American CNN Journalist

Fredricka Whitfield | Biography

Daughter of Olympic champion runner Mal Whitfield

• By Yunil Tamrakar
• Original : June 19, 2022

---

Who is Fredricka Whitfield?

Fredricka Whitfield is an American news anchor and journalist. Whitfield graduated from Burtonsville, Maryland's Paint Branch High School in 1983. Then in 1987, she graduated from Howard University's School of Communications with a bachelor's degree in journalism.

She worked as a news anchor for the campus radio station WHUR while at Howard. Whitfield was named Alumna of the Year at Howard University's School of Communications in 2002.

Following Whitfield's graduation from college, she worked for NewsChannel 8 in Washington, D.C., WPLG-TV in Miami, KTVT-TV in Dallas, WTNH in New Haven, Connecticut, and WCIV in Charleston, South Carolina. 

After that, she moved on to NBC News, where she worked as an Atlanta correspondent for NBC Nightly News from 1995 to 2001. She was a morning and afternoon anchor as well as an assignment reporter for NBC's other news programs, including Today.

She began working for CNN in 2002. Since then, Whitfield has covered several major stories: the first news anchor to report on Ronald Reagan's death. She also covered the devastation caused by the Asian tsunami in December 2004. Moreover, during Operation Iraqi Freedom, Whitfield reported from the Persian Gulf region.

Her work has taken her to places like Southeast Asia, where she addressed the 2004 tsunami disaster, and Macedonia, where she interviewed refugees for a month in 1999. 

Her stay on the latter trip was extended to the point where she almost missed her wedding to her current husband John Glenn. She returned to the United States with less than a week to find a dress and rush to the altar.

During her long career, she has also faced a brain tumor. However, in the interview with Women Working, she stated that when she went to the doctors, they couldn't find anything wrong with her and told her everything was fine. 

As a result, she had to insist on more tests. She considers her surgery and recovery one of the most significant events in her life because she had to rise to the occasion and face it.

Whitfield now anchors CNN Newsroom's weekend edition from CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta.

Also Read: Pat Tomasulo - WGN-TV, Age, Wife, Salary, Net Worth & Bio

Age, Parents & Family

Fredricka Whitfield was born on 31 May 1965 in Maryland. She spent much of her childhood traveling the world as her father, Mal Whitfield, is an Olympic champion runner. 

In addition, her father was a goodwill ambassador to Uganda, Kenya, and Egypt, and she spent her childhood listening to him inspire young athletes. Moreover, she also has a brother and a sister.

In an interview with Women Working in 2014, she talked about her father and said, "My dad didn't boast about being an Olympian." Whitfield added, By virtue of who he is, he encouraged us to reach high. He went from being a boy with nothing, no material wealth whatsoever, to being highly successful."

Married to Her Husband For Over Two Decades

Whitfield has been married to her husband, John Glenn, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's director of photography, since 1999. The couple has three children together.

In January 2005, she gave birth to a son, and in November 2012, she gave birth to a set of fraternal twins, daughter Nola and son Gilbert.

However, Whitfield has revealed little information about her husband, as she prefers to keep her personal life private.