Kate O'Brian is an American journalist and television executive. She is the head of news for the

E. W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company, also known as Scripps, is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglom ...

's national news channels,

Scripps News Scripps News is a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) streaming news channel, and a former American digital subchannel network headquartered in Atlanta, GA Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state ...

and

Court TV Court TV is an American digital broadcast network and former pay-television channel. It was originally launched in 1991 with a focus on crime-themed programs such as true crime documentary series, legal analysis talk shows, and live news cover ...

. She was previously with

Al Jazeera America Al Jazeera America was an American pay television news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network. The channel was launched on August 20, 2013, to compete with CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, and in certain markets RT America. It was Al Jazee ...

as president of the network and before,

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

, where she spent most of her career.

History

Formerly she was Senior Vice-president of ABC News in charge of the news division's newsgathering since 2007 which included all ABC News bureaus worldwide, business, law and justice, medical, and investigative units, ABC NewsOne,

ABC News Radio ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News (United States), ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five-minute newscasts on the hour ...

and affiliate relations. Prior to that she had worked at the network for over 30 years in various roles including positions with 20/20 and

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News (United States), ABC News' Late night television in the United States, late-night television news program broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC in the United States with a franchis ...

. O'Brian began as an intern for '' 20/20'', then moved on to become a television desk assistant in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and then joined the staff of " This Week with David Brinkley" when it launched in 1981. She also held the position of

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of programming for

where she was responsible for editorial content; she has also been an overseas field producer in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and a producer for " World News Tonight with Peter Jennings," both in

Washington DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

and New York; she was a manager in talent development and later the primary liaison between ABC News and its 200+ affiliate stations. O'Brian was named president of Al Jazeera America on July 22, 2013, alongside the naming of Ehab Al Shihabi as interim

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

in charge of business affairs.

Al Jazeera America

O'Brian stated that Al Jazeera America (in particular its news department) was on its way to being the "envy of the industry." She also stated that the channel will be committed to hard news not the salacious "

infotainment Infotainment (a portmanteau of ''information'' and ''entertainment''), also called soft news as a way to distinguish it from serious journalism or hard news, is a type of media, usually television or online, that provides a combination of inform ...

" made popular on competitor

cable news Cable news channels are television networks devoted to television news broadcasts, with the name deriving from the proliferation of such networks during the 1980s with the advent of cable television. In the United States, the first nationwide ca ...

networks. The channel also branched into airing independent documentaries and

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

sessions on particular topics. Al Jazeera America was closed in April 2015 due to low ratings and change in strategy by

Al Jazeera Media Network Al Jazeera Media Network (AJMN; , ) is a private-media media conglomerate, conglomerate headquartered in Wadi Al Sail, Doha, funded in part by the government of Qatar. The network's flagship channels include Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera E ...

Scripps Media

Following the closure of Al Jazeera America, O'Brian consulted for various news organizations, including the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' and

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is an international broadcasting network funded by the federal government of the United States that by law has editorial independence from the government. It is the largest and oldest of the American internation ...

, on media projects. In April 2021, she was named head of news for E.W. Scripps Company's national news channels, Court TV and Newsy. She was responsible for Newsy's conversion from a cable news channel to a broadcast and streaming news channel starting October 2021, as well as leading Court TV's coverage of major legal events and trials.

Awards

A 30-year ABC News veteran, O'Brian has won an Alfred I. duPont Award as part of the " This Week with David Brinkley" team, an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

for the 2000 Millennium coverage, and Alfred I. duPont and a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

for September 11 coverage. In 2015, the School of Mass Communication and Journalism at

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a Public university, public research university in Kent, Ohio, United States. The university includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio located in Kent State University at Ashtabula, Ashtabula, Kent State ...

named O'Brian the winner of the Robert G. McGruder Distinguished Guest Lecture and Award for Diversity. "The award recognizes the accomplishments of media professionals who encourage diversity in the field of journalism".

Personal life

Kate O'Brian is the daughter of

Jack O'Brian John Dennis Patrick O'Brian (August 16, 1914 – November 5, 2000) was an American entertainment journalist best known for his longtime role as a television critic for '' New York Journal American''. Career A supporter of Senator Joseph McCa ...

(1914–2000), a former gossip columnist best known for being a champion of

Joseph McCarthy Joseph Raymond McCarthy (November 14, 1908 – May 2, 1957) was an American politician who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican United States Senate, U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death at age ...

and for contributing to serious journalist Don Hollenbeck's suicide. Her sister, Bridget O'Brian, is also a journalist. Bridget worked as a reporter for the New Orleans

Times-Picayune ''The Times-Picayune , The New Orleans Advocate'' (commonly called ''The Times-Picayune'' or the ''T-P'') is an American newspaper published in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ancestral publications of other names date back to January 25, 1837. The cu ...

, the

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

and at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

References

External links

Kate O'Brian
on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

Kate O'Brian speech with Cieri Media
{{DEFAULTSORT:OBrian, Kate Living people Businesspeople from New York City American television executives American women journalists Al Jazeera people Al Jazeera ABC News American Broadcasting Company executives American women television executives Peabody Award winners Emmy Award winners Smith College alumni American women chief executives Year of birth missing (living people)