List of presidents of ABC News

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The following is a list of presidents of the news division for the American Broadcasting Company television network.

Name Years Notes
John Charles Daly 1953–1960 During the 1950s, Daly became the vice president in charge of news, special events, and public affairs, religious programs and sports for ABC and won three
Nixon presidential election and other major races.[3] In an accompanying article on the same page, however, it was stated that the reason for his resignation was the decision of the then-president of ABC, Leonard Goldenson, to bring in Time Inc. to co-produce documentaries that had previously been under Daly's direction for the network.[4]
James Hagerty 1961–1963[5]
Elmer Lower 1963–1974 Lower was named president of ABC News in 1963. During his tenure, he was responsible for hiring Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel, Frank Reynolds, and Sam Donaldson. In that time, the news division grew from 250 to 750 employees, and the evening news expanded from 15 minutes to 30 minutes
William Sheehan 1974–1977
Roone Arledge 1977–1997 In 1977, ABC made Arledge president of the then low-rated network news division, all while Arledge retained control of the Sports Division. ABC News had at the time been in the middle of blunders such as the disastrous pairing of
Primetime Live, in 1989. The program was originally anchored by Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer
. In 1986, Arledge stepped down as president of ABC Sports. That same year, ABC's World News Tonight began a ten-year domination of the network news ratings. In 1998, Arledge retired from ABC News.
David Westin 1997–2010 He was president of
Robert Iger, but others reported that he had decided to pursue other interests—with one saying that he "got to announce his departure on his own terms".[8][7]
Ben Sherwood 2010–2015 From 1989 to 1993, Sherwood was an Associate Producer and a Producer for
Disney-ABC Television Group, and Co-Chairman of Disney Media Networks.[10] Following the Disney acquisition of Fox in March 2019, Sherwood departed the company.[11]
James Goldston 2014–2021 In April 2014, Goldston became the President of ABC News, reaching the role after just ten years at the network.
Big Three television networks in the US, alongside Deborah Turness who was until 2017 the President of NBC News.[12] At the time he also formed a British executive duo at ABC, alongside ABC Entertainment president (and BBC alum) Paul Lee.[13] At the time of his appointment, Goldston was labelled as having "something of a Midas touch" in the press after taking each broadcast he led (Nightline, GMA, and This Week) to the top spot for viewership, and with GMA enjoying "its best performance in 20 years."[14] In 2016, a letter was written to Goldston by journalists who were requesting reforms to improve the treatment of black candidates in hiring decisions.[15] HuffPost sources described that Senior Vice President for Talent and Business at ABC Barbara Fedida intervened to join a meeting on the topic, a meeting which the group went on to describe as "tense".[15] Mara Schiavocampo later accused Fedida of "racial discrimination", but later agreed a financial settlement including "a nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreement."[15] In June 2020 Goldston placed Fedida, who first joined the company in 1989, on "administrative leave" after a HuffPost report which alleged an "extensive history" of "insensitive and racist remarks."[16] In response to her suspension Fedida released a statement through her attorney describing the accusations as "heartbreaking and incredibly misleading."[17] She was fired on 21 July 2020.[18] On January 28, 2021, Goldston in an internal memo, announced[19] that he was stepping down from his post at ABC News. The Los Angeles Times
' Stephan Battaglio reported that the announcement of Goldston's exit came six months after the ouster Barbara Fedida. Goldston himself, had been rumored to have been on his way out since Fedida officially parted ways with ABC in July 2020.
Kimberly Godwin 2021–present In April 2021, Godwin was named[20][21] president of ABC News[22] making her both the first African-American person[23] and first African-American woman to lead a major broadcast news network.

References

  1. ^ Daly, John (November 23, 1958). "John Charles Daly's 4 Lives". Toledo Blade. Retrieved August 18, 2010.
  2. ^ "The Motorola Television Hour - Atomic Attack (TV Episode 1954)". IMDb. May 18, 1954. Retrieved September 3, 2018.
  3. ^ "Fluent Broadcaster, John Charles Daly". The New York Times. November 17, 1960. p. 75. Retrieved July 13, 2008.
  4. ^ "Daly Quits A.B.C. In Policy Battle". The New York Times. November 17, 1960. p. 75. Retrieved November 6, 2018.
  5. ISSN 0190-8286
    . Retrieved 2018-08-02.
  6. ^ "ABC Medianet". Archived from the original on 2010-07-24. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
  7. ^ a b Kurtz, Howard (September 6, 2010). "ABC news chief David Westin will leave network at year's end". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2022-07-03.
  8. ^ Lauria, Peter (September 7, 2010). "Who Pushed ABC News' Chief?". TheDailyBeast.com. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  9. ^ "Ben Sherwood Named President of ABC News". ABC News. December 3, 2010. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
  10. ^ Ben Sherwood to succeed Anne Sweeney, thewaltdisneycompany.com; accessed August 30, 2015.
  11. ^ Baysinger, Tim (March 19, 2019). "Disney Closes Its $71.3 Billion Acquisition of 21st Century Fox". TheWrap. Retrieved March 27, 2019.
  12. ^
    ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  13. ^ "James Goldston Named President of ABC News". The Hollywood Reporter. 10 April 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  14. ^ "ABC names James Goldston president of ABC News". Los Angeles Times. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  15. ^ a b c Ali, Yashar (1 June 2020). "'To Say That She's An Abusive Figure Is An Understatement': At ABC News, Toxicity Thrives". HuffPost. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  16. ^ Hernbroth, Megan. "ABC News executive in charge of hiring and diversity programs put on administrative leave while the network investigates claims of insensitive and racist remarks". Business Insider. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  17. ^ "ABC News Executive Barbara Fedida Put on Leave Following Accusations of Insensitive and Racist Comments". www.yahoo.com. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  18. ^ "Disney's ABC News says senior executive leaving after alleged racist comments". Reuters. 2020-07-21. Retrieved 2020-09-07.
  19. ^ Battaglio, Stephen (January 28, 2021). "James Goldston is out as president of ABC News". Los Angeles Times.
  20. ^ "Kimberly Godwin Named President of ABC News". The Hollywood Reporter. 2021-04-14. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  21. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  22. ^ Brian Stelter (14 April 2021). "The new president of ABC News is about to make history". CNN. Retrieved 2021-04-16.
  23. ISSN 0190-8286
    . Retrieved 2021-04-16.
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