillary Clinton had come to pay her respects, as had television host and producer Oprah Winfrey and a score of television reporters.
In 1976, Walters was the first woman to host the ABC Evening News, earning an unprecedented salary of $1 million a year.
Two years earlier, he co-hosted a morning show on NBC, in an experience Barbara Walters described 40 years later as a “failure.” “My partner in presenting the program didn’t want a (female) partner, and neither did the audience,” she said.
Then she established herself through her unique style of interviews, from Vladimir Putin to Michael Jackson via Margaret Thatcher and Indira Gandhi.
His greatest pride has been in helping women’s access to television. “If I’ve done anything to help with that, it’s my legacy,” she said in 2014.
France 24/AFP
