Paula Ann Zahn
(born February 24, 1956 in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American newscaster, most recently the host of Paula Zahn Now
on CNN. On July 24, 2007, she announced her resignation from CNN. The final broadcast of Paula Zahn Now
aired August 2, 2007. [1] In January 2009, Discovery Communications announced that Zahn had entered into a development deal for a newsmagazine series, On the Case With Paula Zahn
, to air later this year.
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Early life and career
Zahn initially grew up in
Canton, Ohio, with her parents and three siblings. The family relocated to
Naperville, Illinois, as her father's job as an
IBM sales executive required them to move frequently. She once joked that "IBM" really stood for "I've been moved". She attended Jefferson Junior High School in Naperville and later graduated from
Naperville Central High School in 1974. She also competed in several beauty pageants, making the finals of the 1973 Miss Teenage America Pageant.
[2] Zahn continued her education at
Stephens College in
Columbia, Missouri on a cello scholarship, and received firsthand knowledge of the news business by working as an intern at
WBBM-TV in
Chicago, Illinois. She graduated in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in journalism. Zahn then spent the next 10 years working at local stations around the country, including
WFAA-TV in
Dallas, Texas,
KFMB-TV in
San Diego, California,
KPRC-TV in
Houston, Texas,
WHDH-TV (then
WNEV) in
Boston, Massachusetts, and
KCBS-TV in
Los Angeles, California.
ABC
In 1987, Zahn accepted an offer to work at
ABC News, initially anchoring
The Health Show
, a weekend program on health and medical issues. Within a few months she was co-anchoring
World News This Morning
, the network's early morning newscast, and anchoring news segments on
Good Morning America
.
CBS
Due to her work on
Good Morning America
, in 1990 she was offered a job at
CBS News, which she took, co-anchoring
CBS This Morning
with
Harry Smith. After changes were made at the morning show in 1996 she went on to work as anchor of the Saturday edition of the
CBS Evening News
, as well as substituting for
Dan Rather during the week, and contributing reports to
48 Hours
,
Public Eye with Bryant Gumbel
, and
CBS News Sunday Morning
. While with CBS, she also helped cover the
1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, France with
Tim McCarver, and the
1994 Winter Olympics in
Lillehammer, Norway.
Fox News Channel
After nine years at CBS News, she moved to the world of cable news, joining
Fox News Channel (FNC), where she anchored
FOX Report
, the network's nightly newscast. Months later, she helped launch her own prime time news program,
The Edge with Paula Zahn
. Two years later, FNC discovered she was in negotiations with CNN over a possible move there and fired her for what they alleged was a breach of her contract. A suit FNC filed against her agent was subsequently thrown out by a
New York State Supreme Court judge.
[3]
CNN
Zahn began her work at CNN on
September 11,
2001, joining anchor
Aaron Brown in the coverage of the
events of that day. She began her scheduled morning shift the next day, and by January she launched her CNN morning news program titled
American Morning with Paula Zahn
.
In 2003, during the war in
Iraq, Zahn moved back to prime time, hosting a two-hour program labeled
Live from the Headlines
which offered continuing coverage of the war and other events.
Anderson Cooper took over the first of the two hours by early summer, and by September, her show
Paula Zahn Now
premiered.
On
July 24,
2007, Zahn announced that
August 2,
2007 would be her last day at the network.
[4] The announcement came less than a day after CNN hired
Campbell Brown, the former co-host of
Weekend Today
. Initially, guest hosts essentially continued Zahn's program under the title
Out in the Open
.
[5] This was later replaced by election campaign coverage and ultimately Brown's program,
Campbell Brown: No Bias, No Bull
.
Future plans
According to Zahn's goodbye letter penned to CNN staff, she stated "I plan to take a break between jobs and catch my breath before I take on my next role."
In a
New York Times
interview, which was conducted right after the announcement of her resignation broke, Zahn told
Jacques Steinberg that "she had no idea what she would be doing next".
[6]
On November 9, 2008, Zahn became the new host of "SundayArts" on
Bloomberg TV,
PBS,
WLIW and
WNET.
On January 9, 2009, Discovery Communications announced that Zahn along with producing partners Scott Weinberger and Scott Sternberg entered into a development deal to produce a
news magazine series to air later this year.
Personal
Zahn has three children with Richard Cohen, a New York City real estate developer. In April 2007, she announced she was divorcing Cohen after 20 years of marriage.
[7]
The couple was in the news in 2004 when the nest of the well-publicized
red-tailed hawk Pale Male was removed from their Manhattan co-op building. Cohen, president of the co-op board, supported the removal; in 2001 Zahn had spoken approvingly of the hawk and its habit of feeding on rats and pigeons.
[8]
An accomplished cellist, Zahn played at
Carnegie Hall in May 1992 with the
New York Pops orchestra.
[9] She is also an honorary board member of the
Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation,
[10] and has been an active advocate for issues of cancer awareness in general, and breast cancer in particular.
In May 2003, Zahn received an honorary degree from
Dowling College of
Oakdale, New York.