Forrest Sawyer

Last updated
Forrest Sawyer
Born (1949-04-19) April 19, 1949 (age 75)
Lakeland, Florida, U.S.
EducationB.A. in Eastern Philosophy and World Religion and M.A. in Education, University of Florida
Occupation(s) WAGA-TV news anchor (1980–1985)
CBS Morning News anchor (1985–1987)
ABC News and NBC News anchor
Years active1980–2011

Forrest Sawyer (born April 19, 1949) 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.

Contents

Early years

Sawyer was born and reared in Lakeland, Florida, where he graduated from Kathleen High School. [1] He was a member of Alpha Tau Omega at the University of Florida, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Eastern Philosophy and World Religions and a Master's degree in Education. [2]

Professional career

After starting in radio, Sawyer worked as newsman and news director at WAAB in Worcester for a short period in 1973, and left for a news job at WVBF in Boston for year or so, before moving to Television. One of the WAAB newsmen, John Gallagher, said Sawyer had the sharpest mind and quickest wit he’d ever seen in a radio newsman and could write the news and commentary, as fast he could speak it. After falling out with WAAB/WAAF owner George Gray, he moved to on air at WVBF in Boston for a year, then moving to tv. (in a fit of emotion, when he was fired, or quit (still disputed according to WAAB newsman Mike Marcy) he left the WAAB studios calling owner George Gray a "chubby little clown"....the nickname stayed with employees until 4 years later when the radio stations were sold to a group headed by Dick Ferguson, Steve Marx and Bob Williams. A few years later, Sawyer was invited to host a program called "World in Review" for Georgia Public Television, where world events in the news each week were looked at in depth by a panel of academic experts. The news director of Atlanta's then-CBS affiliate saw how talented he was and hired him; he was still full-time at his radio job. Sawyer moved into commercial television with Atlanta's WAGA-TV where he shared a Peabody Award in 1982 for Paradise Saved , a documentary on Cumberland Island. Sawyer, Don Smith, and photographer George Gentry were cited for a documentary in which viewers were "treated to a quality of visual beauty not often seen on television and, at the same time, were informed, enlightened, and challenged concerning the problems of retaining a great natural heritage and a diminishing resource—the unspoiled beauty of the Atlantic Coast." [3]

From August 1985 to August 1986, Sawyer and Maria Shriver were anchors of The CBS Morning News . Sawyer stayed with CBS until 1987. He joined ABC in 1988 as anchorman of ABC World News This Morning and also hosted "World News Sunday" and "Day One." He hosted Justice Files on The Discovery Channel in the early 1990s. [4] [5] [6] Sawyer filed the first in-depth network report on the 1996 Mount Everest disaster, was the first reporter to gain access to the KGB's files on Lee Harvey Oswald, and filed history's first live television report from a battlefield during the First Gulf War. Sawyer also served as a regular substitute anchor on the ABC News programs ABC World News Tonight and Nightline before leaving ABC and joining NBC. [2]

In addition to his Peabody Award, he has received a total of seven National Emmy Awards, two Sigma Delta Chi Awards, two Edward R. Murrow Awards, an Associated Press Award, an Ohio State Award, an Ark Award and two American Psychological Association Awards. [2]

Sawyer played himself as moderator in "The Debate" an episode of The West Wing which aired live and was dedicated solely to a debate between two fictitious presidential candidates. [7]

He was a guest speaker at the American Association of Community Colleges Conference in Long Beach, CA, during April 2006 and was keynote speaker on May 11, 2007 at the University of California, Santa Barbara, at a conference titled, "The Future of Multi-Media Digital News and Cultural Networks." [8]

In late 2007, while filming a documentary in Tanzania, Sawyer survived a helicopter crash in which he suffered a serious knee injury before hiking miles with other survivors to safety. [9] His recent media appearances include anchoring the July 19, 2008 edition of the CBS Evening News . [10] and reporting the 2009 Frontline documentary "Ten Trillion and Counting," [11] a journey through the politics behind the national debt.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard K. Smith</span> American news anchor

Howard Kingsbury Smith was an American journalist, radio reporter, television anchorman, political commentator, and film actor. He was one of the original members of the team of war correspondents known as the Murrow Boys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ted Koppel</span> British-American television journalist (born 1940)

Edward James Martin Koppel is a British-born American broadcast journalist, best known as the anchor for Nightline, from the program's inception in 1980 until 2005.

<i>The Huntley–Brinkley Report</i> American news program aired on NBC (1956–1970) by Chet Huntley and David Brinkley

The Huntley–Brinkley Report is an American television broadcasting show broadcast by NBC. Anchored by Chet Huntley in New York City, and David Brinkley in Washington, D.C. It aired from October 29, 1956 to July 31, 1970, replacing Camel News Caravan and was replaced by NBC Nightly News. The program ran for 15 minutes at its inception but expanded to 30 minutes on September 9, 1963, exactly a week after the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite did so. It was developed and produced initially by Reuven Frank. Frank left the program in 1962 to produce documentaries but returned to the program the following year when it expanded to 30 minutes. He was succeeded as executive producer in 1965 by Robert "Shad" Northshield and by Wallace Westfeldt in 1969.

<i>Nightline</i> American late-night news program since 1980

Nightline is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the program featured Ted Koppel as its main anchor from March 1980 until his retirement in November 2005. Its ongoing rotating anchors are Byron Pitts and Juju Chang. Nightline airs weeknights from 12:37 to 1:07 a.m., Eastern Time, after Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which had served as the program's lead-out from 2003 to 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Couric</span> American journalist (born 1957)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Gibson</span> American broadcast television anchor and journalist (born 1943)

Charles deWolf Gibson 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.

The Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award honors excellence in broadcast and digital journalism in the public service and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in journalism. The awards were established in 1942 and administered until 1967 by Washington and Lee University's O. W. Riegel, Curator and Head of the Department of Journalism and Communications. Since 1968 they have been administered by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, and are considered by some to be the broadcast equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, another program administered by Columbia University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Diane Sawyer</span> American television broadcast journalist (born 1945)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Charles Daly</span> American journalist and game show host (1914–1991)

John Charles Patrick Croghan Daly was an American journalist, host, radio and television personality, ABC News executive, TV anchor, and game show host, best known for his work on the CBS panel game show What's My Line?

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Chancellor</span> American TV journalist

John William Chancellor was an American journalist who spent most of his career with NBC News. He is considered a pioneer in television news. Chancellor served as anchor of the NBC Nightly News from 1970 to 1982 and continued to do editorials and commentaries for NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw until 1993.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Mudd</span> American broadcast journalist (1928–2021)

Roger Harrison Mudd was an American broadcast journalist who was a correspondent and anchor for CBS News and NBC News. He also worked as the primary anchor for The History Channel. Previously, Mudd was weekend and weekday substitute anchor for the CBS Evening News, the co-anchor of the weekday NBC Nightly News, and the host of the NBC-TV Meet the Press and American Almanac TV programs. Mudd was the recipient of the Peabody Award, the Joan Shorenstein Award for Distinguished Washington Reporting, and five Emmy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Reynolds</span> American television journalist

Frank James Reynolds was an American television journalist for CBS and ABC News.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Woodruff</span> American journalist

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.

Christopher Robert Bury is an American journalist best known for being a correspondent at ABC News Nightline, where he also served as substitute anchor. Bury was also a national correspondent based in Chicago for World News with Diane Sawyer and Good Morning America. He is now Senior Journalist in Residence at DePaul University in Chicago. Bury's recent work includes contributions to PBS NewsHour and Al Jazeera America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio Mora</span> American journalist and news anchor

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cynthia McFadden</span> American television journalist (born 1956)

Cynthia McFadden is an American television journalist who is currently the senior legal and investigative correspondent for NBC News. She was an anchor and correspondent for ABC News who co-anchored Nightline, and occasionally appeared on ABC News special Primetime. She was with ABC News from 1994 to 2014 and joined NBC News in March 2014.

Don Dahler is an American journalist and author. Dahler held various correspondent and anchor positions at three major networks: ABC, CBS, and FOX. Dahler is the author of four books.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Bohrman</span> American television producer (1954-2023)

David Bohrman was an American news executive, working in network television news, cable news, new media, internet, convergence, and consulting. Bohrman created almost a dozen new TV news programs at ABC News, NBC News (MSNBC), CNN, and TechTV.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Janet Tobias</span> American film director

Janet Tobias is a media executive specializing in healthcare as well as an Emmy Award-winning director, producer, and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amna Nawaz</span> American journalist

Amna Nawaz is an American broadcast journalist and a co-anchor of the PBS NewsHour alongside Geoff Bennett. Before joining PBS in April 2018, Nawaz was an anchor and correspondent at ABC News and NBC News. She has received a number of awards, including an Emmy Award and a Society for Features Journalism award.

References

  1. ↑ "Polk Celebrities". The Ledger. 2005-03-20. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
  2. 1 2 3 "Forrest Sawyer: Profile". Speakers Platform. Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
  3. ↑ "Paradise Saved". Peabody Awards. Archived from the original on 2010-06-11. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
  4. ↑ HODGES, ANN. "A&E, Discovery list fall programming plans." Houston Chronicle 29 Apr. 1992, 2 STAR, HOUSTON: 6. NewsBank. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.
  5. ↑ Johnson, Peter. "Norville may lead wave of CNN talk shows." USA TODAY 28 Apr. 1992, LIFE: 3D. NewsBank. Web. 9 Oct. 2015.
  6. ↑ "Serial Killers." Justice Files. Exec. Prod. Rudy Bednar, Sheila Sitomer, Peter W. Kunhardt, and Dyllan McGee. Hst. Forrest Sawyer. The Discovery Channel. 10 Mar. 1993.
  7. ↑ "'West Wing' Hopefuls Clash in Live Debate". Associated Press. 2005-11-07. Retrieved 2008-12-13.[ dead link ]
  8. ↑ "The Future of Multi-Media Digital News and Cultural Networks". Center for Film, Television, & New Media at University of California, Santa Barbara. 2007-05-11. Archived from the original on 2008-03-28.
  9. ↑ Huff, Richard (2007-12-12). "Forrest Sawyer: I almost died in crash". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
  10. ↑ Baker, Brent (2008-07-21). "Day 1 of Obama's Magical Media Tour: All Air Outside the Paint!". CyberAlert. Media Research Center. Archived from the original on 2008-11-27. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
  11. ↑ "Ten Trillion and Counting". PBS .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.