Barbara Walters has died. ABC News reported the legendary journalist’s passing Friday night.
Walters was a pioneer in television news and a longtime ABC News anchor and correspondent, according to ABC News. She joined ABC News in 1976 and became the first female anchor on an evening news program. She made what was at the time an unprecedented $1 million annual salary.
A few years later, she became a co-host on “20/20″ and later helped create the show, “The View.”
The Associated Press reports the cause of death was not immediately known, and additional details, such as where she died, were not immediately released.
Read more on reaction to Walters’ death here.
More from the AP:
During more than three decades at ABC, and before that at NBC, Walters’ exclusive interviews with the famous and powerful brought her celebrity status that ranked with theirs.
Her drive was legendary as she competed for each big “get” in a world jammed with more and more rivals, including female journalists who had followed on the trail that she blazed.
As a highly successful side venture, she created and appeared on a daytime ABC talk show, “The View.” In May 2014, she taped her final appearance on “The View” to mark the end of her career on television, but she hosted occasional specials after that.
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