Veteran US journalist Barbara Walters has died aged 93.
Ms Walters, who led the way as the first woman to become a TV news superstar during a career remarkable for its duration and variety, died peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones. Her death was announced by her network ABC on air Friday night.
"Barbara Walters passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones. She lived her life with no regrets. She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists, but for all women," her publicist Cindi Berger also said in a statement.
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An ABC spokesperson did not have an immediate comment on Friday night beyond sharing a statement from Bob Iger, the chief executive of The Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC. During nearly four decades at ABC, and before that at NBC, Ms Walters’ exclusive interviews with rulers, royalty and entertainers brought her celebrity status that ranked with theirs.
She was placed at the forefront of the trend in broadcast journalism that made stars of TV reporters and brought news programmes into the race for higher ratings. Ms Walters made headlines in 1976 as the first female network news anchor, with an unprecedented 1 million dollar - £830,000 - annual salary that drew gasps.
Late in her career, in 1997, she gave infotainment a new twist with The View, a live ABC weekday show with an all-female panel for whom any topic was on the table and who welcomed guests ranging from world leaders to teen idols. A side venture and unexpected hit, Ms Walters considered The View the 'dessert' of her career.
In May 2014, she taped her final episode of The View amid much ceremony and a gathering of scores of luminaries to end a five-decade career in television – although she continued to make occasional TV appearances after that.
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