Oprah Winfrey: Most Influential Woman in America
Oprah Winfrey achieved great success in her various endeavors, growing from a news reporter in Nashville to the world-famous talk show host she is today. During the 1980s, talk shows were a crucial part of daytime television. Shows were organized based upon their content and varied greatly in subject. The popularity of talk shows led many people to enter this field, leading to a constant struggle for airtime. Oprah’s rise to fame began when she moved from her hometown in Nashville, to college in Baltimore and ultimately to Chicago, where she lives today. She appeared on an early morning television program called A.M. Chicago, which was later retitled The Oprah Winfrey Show which aired its
…show more content…
Although Oprah does use a portion of her wealth to support her lavish lifestyle, a large majority of the money she earns goes directly to several organizations whose goals include improving housing conditions, providing education, sanitizing water, and several other necessities that not everyone is fortunate enough to experience. One specific foundation that Oprah is very fond of, is the Angel Network. Through this network, all donations are given directly to one of many projects, one being The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. This project, created in 2007, provides an adequate learning environment for girls who have displayed some sort of academic talent or leadership, in the hopes of creating a strong group of female leaders (Andrews). Also, at age nine Oprah was sexually abused by a close family relatives, and became pregnant at fourteen years old. However, the baby never left the hospital and died just weeks after it was born. After struggling for years with this incredibly difficult secret, she was eventually able to confess the truth and has since inspired women all over the country. Oprah has not only contributed to multiple associations that promote the power and strength of women, but she is also a role model to young girls that have been through similar experiences and felt weak and worthless.
When it was time for Oprah to go to college, she was eager to be out on her own and make her own decisions. However, her
How can one person, whom most people have never met, influence the lives of people in the world today in such positive ways? Oprah Winfrey has been able to persuade and inspire many people around the world today because she has simply believed in herself and the good of the people. Oprah once said, “Create the highest, grandest vision possible for your life because you become what you believe” (Lowe 170). The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Angel Network, and Oprah’s Book Club have been some of the most indoctrinating pieces of work by Oprah. Moreover, these creations have been the ultimate techniques Oprah has used to reach out to the people of the world. Oprah Winfrey, one of the most influential, dynamic, and powerful women of today’s
Economic factor: as Winfrey’s mother was poor they wouldn’t have been able to buy the correct food to help Oprah develop. Also not having a lot of money meant it was a struggle to send Oprah to school.
By the time she graduated, she had earned a full scholarship to the University of Tennessee. She became the youngest female African-American news anchor in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of nineteen. She soon moved on to Baltimore, Maryland as a co-anchor. She was eventually fired from this job but that did not last long as she landed a job with a failing talk show “A.M. Chicago.” She turned the show into the number one rated talk show in Chicago and within three years the show was renamed the “Oprah Winfrey Show.” In 1986, she negotiated to own the “Oprah Winfrey Show” and founded Harpo (Oprah spelled backwards) Productions. The show ran for twenty-five years and won sixteen daytime Emmy
Oprah Winfrey is an American entrepreneur, TV show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. Oprah Winfrey owns her own network called OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) and she is the chairman of Harpo Inc. She is a self-made billionaire. She is the ONLY African American female billionaire with an estimated net worth of 3.1 billion. Winfrey is the first black woman to own and run a television network, The Oprah Winfrey show was the highest rated, most seen talk show in history and was watched in 110 countries. Oprah has been honored with awards in broadcasting, including the Peabody award and the IRIS Gold Medal award and 39 daytime Emmy awards.
Oprah supports over 30 charities and foundations. Her main ones are The Angle Network, the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, and The Oprah Winfrey Operating Foundation.
Oprah Winfrey’s past helped shape her into the influential person she is presently. According to achievement.org, the official website of a museum of living history in Washington D.C., Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi to mother, Vernita Lee and father Vernon Winfrey. Vernita was just a teenager when Oprah Winfrey was born. Winfrey was sexually abused by several of her mother’s friends and relatives while her mother was away working. The abuse lasted from ages nine to thirteen. When Winfrey tried to run away, she was sent to a juvenile detention home, but was denied admittance because all
Oprah Winfrey grew up in a world of adversity, despite her early accomplishments as a gifted child. She began her career in 1976, when she moved to Baltimore to join WJZ-TV News. (Oprah Winfrey Biography, 2011) Her empathetic personality made her many friends, and she was invited to Chicago in 1984 to begin hosting a half-hour morning program. Within a year, she had turned the AM Chicago radio show into the most important radio show in town, and was soon expanded to a full one-hour format. During this time, Oprah struggled with the stereotype that as a black woman she would always be an assistant anchor on the news, or simply a well-spoken host of a talk show. This could not have been further from the truth, as Oprah was able to create her own format for excellence in all forms of media, not simply talk or television. The show was renamed the Oprah Winfrey Show in 1985, and kept that name for twenty-five years until she retired the show in 2010.
There was no room in the detainment community for Oprah, She was, advised to move in with her dad and lead by his strict guidelines and controls. He made her read and compose book reports each week. This rolled out Oprah improvement her life around generally advantageous. At nineteen, she landed her first position as a correspondent on a radio station. She then moved to Nashville and selected herself at Tennessee State University. There she won numerous exhibitions in 1971. She then moved to Chicago and landed a position as a host on WLS-TV and was renamed "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Further, into Oprah's profession she made motion pictures that thought about things she encountered all through her entire life. Ladies watched and listened to her to acquire data what she may talk about now. She has individuals who admired Oprah, and helped her alone her way. Oprah's excursion was extreme in the meantime; she endured the tough
Winfrey has influenced so many individuals that it would be abnormal not to remember her. She has done many astonishing things, such as, the Oprah Winfrey Foundation that helps see to the aid of women, children and families. She created the Angel Network that raises money for charities. On her show she has brought many known figures, such as, Barak Obama. She has encouraged many of her viewers to make a difference in the world of many other individuals. Many Americans believe that Winfrey is a good individual for all that she has over came from the time she has stepped foot on to this earth. She has dealt with many criticism
Oprah Winfrey was born to a teenaged mother and spent her infant years with her grandmother. At the age of six, she went to live with her mother. She was left alone for most of the day due to Venita’s job as a housekeeper. While she was gone, her male relatives came to visit and abused her. Once she was old enough, she flew out to Nashville to live with her father. There, she accomplished many important things to her career. She won the Miss Black Tennessee Pageant and won a scholarship to the State University and was offered a job on the radio at WVOL (the local radio station in Nashville). After a couple of years having that job, she was offered to be the very first African-American Women to host a talk show. During this time she faced many
Oprah Gail Winfrey is known for her famous TV network. She was born to her unmarried parents Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey. Oprah was born on January 29th, 1954 on an isolated farm in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her career started when she was 22 years old. In 1976, she became a co-host for the tv show ¨People are talking¨. Oprah lived with her maternal grandmother until she was 6 years old. She is also a spokesperson for Weight Watchers.
Both of these inspirational women came from different backgrounds in their lives before fame. After her birth, Oprah’s parents separated, leading to her living with her grandmother, mother, and father for different periods of time throughout her childhood (Encyclopedia). While living with her mother, she suffered continued sexual abuse by trusted members of her family and eventually went back to living with her father, who provided her with guidance, valued education, and was very strict (Encyclopedia). Similarly, Ellen’s parents divorced when she was a teenager; she had a strong relationship with her mother, but was molested by her stepfather before she graduated from high school (Wang). Due to her father’s guidance and encouragement, Oprah won a scholarship to Tennessee State University and became a co-anchor of the evening news (Encyclopedia). Ellen dropped out of college at the University of New Orleans after only a semester to pursue comedy; she expressed large comical talent and acted on television sitcoms (Wang). Oprah hosted her morning show, “A.M. Chicago” in Baltimore, and surpassed Phil Donahue in ratings (Oprah Winfrey Biography). Her success escalated when she launched the Oprah Winfrey Show in 1986 as a nationally syndicated program. DeGeneres came out as gay as both herself
In today’s day and age one of the most influential women and people is Oprah Winfrey. Oprah has had a big impact on today’s society and played a huge role in advancing it. Oprah Winfrey is a talk show host, producer, actress and philanthropist who are widely respected around the world. By becoming one of the biggest names in talk show history Oprah has paved the way for others and became one of the more popular women in talk show history. Her willingness to help others and to be sure others are guided in positive light shows how much passion she has to see the greater good in others. Oprah’s biggest role comes from helping to pursue the advancement of young women and girls. Oprah has taken the time to see to it that young women are out of poverty and opening up a brand new school for underprivileged females to see to it that they have the same opportunity that children in America and other parts of the world have. Being that African- Americans, let alone women were not seen as marketable, Oprah helped to change this dynamic early in her career by using her platform in communication to open doors for other people. Winfrey’s work over a number of years is the single most evident reason why she has been able to be successful in the field of mass communication. Oprah is one of the most influential women of our time because of how well she is able to contribute to the human rights of women and advancing them in today’s society.
Oprah Winfrey was born January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi to mother Vernita and father Veron who was a barber and businessman. Oprah lived in a small farming area and endured a rocky childhood where she encountered sexual abuse by several male relatives and associates of her mother. Due to the sexual abuse, Oprah eventually moved to Nashville, Tennessee with her father. Oprah attended Tennessee State University in 1971 and started working in radio and television in Nashville. In 1976, Oprah moved to Baltimore and hosted “People are talking” for eight years where her career began to excel. It was during this time that she began her own morning show in Chicago called “A.M. Chicago”. Her “warm-hearted” personality style helped her progress from last place to first place ratings. The
Oprah created a monthly segment on her show, similar to a book club, where she would choose a book and viewers could go buy and read it and then have a discussion about it with her. This innovative idea not only got people inspired to read and to watch her show, but also made her the most powerful book marketer and skyrocketed the sales of whichever book they were focusing on for that week. However, after a very long run, this segment was cut from the show during 2002. Since then, Oprah has become an Emmy nominated actress, a film producer, and the founder and subject of O, The Oprah Magazine.