Anchors
Sydnie Kohara
Award-winning broadcast journalist Sydnie Kohara brings years of experience to her position as co-anchor of the CBS 5 Eyewitness News Early Edition, seen weekday mornings from 5-7am.
Kohara has lived all over the world she covers. She served as CNBC's international correspondent based out of NBC's London bureau, reporting on overseas financial markets. From Tokyo and Hong Kong to Frankfurt, Paris and London, Kohara provided the latest market news and information on Asian and European corporations for CNBC's "Today's Business", "Squawk Box" and "Market Watch". She also filed daily reports for NBC's "Early Today" and appeared on MSNBC, as well as WNBC in New York City and other NBC affiliates nationwide.
Kohara also anchored CNBC-Asia's flagship news show, "Asia Nightly News", based in Singapore and serving more than 20 million viewers in the Asia-Pacific region. During her time there, she covered the region's financial markets as well as many of the stories making international headlines at the time, including the Asian economic crisis, nuclear testing in India and Pakistan, and rioting and unrest in political hotspots Indonesia and Cambodia. In addition, she was the original host of "dot.com", a weekly show about business and commerce in cyberspace. Kohara also mixed a little fun with business, hosting CNBC-Asia's "Corporate Raiders", a business game show pitting Asian executives against each other in a friendly war of words, knowledge and team skills.
Before returning to local television, Kohara anchored CNBC's "CNET News.com", giving viewers of the global business network a firsthand look at technology trends that affect the financial markets. From in-depth interviews with technology legends like Michael Dell and Jim Clark, to a dugout conversation with San Francisco Giants home run king Barry Bonds on his tech gear, Kohara explored the people and personalities driving this technology revolution. She has also worked at television stations in Sacramento, California and Montgomery, Alabama, where she was the first woman co-host of the University of Alabama's syndicated football shows.
Kohara has been nationally recognized for her work as a journalist. During the San Francisco earthquake in 1989, she provided live global coverage to Japan, Europe and Australia for the ABC network as a worldwide television audience got its first glimpse of the earthquake devastation around the San Francisco Bay Area. For their efforts, Kohara and her newsroom colleagues at KGO-TV in San Francisco shared the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award and the Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence in Reporting, two of the highest honors bestowed in U.S. broadcast journalism. She has also received three national reporting awards from the Asian American Journalists Association, two for her television work and her latest in 2004 for a radio story she contributed to KQED Public Radio's "Pacific Time", which explores the link between Asia and America. Kohara also serves as guest host on "Pacific Time", which is heard on more than 40 public radio stations around the U.S. and in Hong Kong. Other notable honors include a John Swett award from the California Teachers Association for her series on immigrant schoolchildren, a "Best Writing" award from the Radio Television News Directors Association, three Northern California Emmy nominations and awards from the Society of Professional Journalists.
Kohara is no stranger to public service and community outreach. She was a political appointee under California Governor George Deukmejian, serving as Chief of Communications for the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs. She has also served as the Quarterly Chair for the Commonwealth Club of California, the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. Kohara also helped found Camp CEO, a Girl Scout-sponsored retreat for at-risk teenage girls. She is also in great demand as a speaker and emcee for Bay Area events and fundraisers.
A native of Louisiana, Sydnie Kohara graduated with a B.A. degree in journalism from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. She resides in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and enjoys cycling, cooking and gardening. She completed her first triathlon in 2003.
E-mail SydnieTo schedule an appearance for CBS 5 on-air reporters/anchors, please contact Akilah Monifa, Director of Communications. Please provide the date, time, location of the event, number of attendees expected, and name of sponsoring organization.
