Charles Gibson | |
---|---|
Born | Charles deWolf Gibson March 9, 1943 Evanston, Illinois, U.S. |
Education | Princeton University |
Occupation | Television journalist |
Years active | 1965–2016, 2022–present |
Notable credit(s) | Narrator for This Week (2012–2014) World News Saturday anchor (1987–1988) World News with Charles Gibson anchor (2006–2009) Good Morning America co-anchor (1987–1998; 1999–2006) ABC News House of Representatives correspondent (1981–1987) ABC News general assignment reporter (1977–1981) ABC News White House correspondent (1976–1977) The Bookcase, co-host with daughter Kate (2022–present) ABC Audio |
Spouse | Arlene |
Children | 2 |
Charles deWolf Gibson (born March 9, 1943) is an American broadcast television anchor, journalist, and podcaster. Gibson was a host of Good Morning America from 1987 to 1998 and again from 1999 to 2006, and the anchor of World News with Charles Gibson from 2006 to 2009. [1]
In 1965, Gibson worked as the news director for Princeton University's student-run radio station, a radio producer for RKO, and a reporter for local television stations. In 1975, he joined ABC News, where he worked as a general assignment reporter and a correspondent from Washington, D.C.
Gibson was born on March 9, 1943, in Evanston, Illinois, to Georgianna Law and Burdett Gibson, and is a great-nephew of graphic artist Charles Dana Gibson. He grew up in Washington, D.C., [2] and attended the Sidwell Friends School, a private college-preparatory school in Washington.
In 1965, Gibson graduated with an A.B. in history from Princeton University, where he was News Director for WPRB-FM, the university radio station, and a member of Princeton Tower Club. Gibson completed a senior thesis titled "The Land and Capital Problems of Pre-Famine Ireland." [3] In 1966, he served in the United States Coast Guard. [4]
Gibson joined RKO General in 1966 as a producer and later worked as a reporter and anchor for WLVA (now WSET) television in Lynchburg, Virginia. In 1970, he moved to WMAL-TV (now WJLA) television, the ABC network affiliate in Washington, D.C. Gibson joined the syndicated news service Television News Inc. (TVN) in 1974. For TVN, he covered the Watergate scandal investigations and the resignation of President Richard Nixon. [2]
Gibson joined ABC News in 1975, where he worked as its White House correspondent from 1976 to 1977, a general assignment reporter from 1977 to 1981, and House of Representatives correspondent from 1981 to 1987. Gibson was a correspondent and fill-in anchor for World News Tonight with Peter Jennings anchored ABC World News Saturday and substitute anchor on the late-night hard and soft news program Nightline and World News This Morning . [2]
On February 23, 1987, Gibson first became a co-anchor of Good Morning America, alongside Joan Lunden. From 1985 to 1995, Good Morning America was the most-watched morning show on American television. [5]
Gibson hosted and narrated the Maryland Public Television documentary Lucky Number, a program about problem gambling, in 1990. [6]
During the 1992 presidential campaign, Vice President Dan Quayle used part of an interview between Gibson and Reform Party candidate Ross Perot to claim that Perot displayed contempt towards the United States Constitution. On the October 22, 1991, edition of Good Morning America, Gibson asked Perot what Perot would advise President George H. W. Bush to do to "jump-start the economy". Perot stated that the U.S. helped Germany and Japan write their respective nations' constitutions: "This was at a time when the Industrial Revolution had occurred. Our Constitution was written 200 years ago, before it occurred." He added that those nations "have an intelligent relationship between business and government." Vice President Quayle responded: "Mr. Perot, we do not need a new constitution. Our Constitution has served us well." [7] When Gibson interviewed Democratic presidential candidate and then-Governor of Arkansas Bill Clinton on June 28, 1992, The New York Times noted that Gibson repeatedly pressed Clinton to name his vice presidential candidate. [8] Gibson interviewed President Bush on October 9 that year; Bush stated that he questioned Clinton's judgment, not patriotism, in traveling to the Soviet Union in 1969. [9]
On May 1, 1998, Gibson left the program and ABC replaced him with Kevin Newman. [10] Newman began hosting Good Morning America on May 4, 1998. [11] Good Morning America then began losing viewers to NBC's Today show. In May 1996, Good Morning America averaged 4.17 million viewers daily, and Today averaged 4.43 million; that gap expanded to 3.12 for Good Morning America and 5.26 for Today. [5] ABC reinstated Gibson to Good Morning America on January 18, 1999, with Diane Sawyer as co-host. [12] He remained as co-anchor until June 28, 2006, when he left to anchor World News Tonight, after having spent 19 years with the morning program. In 1998 and 1999, he was a co-anchor, with Connie Chung, on the Monday edition of the ABC newsmagazine program 20/20 .
On September 11, 2001, Gibson was anchoring Good Morning America with Diane Sawyer when coverage of the World Trade Center attacks began. Both anchors turned coverage over to colleague Peter Jennings moments after the second plane hit the South Tower.
During the 2004 U.S. presidential-election campaign, Gibson moderated the second presidential debate in St. Louis, Missouri, between the two nominee candidates – Republican incumbent U.S. President George W. Bush and Democratic U.S. Senator John Kerry. That debate took place on October 8, 2004. [13]
In the summer of 2005, Gibson began substitute anchoring World News Tonight (its name at the time) regularly after long-time anchor Peter Jennings's treatment for lung cancer prevented him from anchoring. On August 7, 2005, Gibson announced Jennings's death and the following day anchored World News Tonight, and was eventually offered the job.
Though Gibson was a leading choice to replace Jennings, he could not agree with David Westin, President of ABC News, over how long he would be anchor. [14] On January 2, 2006, Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff, veteran ABC News journalists, were chosen to be Jennings's permanent replacements. They had both been interim anchors. Vargas had been designated by Peter Jennings as his only favored choice as back up anchor on September 11, 2001.
Following Woodruff's severe injury on January 29, 2006, while on assignment in Iraq, and Vargas's announcement that she was pregnant, some critics questioned whether Vargas could sustain the program on her own, pointing to falling ratings. In July 2006, Cindy Adams of the New York Post reported that Gibson would become Woodruff's "Temporary Permanent Replacement" on World News Tonight. [15] According to some reports, while GMA co-host Diane Sawyer had coveted the World News Tonight anchor chair, Gibson had one year on his contract left and threatened to retire if he didn't get that position, and as GMA was ABC News' most lucrative show, it would be badly damaged if it lost both Sawyer and Gibson. [16]
On May 23, 2006, Gibson was named sole anchor of World News Tonight, effective May 29, 2006, after Vargas announced her resignation from the program. She cited her doctors' recommendation to reduce considerably her workload because of her upcoming maternity leave, and her wish to spend more time with her new baby. [17] She would return to anchor 20/20 .
During the summer of 2006, the program's title was changed to World News with Charles Gibson. According to The New York Times , he had previously planned to retire from ABC News on June 22, 2007, but remained to anchor the newscast. [18]
During the 2008 U.S. presidential-election campaign, Gibson was a co-moderator with George Stephanopoulos, another ABC News journalist, for the April 16, 2008, Democratic Party's presidential-election debate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, between U.S. Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama; it was broadcast exclusively by ABC News. Both moderators were later criticized in The Washington Post and other media outlets for their selection of insubstantial, "gotcha"-style questions. Stephanopoulos acknowledged the legitimacy of the concerns over the order of the questions, [19] but said they were regarding issues in the campaign that had not been covered in previous debates. [20] ABC had sought out a woman who opposed Obama and aired a video of her asking a trivial question, repeated by Stephanopolous, about why Obama wasn't wearing a flag pin. The question brought widespread criticism from the media. [21] [22] [23] [24] He moderated both the Republican and the Democratic ABC, Facebook debates at Saint Anselm College on January 5, 2008. [25]
On September 11, 2008, Gibson interviewed Sarah Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee candidate, her first interview after being named as presidential nominee John McCain's running mate. The interview received criticism from some political commentators, specifically surrounding Gibson's question regarding the term 'Bush Doctrine' due to its having a variety of differing meanings. [26] [27]
During Gibson's tenure, World News was a solid competitor and sporadically beat NBC Nightly News , anchored by Brian Williams, in the program ratings during 2007, the first time in several years, and the ABC program became much more distant second place after he retired. [28] The two programs have taken turns at the top of the ratings among household viewers and the 25–54 age group prized by advertisers. Katie Couric's CBS Evening News remained a distant third. [29] [30] During his last few months as anchor, Gibson also worked on a special documentary about the oil industry entitled "Over a Barrel: The Truth About Oil," which was a critical and ratings success and earned him several awards.
According to reports, while ABC tried to persuade Gibson to stay on as anchor, he decided to retire. [31] On September 2, 2009, ABC News announced that Diane Sawyer would replace Gibson at the "World News" anchor chair following his retirement from ABC News. Gibson anchored his final edition of World News on December 18, 2009. [32]
In December 2010, Gibson participated as a speaker on Voices in Leadership, an original Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health webcast series, in a discussion titled, "Lessons Learned as an ABC News Anchor," moderated by Dr. Robert Blendon. [33]
In 2016, he appears as a news anchor in season 4 of the Netflix original series House of Cards. [34]
During ABC News' live presidential election coverage on November 8, 2016, Gibson appeared as a contributor. [35]
On May 2, 2022, Gibson returned to ABC where he hosted a podcast for ABC Audio with his daughter Kate. The podcast, titled The Bookcase was designed to feature authors, book industry insiders and local independent bookstores. The first episode featured Oprah Winfrey who discussed the impact of her bookclub, how she picks her choices and her own reading habits. [36]
In 1973, the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded him a National Journalism Fellowship. The Radio Television Digital News Association awarded Gibson the Paul White Award in 2006, [37] and in 2008 Quinnipiac University awarded him the Fred Friendly First Amendment Award. [2]
Gibson's wife, Arlene Gibson, is an educator who retired in 2006 as head of school at The Spence School in New York City. [38] She has also held positions at other schools in New York City and New Jersey, and was previously the head of the middle school at the Bryn Mawr School in Baltimore, Maryland, in the 1980s. [39] She is on the board of trustees at her alma mater , Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. [40]
They have two daughters, Jessica and Katherine. [41] On March 14, 2006, Jessica gave birth to Gibson's first grandchild. [42]
Gibson has resided with his family in Summit, New Jersey. [43]
Beginning in 2006, [44] Gibson was a member of the board of trustees of Princeton University, until his term expired in 2015. [45]
On May 28, 1989, Gibson delivered the commencement address at Vassar College. [46] On May 17, 2006, Gibson delivered the commencement address at Monmouth University's class of 2006's graduation ceremony held at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel Township, New Jersey. [47] He was also presented with a doctor of humane letters, an honorary degree. [48]
On June 17, 2007, Gibson delivered the commencement address to the class of 2007's graduation ceremony at Union College in Schenectady, New York. [49] Gibson also received an honorary doctor of humane letters, as well as a framed copy of his father's 1923 college yearbook entry. His father, Burdett Gibson, grew up in Schenectady and graduated from the college in 1923. [50] Gibson contributed an estimated US$75,000 to the college to help create the Burdett Gibson Class of 1923 Scholarship, which is awarded annually to a deserving student in need. [51]
1966- Gibson joined the RKO General as a producer and later worked as a reporter and anchor for WLVA (now WSET) television in Lynchburg, Virginia. In 1970, he moved to WMAL-TV (now WJLA) television, the ABC network affiliate in Washington, D.C. Gibson joined the syndicated news service Television News, Inc. (TVN) in 1974.
ABC World News Tonight is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television network in the United States. It is currently the most watched network newscast in the United States, with an average of 2 million more than its nearest rival, NBC Nightly News. Since 2014, the program's weekday broadcasts have been anchored by David Muir. As of February 6–7, 2021, Whit Johnson and Linsey Davis anchor the Saturday and Sunday editions of the newscast respectively.
ABC News is the news division of the American television network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ABC World News Tonight with David Muir; other programs include morning news-talk show Good Morning America, Nightline, Primetime, 20/20, and Sunday morning political affairs program This Week with George Stephanopoulos.
Katherine Anne Couric is an American journalist and presenter. She is founder of Katie Couric Media, a multimedia news and production company. She also publishes a daily newsletter, Wake Up Call. From 2013 to 2017, she was Yahoo's Global News Anchor. Couric has been a television host at all of the Big Three television networks in the United States, and in her early career she was an assignment editor for CNN. She worked for NBC News from 1989 to 2006, CBS News from 2006 to 2011, and ABC News from 2011 to 2014. She was the first solo female anchor of a major network (CBS) evening news program. In 2021, she appeared as a guest host for the game show Jeopardy!, the first woman to host the flagship American version of the show in its history.
Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings was a Canadian-American television journalist, best known for serving as the sole anchor of ABC World News Tonight from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 2005. Despite dropping out of high school, Jennings transformed himself into one of American television's most prominent journalists.
Television news in the United States has evolved over many years. It has gone from a simple 10- to 15-minute format in the evenings, to a variety of programs and channels. Today, viewers can watch local, regional and national news programming, in many different ways, any time of the day.
Primetime was an American news magazine television program that debuted on ABC in 1989 with co-hosts Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer and originally had the title Primetime Live. The program's final episode aired May 18, 2012.
20/20 (stylized as 2020) is an American television newsmagazine that has been broadcast on ABC since June 6, 1978. Created by ABC News executive Roone Arledge, the program was designed similarly to CBS's 60 Minutes in that it features in-depth story packages, although it focuses more on human interest stories than international and political subjects. The program's name derives from the "20/20" measurement of visual acuity.
Good Morning America is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. The Sunday edition was canceled in 1999; weekend editions returned on both Saturdays and Sundays on September 4, 2004. The weekday and Saturday programs airs from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. in all United States timezones. The Sunday editions are an hour long and are transmitted to ABC's stations live at 7:00 a.m. Eastern Time, although stations in some media markets air them at different times. Viewers in the Pacific Time Zone receive an updated feed with a specialized opening and updated live reports. A third hour of the weekday broadcast aired from 2007 to 2008, exclusively on ABC News Now.
George Robert Stephanopoulos is an American television host, political commentator, and former Democratic advisor. Stephanopoulos currently is a coanchor with Robin Roberts and Michael Strahan on Good Morning America, and host of This Week, ABC's Sunday morning current events news program.
Lila Diane Sawyer is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, 20/20, and Primetime newsmagazine while at ABC News. During her tenure at CBS News, she hosted CBS Morning and was the first woman correspondent on 60 Minutes. Prior to her journalism career, she was a member of U.S. President Richard Nixon's White House staff and assisted in his post-presidency memoirs. Presently she works for ABC News producing documentaries and interview specials.
Elizabeth Anne Vargas is an American television journalist who is the lead investigative reporter/documentary anchor for A&E Networks, and was the host for Fox's revival of America's Most Wanted (2021). She began her new position on May 28, 2018, after being an anchor of ABC's television newsmagazine 20/20 and ABC News specials for the previous 14 years. She is also a news anchor for NewsNation, where she hosts Elizabeth Vargas Reports currently based in New York City.
This Week, originally titled as This Week with David Brinkley and billed as This Week with George Stephanopoulos since 2012, is an American Sunday morning political affairs program airing on ABC. It premiered on November 15, 1981, replacing Issues and Answers with David Brinkley as its original anchor until his retirement in 1996. The program has been anchored by George Stephanopoulos since 2012, after first hosting it from 2002 to 2010. Martha Raddatz and Jonathan Karl have been co-hosts since 2016 and 2021, respectively. The program airs live at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time although many stations air the program at a later slot to air local newscasts, especially those in other time zones. During the David Brinkley era, the program drew consistent #1 ratings and in Stephanopolous era generally runs in third place among the Sunday morning talk shows, behind Meet the Press and Face the Nation.
Robert Warren Woodruff is an American television journalist. Since 1996, he has served as a reporter for ABC News. Woodruff co-anchored ABC World News Tonight in 2006 with journalist Elizabeth Vargas. He was severely injured by an IED explosion during a reporting trip to Iraq that January, and he recovered over an extended period before returning to air.
Jacob Paul Tapper is an American journalist. He is the lead Washington anchor for CNN, hosts the weekday television news show The Lead with Jake Tapper, and co-hosts the Sunday morning public affairs program State of the Union.
Forrest Sawyer is an American broadcast journalist. Sawyer worked 11 years with ABC News, where he frequently anchored ABC World News Tonight and Nightline and reported for all ABC News broadcasts. He anchored the newsmagazines "Day One" and "Turning Point" He recorded stories from all over the globe, and earned awards for his reports and documentaries, including Emmy Awards in 1992, 1993, and 1994. He left ABC News in 1999 to become a news anchor for both NBC and its cable counterpart, MSNBC, where he was a regular substitute for Brian Williams as anchor for The News with Brian Williams. He left NBC News in 2005 to become founder and president of Freefall Productions, where he produces documentaries and serves as a media strategist and guest lecturer.
Antonio Mora is a multiple Emmy Award winning journalist and television news anchor. He is best known for his years at ABC News, including his four years as the news anchor and chief correspondent for Good Morning America. He was also a prime-time anchor on Al Jazeera America where he hosted an interview show called Consider This. He was the first Hispanic American male to anchor a primetime newscast in Chicago and one of the only Hispanic American males to anchor a national broadcast news show.
David Jason Muir is an American journalist and anchor for ABC World News Tonight and co-anchor of the ABC News magazine 20/20, part of the news department of the ABC broadcast-television network, based in New York City. Muir previously served as the weekend anchor and primary substitute anchor on ABC's World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer before succeeding her on September 1, 2014. At ABC News, Muir has won multiple Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards for his national and international journalism. He was the 2024 recipient of the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. Muir won the Emmy for Outstanding Live News Program in both 2023 and 2024 and won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Network TV Newscast in the same years.
ABC Person of the Week is a feature of ABC World News Tonight that began in 1986 and was still running in 2021. It provides a short biography or story of an interesting person, at the end of the Friday night broadcast, thus having high prominence. For news programs, it is a relatively long segment, running three to four minutes. It often features Americans, either famous or obscure, who have inspiring stories involving selflessness, but is not strictly limited in its focus.
Shelley Ross is an American television executive producer, best known for her work on ABC News' Good Morning America and PrimeTime Live.
Linsey Davis is an American broadcast journalist at ABC News, who currently anchors the Sunday edition of World News Tonight and the network's weekday prime-time streaming program, ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis. She is also a substitute anchor for Good Morning America, and the weekday and Saturday editions of ABC World News Tonight.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires |journal=
(help)