Oprah says without Barbara Walters 'there wouldn't have been me' in an Instagram tribute to the late TV journalist

• Iconic journalist Barbara Walters died on Friday evening at 93.
• Women journalists — from Oprah Winfrey to Savannah Guthrie — paid tribute on social media.

Following the news of Barbara Walters' death on Friday, TV host and media mogul Oprah Winfrey paid tribute to the late television journalist, writing that Walters was a "powerful and gracious role model."

"Without Barbara Walters there wouldn't have been me — nor any other woman you see on evening, morning, and daily news," Winfrey wrote on her Instagram, featuring a photo of her and Walters. "She was indeed a Trailblazer. I did my very first television audition with her in mind the whole time.

Winfrey added: "Grateful that she was such a powerful and gracious role model. Grateful to have known her. Grateful to have followed in her Light."

Winfrey has spoken extensively about how Walters greatly inspired her throughout her career, writing in "O Magazine" that when she was 17, she wanted to be a TV journalist "like Barbara Walters."

During Walter's final appearance on "The View" in 2014, Winfrey surprised Walters with a guest appearance and brought out dozens of female journalists — including Katie Couric, Hoda Kotb, and Gayle King.

Other women television journalists chimed in with their tributes. Couric wrote on Instagram that Walters "liked to say we were similar in that neither of us was particularly glamorous."

"I never quite knew how to take that, although being in Barbara's mold was nothing but a compliment," Couric wrote. "Thank you for everything, Barbara."

"Good Morning America" anchor Robin Roberts wrote on Twitter that Walters was "a true trailblazer" while Tamron Hall wrote: "The Legend. The Blueprint, The Greatest. Rest in Peace Barbara Walters."

"Today" co-anchor Savannah Guthrie wrote: "thank you, Barbara. you showed the way. you made it possible for the rest of us."