Steve Osunsami

Last updated

Steve Osunsami
Steve Osunsami.jpg
Osunsami
Born (1971-02-06) February 6, 1971 (age 53)
Education University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Occupations
  • Journalist
  • news correspondent
SpouseJoe Remillard

Steve Osunsami [1] is a Nigerian-American journalist. He is a senior national correspondent for ABC News in Atlanta, Georgia, contributing reports to World News with David Muir , Good Morning America , and other station broadcasts and platforms since his start with ABC News in 1997. [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Osunsami was born in Washington, D.C., to parents who were Nigerian immigrants. [5] Osunsami has shared that he came from poverty and is a graduate of the Head Start Program. [6] He is a graduate of University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, [7] where being an Illinois Broadcasting Association intern and writing for The Daily Illini helped launch his career. [8] [9]

Career

Osunsami started his career at WREX-TV in Rockford, Illinois, WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and at KOMO-TV in Seattle before becoming a correspondent for ABC News in 1997. [10]

His work has taken him all over the country, from covering riots in Baltimore and Ferguson Missouri, [11] to the 2000 United States presidential election recount in Florida, [12] and the shooting deaths of nine black parishioners at the Charleston church shooting in 2015. [13]

Osunsami was the subject of political debate after he was one of several African-American reporters who showed emotion live on the air on the night of the election of the nation's first black president, Barack Obama. [14]

Amidst the political and racial unrest of 2020, Osunsami covered the killing of Rayshard Brooks and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. [15]

Osunsami wrote and hosted the ABC podcast "Soul of a Nation: Tulsa's Buried Truth," which explores the 1921 Tulsa race massacre through archival audio and conversations with historians. Speaking on his personal connection to the project, Osunsami said, "It shocks me, as a high school and college-educated Black American, that until recently, the details of the Tulsa massacre have escaped me, and I think that’s a shame. It says a ton about the way we, as Americans, record history that’s racist and ugly. We like to give it the silent treatment. And like a fight with someone in your family, simply ignoring the injury never makes it go away." [16]

An essay by Osunsami was featured in the book, “My America: What My Country Means to Me, by 150 Americans from All Walks of Life,” edited by Hugh Downs. [17]

Awards and Honors

Osunsami has won or been nominated for many awards, including a National Emmy Award. [18] In 2022, he was inducted into the Illini Media Hall of Fame. [19] Osunsami’s documentary special “Soul of a Nation: Acceptance High” won a 2023 Webby Award. [20] In 2023, Osunsami was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Silver Circle Society of Honor. [21]

Personal

Osunsami identifies as gay and has spoken publicly on both his experiences as a black gay man in journalism, and a black member of the LGBTQ community. [22] He is married to Joe Remillard. [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ABC News</span> News division of the American Broadcasting Company

ABC News is the news division of the American television network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ABC World News Tonight with David Muir; other programs include morning news-talk show Good Morning America, Nightline, Primetime, 20/20, and Sunday morning political affairs program This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the CBS Evening News, CBS Mornings, news magazine programs CBS News Sunday Morning, 60 Minutes, and 48 Hours, and Sunday morning political affairs program Face the Nation. CBS News Radio produces hourly newscasts for hundreds of radio stations, and also oversees CBS News podcasts like The Takeout Podcast. CBS News also operates CBS News 24/7, a 24-hour digital news network.

The Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award honors excellence in broadcast and digital journalism in the public service and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. The awards were established in 1942 and administered until 1967 by Washington and Lee University's O. W. Riegel, Curator and Head of the Department of Journalism and Communications. Since 1968 they have been administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, and are considered by some to be the broadcast equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, another program administered by Columbia University.

James Leroy Hartz was an American television personality, columnist and reporter during the mid- and late-1970s. At age 24, he was the youngest correspondent NBC had ever hired. Hartz became best known to a national audience for a two-year position as the co-host of the Today Show, along with Barbara Walters. Hartz replaced the deceased Frank McGee, who also hailed from Oklahoma, and at whose funeral Hartz had delivered the eulogy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michel Martin</span> American journalist

Michel McQueen Martin is an American journalist and correspondent for National Public Radio and WNET. After ten years in print journalism, Martin has become best known for her radio and television news broadcasting on national topics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michele Norris</span> American journalist (born 1961)

Michele L. Norris is an American journalist. Since 2019, Norris has been an opinion columnist with The Washington Post. She co-hosted National Public Radio's evening news program All Things Considered from 2002 to 2011 and was the first African-American female host for NPR. Before that Norris was a correspondent for ABC News, the Chicago Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times. Norris is a member of the Peabody Awards board of directors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Don Lemon</span> American journalist and news anchor (born 1966)

Don Lemon is an American television journalist best known for being a host on CNN from 2014 until 2023. He anchored weekend news programs on local television stations in Alabama and Pennsylvania during his early days as a journalist. Lemon worked as a news correspondent for NBC on its programming, such as Today and NBC Nightly News. Lemon is also a recipient of an Edward R. Murrow Award in 2002 for his coverage of the capture of the Washington, D.C. snipers. He also received three regional Emmy Awards for his special report on real estate in Chicago and a business feature on craigslist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LZ Granderson</span> American journalist and former actor (born 1972)

Elzie Lee "LZ" Granderson is an American journalist and former actor, currently writing for the Los Angeles Times as a sports and culture columnist. He was a senior writer and columnist for ESPN The Magazine, a co-host of SportsNation on ESPN, afternoon co-host at ESPN LA 710 and a columnist for CNN. Granderson was named the Los Angeles Times Sports and Culture Columnist in January 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Byron Pitts</span> American television journalist (born 1960)

Byron Pitts is an American journalist and author, working for ABC News as co-anchor for the network's late night news program, Nightline. Until March 2013, he served as a chief national correspondent for The CBS Evening News and contributed regularly to 60 Minutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juju Chang</span> American television journalist

Hyunju "Juju" Chang is an American television journalist for ABC News, and is currently an anchor of Nightline. She has previously worked as a special correspondent and fill-in anchor for Nightline, and was also the news anchor for ABC News' morning news program Good Morning America from 2009 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeannie Mai</span> American television host

Jeannie Camtu Mai is an American television personality, best known for her work on the makeover show How Do I Look? and the syndicated daytime talk show The Real. As a fashion expert, she is frequently featured on television programs such as Today, Extra TV, Entertainment Tonight, and Insider. She has also appeared as a host for E! and as a red carpet host for the American Music Awards. Mai was a correspondent for the 2011, 2012, and 2013 Miss Universe pageants; she co-hosted the 2022 and 2023 editions as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DeMarco Morgan</span> American news reporter and anchor (birth 1978)

DeMarco Morgan is an American broadcast journalist currently anchoring at ABC News. He currently co-anchors GMA3: What You Need to Know with Eva Pilgrim.

Edward Wyckoff Williams is an American television producer, correspondent, columnist, political analyst and former investment banker; whose work has appeared on NBC, MSNBC, Al Jazeera, BuzzFeed, PBS, ABC, CNN, CBS, BBC, VICE Media, NPR and national syndicated radio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorian Awards</span> Film, television and New York stage accolades given by GALECA

The Dorian Awards are film, television and Broadway / Off-Broadway accolades given by GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, founded in 2009 as the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association. GALECA is an association of professional journalists and critics who regularly report on movies, TV and/or New York City stage productions for print, online, and broadcast outlets mainly in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom. As of March 2024, GALECA listed approximately 500 members, including those on its advisory board. The awards recognize the best in film and television, with categories ranging from general to LGBTQ-centric.

NewsNation Prime is an American television news program on NewsNation, which premiered nationally on September 1, 2020. Broadcast live from Chicago, the program utilizes the journalistic resources of the 110 television news operations throughout the United States that are operated under the network's corporate parent Nexstar Media Group. The program is designed as an alternative to the opinion-based programs on CNN, MSNBC and Fox News Channel, the top-rated cable news networks in the country in the early 2020s.

George Howell is an American journalist. He is the former anchor of CNN International's CNN Newsroom. He also reported for the network's weekday morning television show New Day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laci Mosley</span> American actress and comedian (born 1991)

Laci Risë Mosley is an American actress, comedian and podcaster. She performs improv comedy at UCB Los Angeles and co-starred in the Pop comedy series Florida Girls. Mosley is best known for her podcast Scam Goddess, which focuses on historical and contemporary scams and cons. In 2021, Mosley joined the cast of HBO's A Black Lady Sketch Show and the iCarly revival series.

<i>Major League Baseball on Fox Family</i> American TV series or program

Major League Baseball (MLB) games aired on the predecessor networks for the American pay television channel Freeform. These began in 2000, when the channel was known as Fox Family Channel, co-owned by News Corporation and Haim Saban, as a replacement for Thursday night games that had aired on Fox Sports Net in prior seasons. The package also included some games in the postseason Division Series. After The Walt Disney Company bought the channel in 2001, renaming it to ABC Family, the games were moved to the Disney-owned ESPN channels, although the 2002 Division Series games that had been acquired as part of the purchase remained on ABC Family because of existing contractual obligations. Those games moved to ESPN the following year as well.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lemonada Media</span> American Podcast Company

Lemonada Media is an American podcast network. The company was founded in 2019 by Jessica Cordova Kramer and Stephanie Wittels Wachs. In 2019, Lemonada Media debuted their first podcast, Last Day, offering a personal view on the opioid crisis in the U.S. (Kramer and Wachs both had younger brothers who died from an accidental opioid overdose.

References

  1. "Steve Osunsami". ABC News .
  2. Lindsay Powers (August 23, 2011). "ABC News' Steve Osunsami Reveals Childhood Poverty". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  3. "Steve Osunsami, Mara Schiavocampo Take Home Two NABJ Awards". Adweek. June 25, 2012. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  4. "Steve Osunsami Biography". ABC News. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  5. Bainbridge, Julia (November 16, 2017). "Home for Dinner: Steve Osunsami, ABC News correspondent". Atlanta Magazine. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  6. Powers, Lindsay (August 23, 2011). "ABC News' Steve Osunsami Reveals Childhood Poverty". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  7. "ABC Reporter Steve Osunsami At UTC". chattanoogan.com. March 5, 2002. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  8. Will, Kaitlyn. "EIU student earns exclusive IBA multicultural internship". eiu.edu. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  9. Allendorf, Faith (April 6, 2022). "What he brings with him 'every day': ABC News' Steve Osunsami reflects on journey, time at UI". The Daily Illini. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  10. "ABC Reporter Steve Osunsami At UTC". The Chattanoogan. March 5, 2002. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  11. Steinberg, Brian (April 28, 2015). "TV News: Baltimore Riots Draw Lester Holt, Anderson Cooper, Bill Hemmer". Variety. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  12. "CAMPAIGN 2000 (GORE VS. BUSH: FLORIDA RECOUNT)". Vanderbilt News Archive. Vanderbilt. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  13. Kim, Susanna (June 24, 2015). "Charleston Shooting Victims Remembered as Funerals to Begin". ABC News. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  14. Folkenflik, David (November 6, 2008). "Do We Want Our Journalists to Get Emotional?". NPR. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  15. Saunders, Patrick (December 8, 2020). "ABC reporter Steve Osunsami marks 23 years in LGBTQ Atlanta". Project Q Atlanta. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  16. Connor, Jay (March 31, 2021). "Exclusive: ABC Audio's Soul of a Nation: Tulsa's Buried Truth Unearths Black Wall Street's Painful History". The Root. Retrieved April 25, 2021.
  17. "My America: What My Country Means to Me, by 150 Americans from All Walks of Life". Barnes and Nobles. Retrieved February 24, 2020.
  18. "Osunsami '93 JOURN, nominated for Emmy". July 25, 2016. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  19. "Steve Osunsami". IlliniMedia. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  20. "ABC News Live - Soul of a Nation: Acceptance High". The Webby Awards. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  21. Rice, Lynette (August 29, 2023). "NATAS Announces 2023 Gold & Silver Circle Inductees". Deadline. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  22. Saunders, Patrick (December 8, 2020). "ABC reporter Steve Osunsami marks 23 years in LGBTQ Atlanta". Project Q Atlanta. Retrieved December 17, 2020.
  23. "Home for Dinner: Steve Osunsami, ABC News correspondent". Atlanta Magazine. November 16, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2018.