BARBARAWalters, the intrepidinterviewer, anchor and programme host who blazed the wayas the first woman to become a TV news superstar during a career remarkable for its durationandvariety, hasdied.She was93. ABC broke into its broadcast to announceWalters’deathonairFriday night.“Shelivedherlifewithnoregrets. She was a trailblazernotonlyforfemale journalists, but for all women,” her publicist Cindi Berger also said in a statement,addingWaltersdiedpeacefully at her New York home. “Barbara was a true legend, a pioneer not just for women in journalismbutforjournalismitself,”Igersaid. DuringnearlyfourdecadesatABC, andbeforethatatNBC,Walters’exclusive interviews with rulers, royalty andentertainersbroughthercelebritystatusthatrankedwiththeirs,while placing her at the forefront of the trendthatmade starsofTVreporters. Late in her career, she gave infotainment a new twist with “The View,” a live ABC weekday kaffee klatsch with an all-female panel for whom any topic was on the table and who welcomed guests ranging from world leaders to teen idols. With that side venture and unexpected hit, Walters considered “The View” the “dessert” of her career. Astatementfrom theshow said Walters created “The View” in 1997 “to champion women’s voices.” “We’re proud to be part of her legacy,” the statement said.

 

Waltersmadeheadlines in 1976 as the first female network news anchor, with an unprecedented $1 million salary that drew gasps. Her drive was legendary as she competed — not just with rival networks, but with colleagues at her own network —foreachbig“get”inaworld jammedwithmoreandmore interviewers, including female journalists following in her trail. “I never expected this!” Walters said in 2004, taking stock of her success. But she was a natural on camera, especiallywhenplyingnotables with searing questions. In a voice that never lost its trace of her native Boston accent or its substitution of Ws-for-Rs, Walters lobbed blunt and sometimes giddy questions,oftensugarcoated with a hushed, reverential delivery. In May 2014, she taped her final episode of “The View” amid much ceremony to end a five-decade careerintelevision.However, her career had begun with no inklings of majesty.

 

Walters graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1943 and eventually landed a “temporary,” behind-thescenesassignmentat“Today” in 1961. Shortly afterwards, what was seen as the token woman’s slot among the staff’s eight writers opened. Waltersgotthejobandbegan to make occasional on-air appearanceswithoffbeatstories. As she appeared more frequently, she was spared the title of “Today’ Girl” that had been attached to her predecessors. But she had to pay her dues, sometimes sprintingbetweeninterviews to do dog food commercials. She had the first interview with Rose Kennedy after the assassination of her son, Robert, as well as with Princess Grace of Monaco andPresidentRichardNixon. She travelled to India with JacquelineKennedy,toChina withNixonandtoIrantocover the shah’s gala party.