ABC newswoman Barbara Walters hospitalized after fall

USPA News - Veteran ABC newswoman Barbara Walters, who is one of the best-known personalities in U.S. television news, was hospitalized on late Saturday evening after she fell at an inauguration party at an ambassador`s home in Washington, D.C. Jeffrey Schneider, senior vice president of Communications and spokesman for ABC News, said Walters fell on a step at the residence of Britain`s ambassador to the United States, Peter Westmacott. "The fall left her with a cut on her forehead," the spokesman said in an e-mailed statement on late Sunday afternoon.

Schneider said Walters, 83, went to the hospital "out of an abundance of caution" to have her cut tended to and have a full examination. "[She] remains there for observation," he said. "Barbara is alert (and telling everyone what to do), which we all take as a very positive sign." It was not immediately clear when Walters might be released from the hospital, which Schneider did not identify. A press release issued on Wednesday said Walters was to join a team of ABC News anchors, correspondents, and analysts on Monday during the network`s coverage of U.S. President Barack Obama`s public inauguration. Walters is one of the best-known personalities in U.S. television news and has interviewed world figures such as former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, former Chinese Premier Jiang Zemin, former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, and former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. The newswoman is currently co-host of ABC Daytime`s talk show "The View," which she developed in the 1990s and airs on weekdays at 11 a.m. Eastern time. She underwent open-heart surgery in May 2010 to replace the aortic valve, which pumps blood from the heart to the rest of the body.