Know About Fredricka Whitfield; Husband, Children, Family, CNN, Facts

Fredricka Whitfield is an award-winning American journalist, who serves as an anchor on CNN. Based in the network’s world headquarters in Atlanta, she anchors the weekend edition of CNN Newsroom.

Fredricka Whitfield Bio; Parents, Family

Fredricka was born on 31 May 1965 in Maryland, United States. She is one of the three children of African-American athlete Mal Whitfield and his second wife Nola Whitfield.

Her father, nicknamed “Marvelous Mal” was a five-time Olympic medalist. He became the Olympic champion in the 800 meters at the 1948 and 1952 Summer Olympics and was a member of the 1948 gold medal team in the 4 × 400 meters relay.

Besides, he served for more than 30 years as a U.S. State Department foreign service officer and Ambassador of Sport.

Fredricka Whitfield pictured with her late father Mal Whitfield and mother Nola Whitfield (Picture: CNN)

Whitfield has two elder siblings; a brother named Malvin Lonnie Whitfield and a sister, Nyna Konishi. Meanwhile, she has a half-brother named Ed Wright from her father’s relationship. Ed is a nationally ranked high jumper of Berkeley, California. Because of her father’s work, she also lived in Somalia during her childhood with her parents and siblings.

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Fredricka attended Paint Branch High School in Burtonsville, Maryland. After graduation in 1983, she went to Howard University’s School of Communications. There, she received her bachelor’s degree in Journalism at the age of 22.

Career; NBC News, CNN

Whitfield began her journalism career from a dual MyNetworkTV/ABC-affiliated WCIV in Charleston, South Carolina. Meanwhile, she worked as a general assignment reporter at KTVT-TV in Dallas and at WTNH in New Haven, Connecticut.

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Afterward, she joined NBC News and worked as a correspondent. From 1995 to 2001, she served as the Atlanta-based correspondent for NBC Nightly News. She also reported for the programs such as NBC The Today Show and Dateline NBC.

Fredricka Whitfield joined CNN from NBC News in 2002 (Picture: CNN)

In 2002, she joined CNN and began to cover numerous breaking stories also becoming the first anchor to break the news of the death of the former American President Ronald Reagan. Likewise, her coverage includes the Afghanistan War and start of the second Iraq War, the 2008 Inauguration of President Barack Obama, the Atlanta, Beijing, and London Olympic Games, and so on. As of now, she anchors the weekend edition of CNN Newsroom, based on its headquarters in Atlanta.

Married Life; Husband, Children

Well, the journalist currently relishes a marital life with photographer husband John Glenn. The couple exchanged wedding vows in 1999 and is inseparable since then. John is a photojournalist, consultant, photo event manager, who serves as the principal at J Glenn Photography based in Decatur, Georgia.

Similarly, he runs an Instagram page named “JGlenn Photography”, where he demonstrates his photography works. A graduate of George Mason University, he is the former Director of Photography at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Fredricka Whitfield pictured with her photographer husband John Glenn (Picture: Instagram)

Fredricka and her husband John are now parents of three children. They welcomed their first child, a son named John Malvin in January 2005. Similarly, she gave birth to fraternal twins, daughter Nola Amanda Glenn and son Gilbert James Glenn in November 2012.

Despite such a glorious career in the newsroom, Fredricka still manages to keep her personal life secluded. Unlike some of the news anchors who keeps their followers updated with their career progress, family life, and relationship, she is completely the opposite. 

Some Interesting Facts About Fredricka Whitfield

• Fredricka won the George Peabody award for CNN’s live coverage of Hurricane Katrina and the aftermath in 2005.
• She won an Emmy award for outstanding live coverage of a breaking news story long-form in 2007.
• The TV personality became the Howard University School of Communications Alumna of the year in 2002.
• Her father also served as a Tuskegee Airman tail gunner on the United States Army Air Forces, who flew 27 combat missions in World War ll and the Korean War.
• Mal Whitfield died of heart disease and prostate cancer at the age of 91 on 19 November 2015.
• She also spent her early years in France as a college exchange student.