In a November 17, 1991 Florida volleyball match-day program, former Gator Sara Sidner (1990-92) was quoted as saying “Florida has an excellent journalism school, which is one of the reasons why I came to UF. I am interested in broadcast journalism.”
Nearly 17 years later, Sidner has made good on that aspiration. The Miami Lakes, Fla., native currently serves as CNN's New Delhi-based correspondent covering India and South Asia. She currently is celebrating her one-year anniversary with the network with her most famous assignment coming in November when she reported live from Mumbai during the terrorist attacks.
Sidner began her on-air reporting career at WUFT-TV in Gainesville as a student at Florida before serving stints at KFVS-TV in Cape Girardeau, Mo., and WINK-TV in Ft. Myers, Fla. She served as a consumer reporter and anchor at Dallas affiliate KDFW-TV for three years before joining KTVU in San Francisco in 2004. She was the co-anchor of the weekend edition of the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. news at that station for nearly four years before joining CNN.
She has received numerous awards for her reporting including a Regional Emmy Award, a Lone Star Award and several Associated Press Awards for her work in Dallas, where one of her most prominent assignments included reporting on the Columbia space shuttle tragedy.
Sidner holds a bachelor of science degree in telecommunications from the University of Florida.
The University of Florida is home of the 2009 NCAA Volleyball Regionals. For more information on Gator Volleyball, log on to www.GatorZone.com.
FROM THE VAULT: SIDNER'S 1992 PLAYER PROFILE QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Sara Sidner
Favorite television program: Murphy Brown
When people meet me, they think I am: Crazy and fun-loving
When I'm 35, I want to be: A television news anchor for one of the top three networks
Someday, I'd like to take a trip to: Rome
The best advice I've been given is: Believe in yourself
My biography would be titled: The Sidner Years (1972-?)
If I lost all my possessions except one, I'd want to keep: All my pictures
The toughest course I've taken at Florida is: Statistics
I can't imagine living without: An air conditioner
My favorite place on campus is: The journalism building
I respect Coach Wise because: She says what she means and expects the same from her players
I'm as good as anyone else at: Arguing
END OF REPORT
