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14 Facts About Barbara Fedida

1.

At ABC, Barbara Fedida oversaw the network's diversity and inclusion efforts, and was responsible for hiring and developing all anchors and correspondents for ABC News programs and bureaus worldwide.

2.

Previously, Barbara Fedida worked for five years as the head of talent development at CBS News from 2006 to 2011.

3.

Barbara Fedida was born in Queens, New York where she lived until her family moved to Merrick, New York in 1972.

4.

Barbara Fedida is the daughter of Moroccan Jewish parents Abner and Renee Fedida from Casablanca, Morocco.

5.

Barbara Fedida attended New York University, where she was a Student senator for two years and student commencement speaker.

6.

Barbara Fedida started at ABC as a production secretary for Peter Jennings documentary unit Peter Jennings Reporting in August 1989, after working at CBS News magazine West 57th.

7.

Barbara Fedida was a senior producer on the "Networks Millennium" special, which aired for 23 hours and won a Peabody Award and an Emmy Award.

8.

Barbara Fedida was a producer on Peter Jennings: Reporter, the tribute to Jennings produced by his producers upon his death in August 2005.

9.

Barbara Fedida is credited with changing the face of ABC News, with an aggressive hiring strategy focused on women and people of color.

10.

Barbara Fedida hired Michael Strahan, Byron Pitts, Cecilia Vega, Tom Llamas, Marcus Moore, Alex Perez, Victor Oquendo, Dr Jennifer Ashton, Sara Haines, Rebecca Jarvis, Amy Robach, among many others.

11.

In June 2020, the Huffington Post cited 34 anonymous sources in reporting that Barbara Fedida had made racially insensitive comments, including several targeting Mara Schiavocampo, Robin Roberts, and Kendis Gibson, and frequently used inappropriate, unprofessional language in front of her peers.

12.

One month later, Disney had announced that it had cut ties with Barbara Fedida, citing confirmation of several of the allegations by a third-party investigator they had hired.

13.

Barbara Fedida married Andrew Brill in a Jewish ceremony in June 1992.

14.

Barbara Fedida sits on the board of trustees of Central Synagogue.