René Syler (born February 17, 1963), is an American broadcast television journalist and author. Syler co-hosted

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...

' ''

The Early Show ''The Early Show'' is an American morning television show that aired on CBS from November 1, 1999 to January 7, 2012, and the ninth attempt at a morning news-talk program by the network since 1954. The program aired Monday through Friday from ...

'' from October 2002, when it debuted in its four-anchor format, until she left the program in December 2006. She has interviewed First Lady

Laura Bush Laura Lane Welch Bush (''née'' Welch; born November 4, 1946) is an American teacher, librarian, memoirist and author who was First Lady of the United States from 2001 to 2009. Bush previously served as First Lady of Texas from 1995 to 2000. ...

, former President

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he previously served as th ...

, former Secretary of State

Colin Powell Colin Luther Powell ( ; April 5, 1937 – October 18, 2021) was an American politician, statesman, diplomat, and United States Army officer who served as the 65th United States Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African ...

, Senator

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

, and NASA’s first female shuttle commander,

Eileen Collins Eileen Marie Collins (born 19 November 1956) is a retired NASA astronaut and United States Air Force (USAF) colonel. A former flight instructor and test pilot, Collins was the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle and the first to command a ...

, as well as celebrities including

Melissa Etheridge Melissa Lou Etheridge (born May 29, 1961) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and guitarist. Her eponymous debut album was released in 1988 and became an underground success. It peaked at No. 22 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and its lead ...

and

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

Background

Syler was born at

Scott Air Force Base Scott Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Scott Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the U ...

(Illinois) but grew up near

Sacramento, California ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento C ...

. She graduated from

Del Campo High School Del Campo High School, is a public high school in Fair Oaks, California. It is a member of the San Juan Unified School District and serves western Fair Oaks and eastern Carmichael. Academic curriculum Del Campo’s academic program is valida ...

Fair Oaks, California Fair Oaks is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sacramento County, California, Sacramento County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento, California, Sacramento–Arden-Arcade, California, Arden-Arcade–Roseville, Calif ...

, and CSU-Sacramento in 1987 with a degree in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

. *^a "Syler was born at Scott AFB, Ill., and grew up in Sacramento, Calif. She graduated from California State University at Sacramento in 1987 with a degree in psychology." — ¶ 5.

Career

Syler began her career in journalism as a weekend

reporter A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

KTVN-TV KTVN (channel 2) is a television station in Reno, Nevada, United States, affiliated with CBS. Owned by Sarkes Tarzian, Inc., the station has studios on Energy Way in Reno, and its transmitter is located on Slide Mountain in unincorporated Was ...

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, from 1987 to 1989 when she left to become a weekend anchor at

KOLO-TV KOLO-TV (channel 8) is a television station in Reno, Nevada, United States, affiliated with ABC and The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television alongside Incline Village–licensed low-power Telemundo affiliate KXNV-LD (channel 26). The two stat ...

. In 1990 she moved to

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

, to become the weekend anchor at

WVTM-TV WVTM-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, affiliated with NBC. Owned by Hearst Television, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities atop Red Mountain, between Vulcan Trail and Valley V ...

. In 1992, she became the morning and noon anchor at

WFAA-TV WFAA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Dallas, Texas, United States, serving the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Decatur-licensed Estrella TV affiliate KMPX (channel 29) ...

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. From 1997 to 2002, she anchored newscasts at

KTVT KTVT (channel 11) is a television station licensed to Fort Worth, Texas, United States, broadcasting CBS programming to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is owned by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside Independent statio ...

, a

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

-owned station in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

. From 2002 to 2006, Syler was an anchor on CBS News' ''The Early Show'' along with Harry Smith,

Hannah Storm Hannah Lynn Storen Hicks (born June 13, 1962), known professionally as Hannah Storm, is an American television sports journalist, serving as the anchor of ESPN's ''SportsCenter'' Face to Face. She was also host of the ''NBA Countdown'' pregame s ...

and

Julie Chen Julie may refer to: * Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day * ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...

. After leaving ''The Early Show'' in 2006, Syler remained busy, hosting a health-themed pilot for

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

and Telepicture’s ''Mom Logic'' pilot. She was a guest expert on several episodes of ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and ...

'' and has made guest appearances on '' The View'', ''

The Nate Berkus Show ''The Nate Berkus Show'', also known as ''The Nate Show'', is an American talk show that premiered on September 13, 2010, hosted by interior designer Nate Berkus. The series aired on syndication during its original run from September 13, 2010, to ...

'', '' The Doctors'', ''

The Mo'Nique Show ''The Mo'Nique Show'' is an American talk show hosted by comedian and actress Mo'Nique. Aired on BET, the series began October 5, 2009. The show's second and final season premiered on Monday, October 4, 2010. Overview The show ran all-new episod ...

'', ''

The Wendy Williams Show ''The Wendy Williams Show'' (often shortened to ''Wendy'') is an American syndicated talk show created and hosted by Wendy Williams, and produced by Wendy Williams Productions, along with Perler Productions. The show is distributed by Debmar-Me ...

'', and CNN Headline News. She guest-hosted ''

The Joy Behar Show ''Joy Behar: Say Anything!'' was an American news program and talk show hosted by Joy Behar. The program had its "Preview" while Behar filled in as a week-long host on '' Viewpoint with Eliot Spitzer'' on June 18, 2012, and officially premiered ...

'' in August 2010 on HLN. Syler is an active member of the

National Association of Black Journalists The National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) is an organization of African-American journalists, students, and media professionals. Founded in 1975 in Washington, D.C., by 44 journalists, the NABJ's stated purpose is to provide quality p ...

. She is a recipient of the 2004 Gracie Allen Award for Individual Achievement in the National Best Anchor category for her series on breast cancer. She was also honored by Ebony Magazine in 2005 as one of twelve Outstanding Women in Marketing and Communications. The American Women in Radio and Television awarded her Television Personality of the Year in 1997. In early 2013, Syler became the host of ''Sweet Retreats'' on the

Live Well Network Localish (formerly Live Well Network, stylized as LOCALISH) is a lifestyle TV network owned by ABC Owned Television Stations, part of Walt Disney Television, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Localish's 24/7 channel streams on Hulu Live ...

. The series is designed to help travelers find perfect family vacation getaway locations. The series' first episode premiered on Sunday, January 20, 2013. Syler is now one of the hosts of ''Exhale'' on Aspire.

Good Enough Mother

In 2007, Syler published her first book, ''Good Enough Mother, the Perfectly Imperfect Book Of Parenting'' (

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

), and its companio
website
Frustrated watching mothers buy into an unrealistic view of motherhood, Syler now uses her platform to empower women to do what works best for them and their families and eschew society’s vision of perfect motherhood. She is currently busy building the ''Good Enough Mother'' brand, speaking to groups and conferences across America, and making media appearances to promote her parenting and life philosophy.

Advocacy

Both Syler's mother and father had

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

, and on her final day on ''

'', she announced that she herself was about to undergo a bilateral prophylactic

mastectomy Mastectomy is the medical term for the surgical removal of one or both breasts, partially or completely. A mastectomy is usually carried out to treat breast cancer. In some cases, women believed to be at high risk of breast cancer have the operat ...

. Today, she is spokesperson for

Susan G. Komen for the Cure Susan G. Komen (formerly known as Susan G. Komen for the Cure; originally as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation; often simply as Komen) is a breast cancer organization in the United States. Komen focuses on patient navigation and advo ...

, the largest grassroots

organization in the world, and works to spread the word about

and early detection. She is Co-Chair of the Komen Foundation's Circle of Promise and works to empower Black women to be more vocal about the subject of breast cancer.

Personal life

Syler is a resident of

Chappaqua Chappaqua ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of New Castle, in northern Westchester County, New York, United States. It is approximately north of New York City. The hamlet is served by the Chappaqua station of the Metro- ...

in Westchester County.

References

External links

Official CBS Bio
*
Syler's author website: goodenoughmother.comSyler, Rene (November 15,2017). “''Teachable Moments With Little House on the Prairie''”. Retrieved 7/17/2019
{{DEFAULTSORT:Syler, Rene American television news anchors American television reporters and correspondents American women journalists California State University, Sacramento alumni People from Sacramento, California 1963 births African-American women journalists Living people Syler, Rene Journalists from California People from Fair Oaks, California African-American history of Westchester County, New York