on air Friday night and also by her publicist.
"Barbara Walters passed away peacefully in her home surrounded by loved ones. She lived her life with no regrets. She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists, but for all women," said publicist Cindi Berger in a statement.
Walters made headlines in 1976 as the first female network news anchor, with an unprecedented US$1 million annual salary that drew gasps and criticism . Her drive was legendary as she competed — not just with rival networks, but with colleagues at her own network — for each big "get" in a world jammed with more and more interviewers, including female journalists who had followed on the trail she blazed."I always thought I'd be a writer for television. I never even thought I'd be in front of a camera.