Wikipedia

Bianna Golodryga

Bianna Vitalievna Golodryga (Russian: Бианна Витальевна Голодрыга; Romanian: Bianna Vitaliïvna Golodrîga; born June 15, 1978) is a Soviet-born American news anchor and journalist. She currently co-anchors One World with Zain Asher on CNN International and CNN Max. She previously served as a senior global affairs analyst at CNN,[1] and as news and finance anchor at Yahoo! News.[2] Golodryga also co-anchored the weekend edition of Good Morning America and co-hosted CBS This Morning.[3]

Bianna Golodryga
Bianna Golodryga in 2010
Golodryga in 2010
Born
Bianna Vitalievna Golodryga

(1978-06-15) June 15, 1978 (age 46)
Căușeni, Moldavian SSR, Soviet Union (now Moldova)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Texas at Austin
Occupations
  • News anchor
  • journalist
Years active2000–present
Notable credits
Spouse
​
(m. 2010)​
Children2
Websitebiannagolodryga.com Edit this at Wikidata

Early life and education

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Golodryga was born to a working-class family of Bessarabian Jews on June 15, 1978, in the town of Căușeni,[4] Soviet Moldova. She is the only child of her parents.[5][6]

In 1980, when she was 18 months old, her family left the Soviet Union as political refugees, with $150 000 between them. Arriving in the United States, they initially moved to Galveston, Texas, before settling down in nearby Houston.[7] Since then, she has returned to her birthplace only once, when she visited her grandparents and cousins in 1988; her grandmother joined her family in Houston later that year.[8] Her mother Zhanna is the chief digital and administrative officer for Phillips 66,[9] and previously was the chief information officer of Hess Corporation.[10] Her father Vitaly, a mechanical engineer, was a consultant for DuPont.[11]

Golodryga attended the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, but was interested in becoming a journalist instead of having an acting career. She was inspired to look closer at what was going on in the world after performing in a play about AIDS, written by her teacher Sharon Ferranti, whom she cites as a major source of inspiration.[12] In May 2000,[7][13] Golodryga graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in Russian/East European and Eurasian studies and a minor in economics.[14][15] She is fluent in the Russian language.[15]

Career

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Golodryga had planned for a career in the financial services industry after she graduated from college. She became a licensed trader and worked at several financial companies. After a sharp drop in the market, however, she decided to pursue journalism. She moved to New York in February 2001 and began working as a producer at CNBC, where she later became an on-air correspondent.

In 2004, Golodryga was named one of the top journalists under the age of 30.[16] She was a correspondent for ABC between 2007 and 2010, and was named co-anchor of the weekend edition of Good Morning America in May 2010, following the departure of former co-anchor Kate Snow, who went to work for NBC.

In April 2013, Golodryga was the first person to interview Anzor Tsarnaev, the father of Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who both carried out the Boston Marathon bombings; she called this "the most emotional moment" of her career. At first she assisted her colleagues with the proper pronunciation of the name; her assignment was to call Anzor in Chechnya. He had very few details to offer but called her back the next day, trying to find more information about what was happening and whether or not Dzhokhar, who had been taken into custody severely injured, was still alive.[17]

Golodryga served as weekend co-anchor of Good Morning America until August 4, 2014, when she left the program to join the business and finance news department of Yahoo! News.[18] She was a guest host on Way Too Early and was a regular contributor to Morning Joe on MSNBC.[19] In 2017, she was a guest co-anchor on CBS Morning News.[20] She joined CBS on a permanent basis as a correspondent in September 2017 and simultaneously joined CNN as a contributor.[21]

 
Golodryga traveling in Europe, 2015

In December 2016, Golodryga confronted Republican then-Congressman Dana Rohrabacher over his defense of Russian president Vladimir Putin. At the time, Rohrabacher was considered a candidate to be appointed Secretary of State by American president-elect Donald Trump and was criticizing China for its record on human rights. Golodryga then asked about Putin, who has been consistently praised by Trump. Rohrabacher answered, "Oh, baloney. Where do you come from? How can you say that?" to which Golodryga replied, "I come from the former Soviet Union—that's where I came from. I came here as a political refugee. That's where I came from." Rohrabacher appeared flustered and accused Golodryga of being biased before he compared Putin to Mikhail Gorbachev.[22][23][24]

Golodryga is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.[25] She has contributed to the HuffPost, and more recently was a news and finance anchor at Yahoo!.[26]

In 2015, Golodryga, whose husband was a former Bill Clinton staff member, was selected by Hillary Clinton to conduct Hillary's first interview as a presidential candidate. However, Hillary Clinton said her choice was "Bianna", which was misinterpreted by Hillary's staff as "Brianna" and an interview was scheduled with CNN's Brianna Keilar, who conducted a tough interview. Golodryga responded, "It happens all the time that my name gets butchered. I never thought it would impede me from participating in what would be one of the biggest stories of my life."[27]

On October 3, 2018, it was announced on CBS This Morning that she would be joining the team as a co-host. On April 3, 2019, CBS News announced that she had chosen to leave the network.[28] Later that year, CNN announced that Golodryga had accepted a full-time role at the network as a senior global affairs analyst.[1]

Amidst the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, Golodryga interviewed Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the erstwhile Pakistani Minister of Foreign Affairs. During the interview, Qureshi said: "Israel is losing out. They are losing the media war, despite their connections."[29] Golodryga asked Qureshi: "What are their connections?" to which Qureshi replied: "Deep pockets," adding, "they are very influential people — they control media." Golodryga remarked several times during the interview that she considered this remark to be antisemitic.[30] After her exchange with Qureshi became a matter of international discussion, she elaborated further: "There should be zero point zero doubt that accusing Israel of 'controlling the media' and having 'deep pockets' is anti-Semitic." Since the interview, Pakistani government officials and social media commentators have defended Qureshi's remarks.[29][31]

Awards

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Golodgryga is the recipient of an Emmy Award for Outstanding Morning Program, the Keystone Policy Center Leadership Award and the University of Texas at Austin Pro Bene Meritis Award among others.[32]

Personal life

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Golodryga and her husband, Peter R. Orszag, in 2018

In September 2010,[33] Golodryga married Peter R. Orszag, the CEO of Lazard, a financial services firm, and the former Director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Barack Obama administration.[34] They have a son and daughter.[35][36]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Steinberg, Brian (September 20, 2019). "Bianna Golodryga Joins CNN in Full-Time Role". Variety.
  2. ^ Somaiya, Ravi (July 18, 2014). "Bianna Golodryga Leaving ABC To Join Yahoo News". The New York Times.
  3. ^ "Bianna Golodryga named co-host of "CBS This Morning"". Retrieved October 3, 2018.
  4. ^ "Девушка из Каушан стала известной телеведущей в США". Vybor Moldova (in Russian). December 30, 2016. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  5. ^ "Tim Boxer At Jewish Women's Foundation". The Jewish Week. May 17, 2012. Archived from the original on June 19, 2013.
  6. ^ Calmes, Jackie (December 28, 2009). "Peter Orszag to Wed ABC News Reporter". The New York Times. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  7. ^ a b Richard Huff; Corky Siemaszko (January 7, 2010). "ABC beauty Bianna Golodryga, fiancee of Obama budget boss Orszag, was busted for DWI in 2000". NY Daily News. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  8. ^ "Девушка из Каушан стала известной телеведущей в США". Vybor Moldova (in Russian). December 30, 2016. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  9. ^ "Phillips 66 names new executive leaders". Houston Business Journal. Retrieved April 2, 2019.
  10. ^ "Top 50 Most Powerful Women in Oil and Gas: The List - Oil-Gas Diversity Council". Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
  11. ^ "Bianna Golodryga, Peter R. Orszag". The New York Times. September 26, 2010.
  12. ^ Golodryga, Bianna (July 8, 2010). "Bianna's Inspiration: My High School Teacher". ABC News. Retrieved June 4, 2017.
  13. ^ "Bianna Golodryga's 2000 DWI Arrest Revealed". Huffington Post. March 18, 2010.
  14. ^ Akimov, Andrei (November 5, 2015). "Бианна Голодрыга: Как стать известным журналистом". Russian Chicago Magazine. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  15. ^ a b "Bianna Golodryga Biography: Anchor, 'Good Morning America' Weekend Edition; ABC News' Business Correspondent". Abcnews.go.com. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  16. ^ "30 Under 30 Past Classes". Newsbios.com. February 12, 2010. Archived from the original on November 26, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  17. ^ "Boston Bomb Suspect's Dad Learns of Son's Capture: 'Tell Police Everything'". ABC News. April 19, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  18. ^ Spangler, Todd (July 18, 2014). "Yahoo Hires ABC 'Good Morning America' Weekend Anchor Bianna Golodryga". Variety.
  19. ^ "Bianna Golodryga". IMDb. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
  20. ^ CBS Morning News, July 21, 2017
  21. ^ Steinberg, Brian (September 5, 2017). "Bianna Golodryga Joins CBS News as Correspondent". Variety. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  22. ^ "GOP congressman compares Putin to Gorbachev". MSNBC. December 8, 2016. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  23. ^ Lange, Jeva (December 8, 2016). "GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher fiercely defends Russia, calls human rights violations 'baloney'". The Week. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  24. ^ Blake, Aaron (December 8, 2016). "'Baloney': GOP congressman's striking defense of Russia's human rights record could preview what lies ahead". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 3, 2017.
  25. ^ "CFR Membership Roster". CFR.org. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 2, 2015.
  26. ^ "Bianna Golodryga: News and Finance Anchor at Yahoo!". HuffPost. Retrieved April 21, 2019.
  27. ^ Engel, Pamela (April 18, 2017). "Huma Abedin's mixup of Yahoo and CNN anchors led to a brutal grilling for Hillary Clinton". Business Insider. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
  28. ^ Steinberg, Brian (April 3, 2019). "Bianna Golodryga Parts Ways With CBS News in Anchor Shuffle". Variety. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  29. ^ a b Golodryga, Bianna (May 20, 2021). "Pakistan FM invokes antisemitic slur". CNN. Retrieved May 21, 2021.
  30. ^ "Pakistan Official's Alleged Antisemitic Remarks Spark Controversy | Voice of America - English". www.voanews.com. May 21, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  31. ^ "CNN presenter accuses Pakistan foreign minister of 'antisemitic remark' live on air". The Independent. May 21, 2021. Retrieved July 2, 2021.
  32. ^ "Bianna Golodryga Senior Global Affairs Analyst: Full Bio". cnn.com. Cable News Network, Warner Bros. Discovery. 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  33. ^ "Dan Harris named GMA Weekend co-anchor". Archived from the original on February 13, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  34. ^ Mirkinson, Jack (September 28, 2010). "Bianna Golodryga, Peter Orszag Get Married". Huffingtonpost.com. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  35. ^ Knox, Merrill (April 2, 2012). "ABC's Bianna Golodryga Gives Birth to Baby Boy". Adweek. Retrieved November 10, 2015.
  36. ^ Ariens, Chris (May 8, 2016). "A Mother's Day Like No Other for Bianna Golodryga". Adweek. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
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