Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Oprah Winfrey

With an estimated net worth of over $1 billion, an Academy Award nomination, an Emmy-winning hit talk show, an XM satellite radio show, successful magazines (O, The Oprah Magazine, along with O at Home), and a cable channel (Oxygen Media, which she co-founded), Winfrey is an international media phenomenon. But even Winfrey, whom some considered so powerful that her campaigning for President Obama sealed him the election, has been vulnerable as of late. First, her school for girls in South Africa was hit with the second sexual harassment scandal in two years. Then she took a drubbing inNewsweek for supposedly giving a platform to dicey new age medicines. And, over the years, her ratings, though still the highest on daytime TV, continue to dwindle. Nevertheless, Oprah is still considered one of the most powerful forces in television--and the world.