Ana-Maria Avram

Grupa 1, anul III, Jurnalism

Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. She was raised by
her grandmother in a small farming community. In 1971, she attended Tennessee State
University where she majored in Speech Communications and Performing Arts.
At the age of 17, she began working for a local radio station, WVOL in Nashville. At 19
years old, she signed on with WTVF-TV where she became the stations youngest and first
African-American woman to anchor the news. Additionally, she went on to co-anchor the
6:00 news in Baltimore and later co-host a local talk show, People Are Talking.
In 1984, Oprah moved to Chicago to host WLS-TVs morning talk show, A.M. Chicago. In
less than a month, she turned the show into the hottest show in town. (Academy of
Achievement) After a month on the air, her ratings began surpassing the ratings of her major
competitor at the time, Phil Donahue. Within a year, the show was reformatted to a one-hour
segment, renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show and launched on September 8, 1986.
In 1988, Oprah established her own syndicated production company, HARPO Productions.
The HARPO Entertainment Group consists of HARPO Productions, HARPO Films and
HARPO Video. In October 1988, she acquired ownership and production responsibilities
for The Oprah Winfrey Show making her the first woman in history to own and produce her
own talk show. (Academy of Achievement)
In the midst with the popularity of talk shows, Oprah had to compete with the trash of
daytime talk shows. These included The Jenny Jones Show, Maury and The Jerry Springer
Show.
In a mission statement, Oprah said that originally, our goal was to uplift, enlighten,
encourage and entertain through the medium of television. Now, our mission for The Oprah
Winfrey Show is to use television to transform peoples lives, to make viewers see themselves
differently and to bring happiness and a sense of fulfillment into every home. (The Oprah
Winfrey Show Fact Sheet)
Additionally, she pledged to keep her show free from any tabloid topics. This distinguished
her from the other trash talk shows on air. Her ratings initially dropped in the 90s, however,
she earned respect from her viewers and soon grew in popularity. The Oprah Winfrey Show
has continued to lead the number one position in the daytime talk show for 20 consecutive
seasons. The show is seen by approximately 48 million viewers a week in the United States
and is broadcast internationally in 132 countries. (Oprah Winfreys Biography)
Oprah has received countless awards and recognitions within her life. Time magazine named
her one of 100 most influential people in the world and of the 20
th
Century. Newsweek
magazine named her the most important person in books and media. Life magazine voted
Oprah the most influential woman and influential black person of her generation. Shes
Ana-Maria Avram
Grupa 1, anul III, Jurnalism
received the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award in 2002 and been given the Lifetime
Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Additionally, Oprah and The Oprah Winfrey Show has been awarded more than 40 daytime
Emmys for Outstanding Talk Show and Outstanding Talk Show Host. (Oprah Winfrey
Biography)
Oprahs Angel Network, through her private charity, The Oprah Winfrey Foundation, has
raised over $50 million to date. This has been used to grant scholarships to young people,
fund homes for Habitat for Humanity and built schools in ten countries. The Angel Network
established Use Your Life Award in April 2000 and has awarded over four million dollars
to individuals who are making a difference in the lives of others. (The Oprah Winfrey
Show Fact Sheet) She launched her website, Oprah.com in October 1995. Additionally, she
established an on-air reading club on September 17, 1996 called Oprahs Book Club. Oprah
said that she wants to get the country excited about reading again.
Oprah has continued to spread her passion of philanthropy. In December 2002, the Oprah
Winfrey Foundation expanded its global humanitarian efforts to South Africa donating
money. By January 2007, she had established The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Foundation
which contributed to $40 million towards the creation and opening of the Oprah Winfrey
Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa. (Oprah Winfrey Biography)
Oprah has a long list of accomplishments within the HARPO Productions. She is the
magazine creator and editorial director of the Oprah magazine. Launched an XM Satellite
Radio channel named Oprah and Friends in September 2006. Produced a Broadway
recreation from her 1985 acting debut in the Color Purple and has created several daytime
television programs, including the Dr. Phil Show and Rachael Ray.