to fly again and retired in 1987, having logged more
than 343 hours in space. She took a teaching posi-
tion at Stanford University, then went on to become
a physics professor at the University of California,
San Diego.
Impact By recruiting six female candidates, NASA
demonstrated its commitment to adding women to
the space program. Women proved that they could
work as efficiently and effectively as their male coun-
terparts. Though Ride did not like being the center
of the media’s attention, she understood the impor-
tance of being the first American woman in space
and how that would affect the future of the space
program.
Further Reading
Fox, Mary Virginia.Women Astronauts Aboard the Shut-
tle. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1984.
Holden, Henry M.Pioneering Astronaut Sally Ride.
Berkeley Heights, N.J.: Enslow, 2004.
Orr, Tamara.Sally Ride, the First American Woman in
Space. New York: Rosen, 2004.
Mar yanne Barsotti
See also Challengerdisaster; Feminism; Science and
technology; Space exploration; Space shuttle pro-
gram.
Rivera, Geraldo
Identification American broadcast journalist
Born July 4, 1943; New York, New York
A controversial but accomplished broadcast journalist dur-
ing the 1980’s, Rivera became a popular talk show host.
Born Gerald Michael Riviera, Geraldo Rivera was
raised by his Puerto Rican father and Jewish mother
in West Babylon, New York. He earned a law degree
from Brooklyn Law School in 1969 and a journalism
degree from Columbia University. During the 1970’s,
he worked as an investigative reporter for WABC-TV
in New York City and hosted the late-night television
showGood Night, America. From 1978 to 1985, he
worked as a special correspondent for the American
Broadcasting Company (ABC) news magazine20/
20. His subjective, often opinionated style of report-
ing made him popular with television audiences.
Rivera also won numerous awards for his reporting
and became a role model for the Latino community.
In 1986, Rivera hosted the documentaryThe Myster y
of Al Capone’s Vault, a live television broadcast in
which he opened what was purported to be Al Ca-
pone’s vault and found nothing. Although Rivera
was embarrassed by the outcome, his popularity
soared. Under contract with Tribune Entertainment,
Rivera filmed seven additional documentaries dur-
ing the 1980’s, includingAmerican Vice: The Doping
of America(1986),Innocence Lost: The Erosion of Ameri-
can Childhood(1987),Sons of Scarface: The New Mafia
(1987), andMurder: Live from Death Row(1988).
In 1987, Rivera began hosting and producing the
syndicated daytime talk showGeraldo. The show,
which remained on the air until 1998, often featured
controversial guests and tabloid theatrics. One of his
most famous episodes involved neo-Nazi skinheads
and black and Jewish activists and ended in an on-air
brawl, with Rivera receiving a broken nose. The talk
show continued to provide Rivera with a forum to
share his personal opinions with the American pub-
lic. The show also joined a growing roster of other
talk shows, such asThe Jerr y Springer ShowandSally
Jessy Raphael, which became known in the television
industry as “trash TV.” The controversial and ex-
treme nature of Rivera’s talk show, however, earned
him the reputation as the “King of Tabloid TV.”Impact During the 1980’s, Rivera became a popu-
lar investigative reporter and broadcast journalist
known mostly for his unorthodox style of subjective
reporting. While he won numerous awards for his
work and became a role model for Latinos, many of
his professional peers were critical of his opinion-
ated reporting style. As his popularity grew with the
American public, Rivera catered to this fame by mov-
ing away from legitimate reporting and toward en-
tertainment reporting through a series of investiga-
tive documentaries and, eventually, to his successful
talk show. In the late 1990’s, Rivera returned to re-
porting as a war correspondent for FOX News.Further Reading
Langer, John.Tabloid Television: Popular Journalism
and the “Other News.”New York: Routledge, 1997.
Rivera, Geraldo.Exposing Myself.New York: Bantam
Books, 1991.
Bernadette Zbicki HeineySee also Cable television; Journalism; Talk shows;
Television.830 Rivera, Geraldo The Eighties in America