Oprah Changed What Media Could Be — and How Millions Live Their Lives
By Amaris Castillo for Poynter.org
It’s nearly impossible to describe the “Queen of all Media” in one sentence. Oprah Winfrey is a multihyphenate: A daytime talk show host who changed the business. A producer. An author. A philanthropist. An actress with accolades. A billionaire. An avid gardener. A champion of books and education. A media powerhouse.
In 2014, a few years after ending the talk show that catapulted her to international renown, she was asked about the secret to her success. Her answer was quintessential Oprah.
“My life is fueled by my being, and the being fuels the doing. So I come from a centered place,” she said. “I come from a focused place. I come from compassion — it’s just my nature. I come from a willingness to understand and to be understood. And I come from wanting to connect.”
That desire to connect is perhaps what propelled Oprah to icon status. Yes, we’re calling her Oprah. She’s earned the one-name exemption.
For decades, America gathered each weekday afternoon to watch Oprah Winfrey. When her talk show went national in 1986, she began bringing stories of joy, trauma, self-improvement, reflection and possibility into living rooms across the country. What began as local broadcast journalism evolved into an empire: a magazine, a book club that could reshape the bestseller list, a cable network, the power to launch public careers and a brand built on empathy and empowerment.
“I don’t think very few people, arguably anybody, has had as much impact on media and influence in certain segments of society as Oprah Winfrey has,” said Elwood Watson, a professor of history, Black studies and gender and sexuality studies at East Tennessee State University. “Her reach is just phenomenal.”
Nobody in contemporary culture, argued Yale University professor Kathryn Lofton (whose book examined the Oprah phenomenon), is as symbolically consequential as Oprah. “She directs more spiritual, political and moral power than any other single living person.”
Oprah’s legacy is vast. She’s been celebrated for her philanthropy, questioned for some of the figures she’s elevated and is endlessly remixed in memes. But her greatest achievement was reshaping American culture through the power of storytelling.
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