Diane Sawyer steps down as anchor of ABC's World News

maestrodawg65 · **Joined:** Fri May 30, 2008 11:46 am **Posts:** 4414

From Politico

Quote:

Diane Sawyer is stepping down as anchor of ABC's "World News" but will stay with ABC, the network announced on Wednesday. She'll be replaced by David Muir on Sept. 2.

Sawyer, who has been anchor of "World News" since late 2009, will work on specials and events, appearing across all ABC News platforms.

"I want to acknowledge and celebrate Diane in particular for leading our division to great heights, especially and most recently at World News. Over the years, we have held many far-reaching conversations about work and life, and I know this new role is exactly how she wants to focus her remarkable energy and talent. And I'm excited to watch her elevate all of our programs and platforms with her new ideas, dynamic team, and her signature reporting, interviewing and storytelling," Disney/ABC Co-President Ben Sherwood said in a note to staff.

Muir, who has often substitute-anchored for Sawyer, will also continue his work on "20/20."

With Sawyer's role changing, the network announced that George Stephanopoulos will take on a new role with the network as chief anchor, taking the lead on special events and breaking news, in addition to his duties with "Good Morning America" and "This Week." Traditionally, the evening news anchor of a network would take on breaking news events, a role Sawyer and Stephanopoulos shared.

"In this position, George will be our lead anchor for major special events and breaking news at ABC, driving our live network coverage for the biggest stories," ABC News president James Goldston said in a memo. "From the retirement of Pope Benedict to the manhunt for the Boston bomber, George skillfully navigates uncertain and unfolding situations while synthesizing the latest reporting for our viewers. George is adept at balancing both complex global and public policy questions and deeply personal stories in interviews with numerous luminaries from Vladimir Putin to Angelina Jolie."

CELEBRITYSLEUTH · **Joined:** Thu Feb 03, 2005 12:39 pm **Posts:** 692

& another useless POLESMOKER steps in :evil:

maestrodawg65 · **Joined:** Fri May 30, 2008 11:46 am **Posts:** 4414

CELEBRITYSLEUTH wrote:

& another useless POLESMOKER steps in :evil:

More like Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff get shafted again. The two senior reporters for the network, who were once up for Peter Jennings' seat and got shafted in favor of having Diane switch from mornings to nights. David Muir? He couldn't create a pimple on the careers of those two! And having George as the Managing Editor and Lead Anchor? That should have gone to Bob Woodruff. Nobody has more experience at the network. But I guess since George has been the liberal male figurehead since joining GMA, they'll just continue to give him more titles at the network. I swear there has to be some funny money changing hands somewhere! With George and his Clinton political connections.

pacificRT · **Posted:** Sat Jun 28, 2014 12:34 am

maestrodawg65 wrote:

CELEBRITYSLEUTH wrote:

& another useless POLESMOKER steps in :evil:

More like Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff get shafted again. The two senior reporters for the network, who were once up for Peter Jennings' seat and got shafted in favor of having Diane switch from mornings to nights. David Muir? He couldn't create a pimple on the careers of those two! And having George as the Managing Editor and Lead Anchor? That should have gone to Bob Woodruff. Nobody has more experience at the network. But I guess since George has been the liberal male figurehead since joining GMA, they'll just continue to give him more titles at the network. I swear there has to be some funny money changing hands somewhere! With George and his Clinton political connections.

You've got a few things mixed up in your chronology there --

Soon after Peter Jennings' passing, and after a brief interim with Charles Gibson filling in, Vargas and Woodruff DID get the
nod as lead anchors. They began in January 2006, but then fate stepped in quickly. After only a few weeks, Woodruff was nearly killed
on assignment in Iraq, and due to the severity of his injuries, never returned to the anchor desk. Gibson came back to assist Vargas for while . By May, Vargas was beginning her maternity leave, and soon afterward resigned as anchor.

The rumor was that Charles Gibson bargained hard to be the sole anchor during contract negotiations, and it only was made easier with both Woodruff and Vargas sidelined -- so ABC handed the show over to him at the end of May and it was his for over 3 years until late '09 when Diane Sawyer took over.... she had little if anything to do with the Woodruff/Vargas situation.

At least both of them still have jobs with ABC, but now Elizabeth has settled into her 20/20 role, plus the GMA work and I'm not sure she'd even take it back at this point. As for Bob -- he's gotten a lot of his capabilites back and is obviously able to handle stories, but he admits he still has moments where he has difficulty finding words... that's easy to cover up when you're doing taped pieces, not so much when you're anchoring a live show.

My take is that if Bob Woodruff hadn't been injured, he could have pretty well held down the fort while Elizabeth Vargas was out on maternity leave, and by the end of 2006, they probably would've been able to re-team and held onto the show for quite a while, even going up against Katie Couric and Brian Williams.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABC_World_News
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Vargas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Woodruff

.

newsguy · **Joined:** Wed Sep 10, 2008 11:58 pm **Posts:** 2474

Sad what happened to Bob, He's lucky to be alive. Also Elisabeth had issues with alcohol. Did Elisabeth really resigned from her post? I thought she was forced out thanks to Mr. Gibson.

pacificRT · **Posted:** Sat Jun 28, 2014 12:49 am

newsguy wrote:

Sad what happened to Bob, He's lucky to be alive. Also Elisabeth had issues with alcohol. Did Elisabeth really resigned from her post? I thought she was forced out thanks to Mr. Gibson.

Both.
From the wikipedia article:

On May 23, 2006, Vargas announced her resignation from WNT. Gibson was then named sole anchor of the show, effective from May 29, 2006, replacing Vargas and Woodruff. To explain the sudden change, Vargas cited her doctors' recommendation to cut back her schedule considerably owing to a difficult pregnancy and her wish to spend more time with her new baby when he arrives. Most "inside accounts", however, claimed she fully expected and wished to return to the anchor chair soon after giving birth, but Gibson threatened to quit the network if he wasn't made sole permanent anchor. According to these sources, his gambit succeeded and she was left embittered, although not enough to sever ties with the network.

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tdubya68801 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 29, 2014 5:39 pm

Rebecca Jarvis filled in last night for Muir, who usually does the weekend news. She might be on tonight.

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