Sara Sidner Biography
Sara Sidner is a multi-award winning national and international CNN senior correspondent. She co-anchors CNN News Central, based in CNN’s New York City Bureau, airing weekdays from 9am-12pm ET. She covers extremism, social justice, conflict war and peace both internationally and nationally.
She was once hit by a bullet shell while reporting outside of Muammar el-Qaddafi’s seized compound in 2011. She also did live coverage of the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008. In January 2021 she shed tears on live television while covering a story of Juliana Jimenez Sesma, a Los Angeles woman who lost her mother and stepfather to COVID-19.
Sara Sidner Age
How Old is Sara Sidner? Sidner was born on May 31, 1972, in Miami Lakes, Florida, U.S.
Sara Sidner Height
Sara stands at a height of 5 feet 10 inches tall.
Sara Sidner Education
Where Did Sara Sidner Go to College? Sidner attended Hialeah-Miami Lakes High School and later joined the University of Florida where she graduated with a degree in telecommunications and was named an Alumni of Distinction in 2011.
What is Sara Sidner Ethnicity
Sara is of Black race. She is of mixed ethnicity as she was born to a British mother and a Black-American father.
She said that while she was a child a teacher was taking roll marking down the race of each student and she couldn’t figure whether she was white or black. “He was trying to figure out whether I was black or white, and he looked at me, and he said, ‘You know what; you’re a smart kid; I’m going to check white.’ It definitely had an impact on me, it made me want to fight back and say, ‘I can be black and smart. Those are not separate entities. Those are not different things.'”
Sara Sidner Nationality
Sara is an American national
Sara Sidner Parents
Sidner was born to an African-American father and a British mother. She has not revealed their names nor shared them on her socials. She however revealed in a memorial day post that her father fought in war.
“Thank you to my Grandfather, Father and Uncle who fought in wars that changed them forever.
A part of them died in war. May they rest in peace. War is hell for everyone. I pray every veteran alive finds peace. And every one that has passed is resting in peace. #MemorialDay”
Sara Sidner Siblings
Sara has not revealed whether she has any siblings.
Sara Sidner Husband
Who is Sara Sidner Married to? Sara is married but she hasn’t revealed the identity of her spouse. However, in an exclusive interview in the talk show ‘TVNewser’ on 23 March 2015, she revealed that she was married but her tight work schedule remained the greatest challenge in her marriage as she barely finds time to be with her husband.
She said that they planned the wedding via a satellite phone while she was in Africa covering the Libyan war. She added that her husband always teased her by telling her to ensure she made it to her own wedding.
Sara Sidner Children
Sara has no children as of 2023.
Sara Sidner Religion
Is Sara Sidner Jewish? Sidner has not publicly shared her religious beliefs. They are some sites claiming she is Jewish which we can not verify. Some have taken her tweet from 2017 when she quoted a Rabbi “I want people to know. I am a Jew. I am proud to be a Jew standing against hatred”
Sara Sidner CNN
Sara Sidner is CNN’s national and international correspondent, based in the network’s Los Angeles bureau and was previously based in Jerusalem, Abu Dhabi, and New Delhi, India. Sidner led the coverage in Ferguson, Missouri where protests continued for months after an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by a white police officer. She was there for weeks while a grand jury looked at the evidence and ultimately decided not to indict the officer. Their decision sparked two nights of violence in Ferguson but it also lead to nationwide protests and a national conversation about race and policing in America, as well as a state commission and Presidential task force on policing.
Sara was part of the team that won a Peabody award for CNN’s coverage of the Arab Spring. Her work in Libya reporting in the midst of rebel fighters during the fall of Tripoli has been recognized all over the world. In 2011 Sidner shared the Achievement of the Year Award from SKY WFTV Women in Film & Television in the United Kingdom for her war coverage in Libya.
In 2014, Sidner also reported from Malaysia on missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370, from Ukraine on the downed Malaysia Airlines flight 17, and from the Israeli border during the 2014 war between Israel and Gaza. Prior to joining CNN, Sara also worked at WUFT-TV in Gainesville, Florida, KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, WINK-TV in Fort Myers, Florida, and KDFW-TV in Dallas, Texas. At KDFW, she spent three years as a consumer reporter/anchor.She also distinguished herself for reporting on the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. In January 2004, Sidner joined KTVU in Oakland, California, where she served as a weekend co-anchor of KTVU Channel 2 News at 6 and The Ten O’Clock News. She also served as a weekday reporter for the station.
Sara Sidner Apology
While reporting on the ongoing Hamas attack against Israel, Sara reported unconfirmed claims by the Israeli Prime Minister’s office that Hamas had beheaded babies during the weekend’s attacks. The Israeli’s government later said they cannot confirm babies were beheaded which led to Sara apologizing for the report.
“Yesterday the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said that it had confirmed Hamas beheaded babies & children while we were live on the air. The Israeli government now says today it CANNOT confirm babies were beheaded. I needed to be more careful with my words and I am sorry.”
Sara Sidner India
Sara is a former CNN’s New Delhi-based international correspondent and was responsible for the network’s coverage of India and South Asia. She covered the earthquakes in Chile and Haiti, Sri Lanka’s volatile Presidential elections, a special on victims of Sri Lanka’s civil war and the elections in Afghanistan. She also reported on the Mumbai terrorist attacks, as they happened, from outside the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower in Mumbai.
She also covered India’s first moon mission, largest corporate accounting scandal, largest kidney selling racket, massive flooding in North East India and across the border in Nepal, and the devastating Myanmar Cyclone. In addition, she contributed several reports for CNN’s special programming week, India Means Business.
Sara Sidner Awards
Sidner has won many awards including two Alliance for Women in Media Gracie Awards; one for her coverage of India’s unwanted girls where she explored the issue of female infanticide in India, and a second for her breaking news coverage of the 2012 Gaza-Israel conflict from Gaza & Israel.
She has two Asian Television Awards, one for her 2011 report on the horrors faced by young Bangladeshis forced into begging and a second for the 2012 Freedom Project documentary ‘Operation Hope’, which chronicled the extraordinary journey, from suffering to recovery, of one of these children, a seven-year-old boy who was castrated and left for dead when he refused to beg.
She also has a regional Emmy, an Edward R. Murrow Award, and multiple Gracie Awards from the Women in Media Foundation. She was part of the team that won a Peabody Award for CNN’s coverage of the Arab Spring, and shared the Achievement of the Year Award from SKY Women in Film & Television in the U.K. for her work.
Sara Sidner Salary – Net worth
Sidner receives an annual base salary of $144167 according to CNN anchors/reporters’ salaries. She has also accumulated an estimated net worth of around $3 million.
Is Sara Sidner Hair Real
Sara’s hair is real and not a weave. She once tweeted a fan who asked whether it’s a wig and said “I love weaves but don’t wear one. That is my natural hair just in a humid place.”