# Sara Sidner
**Sara Sidner** (born 1972) is an American journalist who anchors CNN's morning program CNN News Central and serves as the network's senior national correspondent, after more than a decade reporting internationally from bureaus in New Delhi and Jerusalem.[1](https://www.initialnews.com/scribble/index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fprofiles%2Fsara-sidner-profile) She joined CNN in 2008, covered the Mumbai terrorist attacks in her first year, and reported from Libya, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere before returning to domestic coverage of the [George Floyd protests](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-floyd-protests) and the [Derek Chauvin](https://www.edgepedia.org/derek-chauvin) trial.[2](https://floridagators.com/news/2013/7/5/25933) In 2023 she was diagnosed with stage III breast cancer, announced it on air in January 2024, and continued anchoring through chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation.[3](https://time.com/7210611/sara-sidner-cnn-talks-breast-cancer/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Current role | Co-anchor of CNN News Central, weekdays 7am–10am ET from CNN's New York City bureau; senior national correspondent[1](https://www.initialnews.com/scribble/index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fprofiles%2Fsara-sidner-profile) |
| Born | 1972, United States[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/269177/sara-sidner) |
| Education | B.S. Telecommunication, University of Florida, 1995; named a UF Hall of Fame inductee and Alumni of Distinction in 2011[5](https://www.jou.ufl.edu/profiles/sara-sidner/) |
| CNN postings | Joined 2008; New Delhi bureau covering India and South Asia; Jerusalem bureau as senior international correspondent from September 2012[2](https://floridagators.com/news/2013/7/5/25933) • [6](https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/12/sara-sidner-joins-cnn-jerusalem/) |
| Signature international story | Reporting from Gaddafi's fallen compound in Tripoli in August 2011, where she said on air, "Sir, please don't shoot"[2](https://floridagators.com/news/2013/7/5/25933) |
| Health | Diagnosed with stage III breast cancer in 2023; announced it on air in January 2024; in remission after 16 rounds of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, and radiation[3](https://time.com/7210611/sara-sidner-cnn-talks-breast-cancer/) • [7](https://www.survivornet.com/articles/in-remission-cnns-sara-sidner-53-says-the-emotional-weight-of-stage-3-breast-cancer-still-follows-her-on-off-the-air/) |
| Awards | Two Asian Television Awards (2011, 2012); two Gracie Awards (2013); shared Achievement of the Year at the 2011 Sky Women in Film & TV Awards for Libya reporting[1](https://www.initialnews.com/scribble/index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fprofiles%2Fsara-sidner-profile) • [6](https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/12/sara-sidner-joins-cnn-jerusalem/) |
## Early life and education
Sidner grew up in Florida and arrived at the [University of Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-florida) in the summer of 1990 from Hialeah Miami Lakes High School as a freshman walk-on with the Gators volleyball team, planning to major in journalism.[2](https://floridagators.com/news/2013/7/5/25933) A 5-foot-10 middle blocker, she played sparingly, appearing in four games as a sophomore, and shifted her energy to the newsroom.[2](https://floridagators.com/news/2013/7/5/25933) At WUFT, the local NPR affiliate, she worked as a radio reporter while a telecommunications major; among the professors who shaped her was Charles Burke, a former ABC war correspondent who taught her investigative method.[5](https://www.jou.ufl.edu/profiles/sara-sidner/) • [8](https://2025.jou.ufl.edu/page/sara-sidner) She earned her B.S. in Telecommunication in 1995.[5](https://www.jou.ufl.edu/profiles/sara-sidner/)
Her first reporting experiences included covering the [Danny Rolling](https://www.edgepedia.org/danny-rolling) serial murder case in Gainesville as a student, which she later described as among the most chilling stories of her career.[2](https://floridagators.com/news/2013/7/5/25933)
## Local television career
After college, Sidner began her television news career at a small station in [Cape Girardeau, Missouri](https://www.edgepedia.org/cape-girardeau-missouri), and later worked at stations in Fort Myers, Dallas, and San Francisco.[2](https://floridagators.com/news/2013/7/5/25933) During this period she received a regional Emmy Award, an Edward R. Murrow Award, and several Telly Awards.[1](https://www.initialnews.com/scribble/index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fprofiles%2Fsara-sidner-profile)
## International reporting for CNN
Sidner joined CNN in 2008.[2](https://floridagators.com/news/2013/7/5/25933) In her first year she covered the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, where a mob of onlookers interrupted her live report outside the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower hotel.[2](https://floridagators.com/news/2013/7/5/25933) • [5](https://www.jou.ufl.edu/profiles/sara-sidner/)
**New Delhi and Jerusalem.** Based in CNN's New Delhi bureau, she was responsible for the network's coverage of India and [South Asia](https://www.edgepedia.org/south-asia), reporting on the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka, the Chile and Haiti earthquakes, Afghanistan's elections, and a documentary on Sri Lanka's 25-year civil war.[6](https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/12/sara-sidner-joins-cnn-jerusalem/) • [1](https://www.initialnews.com/scribble/index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fprofiles%2Fsara-sidner-profile) In August 2011 she reported from Tripoli during the rebel takeover of [Muammar Gaddafi](https://www.edgepedia.org/muammar-gaddafi)'s compound, amid celebratory gunfire, asking a man nearby, "Sir, please don't shoot."[2](https://floridagators.com/news/2013/7/5/25933) In September 2012 CNN announced her move to the Jerusalem bureau as senior international correspondent.[6](https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/12/sara-sidner-joins-cnn-jerusalem/)
Her South Asia work produced two Asian Television Awards: one for a 2011 report on young [Bangladeshis](https://www.edgepedia.org/bangladeshis) forced into begging, and a second for the 2012 Freedom Project documentary *Operation Hope*, which followed one of those children, a seven-year-old boy, from suffering to recovery.[1](https://www.initialnews.com/scribble/index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fprofiles%2Fsara-sidner-profile) In 2013 she received two Alliance for Women in Media Gracie Awards, one for coverage of female infanticide in India and one for breaking news coverage of the 2012 Gaza-Israel conflict.[1](https://www.initialnews.com/scribble/index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fprofiles%2Fsara-sidner-profile) In 2014 she reported from Malaysia on the missing [Malaysia Airlines](https://www.edgepedia.org/malaysia-airlines) flight 370, from Ukraine on the downed flight 17, and from the Israeli border during the 2014 war between Israel and Gaza.[1](https://www.initialnews.com/scribble/index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fprofiles%2Fsara-sidner-profile)
## Domestic coverage: Ferguson and Minneapolis
Returning to domestic assignments, Sidner spent weeks in [Ferguson, Missouri](https://www.edgepedia.org/ferguson-missouri) covering the protests after an unarmed Black teenager was shot and killed by a white police officer; the grand jury's decision not to indict the officer sparked two nights of violence in Ferguson and nationwide protests, along with a state commission and a Presidential task force on policing.[1](https://www.initialnews.com/scribble/index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fprofiles%2Fsara-sidner-profile) She then led CNN's coverage in [Minneapolis](https://www.edgepedia.org/minneapolis) of the protests following the death of [George Floyd](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-floyd) and of the trial of Derek Chauvin.[1](https://www.initialnews.com/scribble/index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fprofiles%2Fsara-sidner-profile) On May 31, 2020, her 48th birthday, she was reporting live from George Floyd Square when Minneapolis police chief Medaria Arradondo arrived to pay his respects, and she relayed a question from Floyd's brother Philonise about when the officers would be arrested; the chief answered that "silence is complicity" while removing his service cap.[9](https://mspmag.com/arts-and-culture/cnn-sara-sidner-minneapolis/)
## CNN News Central and anchoring
In 2023 CNN launched CNN News Central, a three-hour daytime program anchored by [John Berman](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-berman), Kate Bolduan, and Sara Sidner, modeled on the network's special election programming and built around real-time newsgathering.[10](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/67443/cnn-news-central) • [11](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-04-04/struggling-cnn-looks-to-make-a-statement-with-its-daytime-revamp-sara-sidner) Sidner anchors from the New York City bureau, weekdays from 7am to 10am ET.[1](https://www.initialnews.com/scribble/index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fprofiles%2Fsara-sidner-profile) She has also guest-hosted other CNN programs, including NewsNight with [Abby Phillip](https://www.edgepedia.org/abby-phillip) and Laura Coates Live.[4](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/269177/sara-sidner)
For CNN's longform series *The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper*, Sidner has reported hour-length episodes on the breakout of war with Iran, the history of political violence in America, political and social issues in San Francisco, a multi-racial Southern family confronting its shared history, and, in June 2026, "UFC at the White House," an inside look at the relationship between the UFC and President Donald Trump.[12](https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2026/06/01/cnns-sara-sidner-reports-in-ufc-at-the-white-house-for-the-whole-story-with-anderson-cooper/amp/)
## Breast cancer diagnosis and advocacy
In October 2023, six months into her role as co-anchor of CNN News Central, Sidner discovered a lump in her breast while reporting overseas and pushed for a biopsy that confirmed stage III breast cancer.[13](https://nz.news.yahoo.com/cnn-anchor-sara-sidner-opens-130000707.html) • [7](https://www.survivornet.com/articles/in-remission-cnns-sara-sidner-53-says-the-emotional-weight-of-stage-3-breast-cancer-still-follows-her-on-off-the-air/) During a January 2024 broadcast, she revealed the diagnosis on camera, encouraging women, especially Black women, to undergo screening so they could "catch it before I did," noting that their risk of dying from breast cancer exceeds that of white women by roughly 40%.[3](https://time.com/7210611/sara-sidner-cnn-talks-breast-cancer/)
**Treatment while working.** Sidner completed 16 rounds of chemotherapy, a double mastectomy, and 25 rounds of radiation, and continued working throughout treatment; at one point she kept a bucket by her anchor desk in case of nausea on air, and six weeks after the mastectomy she went for a run.[14](https://time.com/7284460/health-impact-dinner-panel-curing-cancer-evolving-disease-progress-challenges/) • [7](https://www.survivornet.com/articles/in-remission-cnns-sara-sidner-53-says-the-emotional-weight-of-stage-3-breast-cancer-still-follows-her-on-off-the-air/) • [3](https://time.com/7210611/sara-sidner-cnn-talks-breast-cancer/) (One account gives the chemotherapy count as 15 rounds.[15](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/cnn-star-sara-sidner-reveals-stunning-update-on-cancer-battle/)) She shared treatment details on Instagram and allowed cameras into the room for her last radiation session, saying she wanted to demystify a process that carries particular stigma in the Black community and other communities of color.[3](https://time.com/7210611/sara-sidner-cnn-talks-breast-cancer/)
In 2026 she announced she was in remission.[7](https://www.survivornet.com/articles/in-remission-cnns-sara-sidner-53-says-the-emotional-weight-of-stage-3-breast-cancer-still-follows-her-on-off-the-air/) In August 2026 a scan suggested a possible stage 4 recurrence; fifteen days later a biopsy returned a result of "not malignant," which she announced on CNN News Central on August 7, 2026, quoting her doctor that "biopsy beats scan."[15](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/cnn-star-sara-sidner-reveals-stunning-update-on-cancer-battle/) She has said the diagnosis made her grateful for "the small things" that "make up life," and that it changed how she sees her body: "Cancer made me love my body."[15](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/cnn-star-sara-sidner-reveals-stunning-update-on-cancer-battle/) • [7](https://www.survivornet.com/articles/in-remission-cnns-sara-sidner-53-says-the-emotional-weight-of-stage-3-breast-cancer-still-follows-her-on-off-the-air/)
## Recognition
For her coverage of the fighting in Libya, Sidner won the 2011 Sky Women in Film & TV Awards' Achievement of the Year honor jointly, with the judges highlighting how she reported from Tripoli amid gunfire while with rebel fighters.[6](https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/12/sara-sidner-joins-cnn-jerusalem/) Her Emmy record includes a 2018 nomination shared with CNN staff for Outstanding Breaking News Coverage for "CNN Worldwide Hurricane Coverage" and a 2024 nomination for Outstanding Technical Excellence: News for *The Fourth in America*; IMDb lists one win and three nominations overall.[16](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3227085/awards/) The University of Florida inducted her into its College of Journalism and Communications Hall of Fame in 2011 and named her an Alumni of Distinction the same year.[5](https://www.jou.ufl.edu/profiles/sara-sidner/) • [1](https://www.initialnews.com/scribble/index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fprofiles%2Fsara-sidner-profile)
## References
1. [Sara Sidner – Anchor | Senior National Correspondent, CNN profile](https://www.initialnews.com/scribble/index.php?page=&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2Fprofiles%2Fsara-sidner-profile)
2. [The Flashback Files: Gators Volleyball Player Sara Sidner, Florida Gators (2013)](https://floridagators.com/news/2013/7/5/25933)
3. [CNN's Sara Sidner Is Demystifying Breast Cancer Treatment, TIME (2025)](https://time.com/7210611/sara-sidner-cnn-talks-breast-cancer/)
4. [Sara Sidner, TVmaze person profile](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/269177/sara-sidner)
5. [Sara Sidner, UF College of Journalism and Communications Hall of Fame](https://www.jou.ufl.edu/profiles/sara-sidner/)
6. [Sara Sidner Joins CNN Jerusalem, CNN Press Room (2012)](https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/12/sara-sidner-joins-cnn-jerusalem/)
7. [In Remission, CNN's Sara Sidner Says The Emotional Weight Of Stage 3 Breast Cancer Still Follows Her, SurvivorNet (2026)](https://www.survivornet.com/articles/in-remission-cnns-sara-sidner-53-says-the-emotional-weight-of-stage-3-breast-cancer-still-follows-her-on-off-the-air/)
8. [Sara Sidner: Truth-Seeker, Storyteller, Survivor, 2025 Dean's Report, UFCJC](https://2025.jou.ufl.edu/page/sara-sidner)
9. [CNN Reporter Sara Sidner Talks Covering Minneapolis, Mpls.St.Paul Magazine (2021)](https://mspmag.com/arts-and-culture/cnn-sara-sidner-minneapolis/)
10. [CNN News Central, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/67443/cnn-news-central)
11. [Sara Sidner becomes struggling CNN's go-to in daytime, Los Angeles Times (2023)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2023-04-04/struggling-cnn-looks-to-make-a-statement-with-its-daytime-revamp-sara-sidner)
12. [CNN's Sara Sidner Reports in "UFC at the White House" for The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper, CNN Press Room (2026)](https://cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com/2026/06/01/cnns-sara-sidner-reports-in-ufc-at-the-white-house-for-the-whole-story-with-anderson-cooper/amp/)
13. [CNN Anchor Sara Sidner Opens Up About How 'Cancer Changed Me for the Better', Yahoo/People (2026)](https://nz.news.yahoo.com/cnn-anchor-sara-sidner-opens-130000707.html)
14. ['We Already Are Curing Cancer': TIME100 Health Panel, TIME (2025)](https://time.com/7284460/health-impact-dinner-panel-curing-cancer-evolving-disease-progress-challenges/)
15. [CNN Star Sara Sidner Reveals Stunning Update on Cancer Battle, The Daily Beast (2026)](https://www.thedailybeast.com/obsessed/cnn-star-sara-sidner-reveals-stunning-update-on-cancer-battle/)
16. [Sara Sidner – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3227085/awards/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Broadcasting and journalism › Broadcast organizations and stations › Broadcasters as people › Broadcast journalists and news presenters › American broadcast journalists and news presenters › CNN journalists and anchors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license