David Muir facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
David Muir
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Muir in 2021
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David Jason Muir
November 8, 1973 Syracuse, New York, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Ithaca College (BA) |
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| Years active | 1994–present |
| Employer | The Walt Disney Company |
| Television |
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| Title | Anchor of ABC World News Tonight |
| Predecessor | Diane Sawyer |
David Jason Muir (born November 8, 1973) is a well-known American journalist. He is the main anchor for ABC World News Tonight, which is a popular evening news show. He also helps host 20/20, another news program on ABC. Before becoming the main anchor, he hosted the weekend news and filled in for Diane Sawyer. He took over as the main anchor on September 1, 2014.
Since joining ABC News in 2003, David Muir has reported from many important places around the world. He has covered stories from Afghanistan, Iraq, Ukraine, and the Syrian border. He has also reported from places like Fukushima, Japan, after a nuclear accident.
Muir has won many awards for his journalism, including several Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards. In 2024, he received the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism. His show, World News Tonight with David Muir, has been the most-watched evening newscast in the United States since 2015.
His reporting on climate change has also earned him special recognition. He received the George Polk Award and the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award for his work on environmental issues.
Contents
Early Life and Education
David Muir was born in Syracuse, New York, and grew up in Onondaga Hill. He has an older sibling and two younger stepsiblings. He also has six nieces and three nephews.
As a child, he watched the ABC News program every night with his family. He has said that the longtime anchor Peter Jennings was his biggest inspiration in journalism. Muir finished high school in May 1991.
He then went to Ithaca College and graduated in May 1995 with a degree in journalism. While in high school, he worked as an intern at a TV station called WTVH-TV in Syracuse. During college, a professor encouraged him to pursue a career in TV news. He also studied at Georgetown University and spent a semester abroad in Spain.
David Muir's Career in Journalism
David Muir has had a long and successful career in television news. He started working at local TV stations before joining ABC News.
Early Reporting at WTVH
From 1994 to 2000, Muir worked as an anchor and reporter at WTVH-TV in Syracuse, New York. He reported from Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip after the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995. For this work, he won awards from the Radio-Television News Directors Association.
The Associated Press also recognized him for his reporting and interviews. The Syracuse Press Club named him the anchor of the "Best Local Newscast." He was also voted one of the "Best Local News Anchors" in Syracuse.
Working at WCVB in Boston
From 2000 to 2003, Muir worked at WCVB television in Boston. There, he won another Edward R. Murrow Award for his investigative reporting. He also received a National Headliner Award for his work tracking the path of the hijackers involved in the September 11, 2001, attacks. The Associated Press also praised his news anchoring and reporting during this time.
Joining ABC News
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In August 2003, David Muir joined ABC News. He started as the anchor for the overnight news program World News Now. He also anchored ABC News' early morning newscast, World News This Morning.
In 2006, he sometimes co-anchored the newsmagazine Primetime. By June 2007, Muir became the anchor of World News Saturday. In February 2011, he began anchoring both weekend newscasts, and the show was renamed World News with David Muir. Many believe his presence helped increase the ratings for the weekend evening news. In March 2013, Muir was promoted to co-anchor ABC's 20/20 with Elizabeth Vargas.
Important Early Reports
In September 2005, Muir reported from inside the New Orleans Superdome when Hurricane Katrina hit. He stayed in New Orleans to cover the difficult situation. His reports showed the worsening conditions inside the Convention Center and Charity Hospital. He even waded through deep water to find patients stuck in the hospital.
Muir reported from the Israeli-Lebanon border in October 2006 during the war with Hezbollah. In March 2007, he was in Gaza to cover the Hamas takeover. In October 2007, he went to Peru after a major earthquake.
In September 2008, Muir reported from Ukraine, more than two decades after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. In April 2009, David Muir and Diane Sawyer reported on guns in America for 20/20.
In May 2009, Muir's reporting on 20/20 showed a big increase in the number of homeless children in America. He also made several trips to the Gulf of Mexico to investigate the BP oil spill.
In January 2010, Muir traveled to Haiti after a terrible earthquake. This earthquake left many children without parents and destroyed buildings. He has returned to Haiti many times since then.
In June 2011, Muir reported from Tahrir Square during the political revolution in Egypt. He also reported from Fukushima, Japan, after a deadly tsunami and nuclear power plant accident.
In November 2012, Muir was one of ABC's main reporters for the 2012 U.S. presidential election. His interviews with Republican candidate Mitt Romney made national news.
In December 2012, Muir anchored several hours of coverage during the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. He then reported from the scene when President Obama visited the town. Muir also reported from the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado. He covered the aftermath of a destructive tornado in Joplin, Missouri. He also reported from Tucson, Arizona, after the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords.
In January 2013, Muir reported from inside Iran before nuclear talks began. He was the first Western journalist to report from Mogadishu, Somalia, about the famine. Muir and his team even came under fire while reporting there. In 2013, he received an Edward R. Murrow Award for his reporting.
Leading World News Tonight
On June 27, 2014, ABC News announced that David Muir would take over from Diane Sawyer. He became the anchor and managing editor of ABC World News. Muir's first broadcast in this new role was on September 1, 2014.
In April 2015, World News Tonight with David Muir became the most-watched evening newscast in the country. It surpassed NBC Nightly News for the first time in many years.
Muir's "Made in America" series, which focuses on the American economy, is a regular part of his broadcast. He has also brought this series to other TV shows, like ABC's The View.
..... This report won a CINE Golden Eagle Award.
Muir has led many debates for both Democratic and Republican presidential candidates. He has also interviewed many candidates.
During one of Muir's interviews with Hillary Clinton in 2015, she admitted it was a mistake to use a private email server. She offered her first apology to the American people during this interview.
Muir interviewed then-President Donald Trump on January 25, 2017, at the White House. This was Trump's first interview as president, just five days after he took office.
In 2020, Muir's ratings grew significantly during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. His show averaged around 12 million viewers, becoming the most-watched TV program. On May 6, 2020, Muir interviewed President Donald Trump about the COVID Pandemic.
Before the 2020 presidential election, Muir conducted the first joint interview with Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, then-Senator Kamala Harris. He has interviewed President Biden multiple times. In December 2021, Muir asked Biden if the U.S. was ready for the Covid surge. In February 2023, Muir interviewed President Biden twice, including one in Warsaw about U.S. support for Ukraine. Muir also interviewed Biden in Normandy during the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
Muir was the first network anchor to interview Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after Russia invaded Ukraine. Muir later interviewed Zelenskyy in Kyiv as Ukraine began its counteroffensive.
In 2021, Muir became the main anchor for breaking news and special event coverage for ABC News. This role was previously held by George Stephanopoulos.
In 2021, he traveled to Southern Madagascar to report on a famine. The United Nations World Food Program warned this was the first famine caused by climate change. After his report aired, ABC News viewers donated over $3 million to the World Food Program. This report earned Muir a prestigious George Polk Award for environmental reporting. It also won two News & Documentary Emmy Awards.
In 2023, he traveled to South Sudan to report on severe flooding. This flooding had destroyed communities and led to serious malnutrition. Muir's report, South Sudan: Isolated by Water and War, won a News & Documentary Emmy. It also contributed to ABC News' climate coverage, which received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia award.
2024 Presidential Debate
On September 10, 2024, Muir and Linsey Davis moderated a presidential debate on ABC News. This debate was between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Nearly 70 million Americans watched it.
Muir often corrected Trump when he made false statements. This included Trump's claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating dogs and cats. Muir also questioned Harris about her responsibility for the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. He also asked her if Americans were better off than they were four years ago.
The way Muir and Davis handled the debate led to discussions about the role of moderators. The New York Times said ABC’s Matter-of-Fact Moderators Built Factual Guardrails Around Trump. The Columbia Journalism Review said The refs worked.
On June 6, 2024, Muir interviewed President Biden in Normandy. During the interview, Muir asked Biden if he would pardon his son, Hunter Biden. Biden told Muir he would not. However, on December 1, 2024, Biden changed his mind and pardoned his son. Many news outlets mentioned Muir’s interview and Biden’s earlier promise.
Awards and Recognition
David Muir has received many honors throughout his career for his excellent journalism.
- In May 2011, Muir gave the commencement speech at Ithaca College in New York. He encouraged the graduates to use their voices. On March 13, 2015, the college, where he studied, gave him an honorary Doctor of Letters degree. He also received the Jessica Savitch Award for Excellence in Journalism.
- In 2012, Muir won an Edward R. Murrow for Hard News Reporting. This was for his report titled A Cry For Help: Famine in Somalia.
- In 2013, TV Week named Muir one of the "12 to Watch in TV News." .....
- On May 8, 2015, Muir gave the commencement speech at Northeastern University in Massachusetts. During the ceremony, he received an honorary Doctor of Media degree.
- Muir led a town hall with President Barack Obama about race and policing in 2016. This earned him a News & Documentary Emmy.
- On May 12, 2018, Muir gave the commencement speech at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
- In 2018, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir received the RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Award for TV Network Newscast. This was for their coverage of the Santa Rosa wildfires.
- Muir's live reporting from Panama City Beach, Florida, during Hurricane Michael won a News & Documentary Emmy for breaking news.
- In 2019, Muir won another Emmy for his reporting on the Las Vegas shooting for ABC's 20/20.
- In 2020, Muir traveled to the Auschwitz concentration camp with a group of survivors. This report earned him a News & Documentary Emmy a year later.
- On May 15, 2022, Muir gave the commencement address at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.
- In 2022, Muir's reporting on climate change-driven famine in Madagascar earned him a prestigious George Polk Award. He also won a News & Documentary Emmy for environmental journalism.
- On September 19, 2023, Muir was named the winner of the 40th Cronkite Award.
- On January 25, 2024, Muir and ABC News received an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Silver Baton Award for Environmental Reporting. Later that year, his climate reporting from South Sudan earned him a News & Documentary Emmy.
- Muir has received many News and Documentary Emmy Awards and Edward R. Murrow Awards for his reports. On September 27, 2023, Muir was awarded a News & Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Live News Program. He also received an RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Award for TV Network Newscast. In 2024, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir received both awards for the second year in a row.
- In 2025, Muir was named to the TIME100 list of most influential people by TIME magazine.
See also
In Spanish: David Muir para niños
- New Yorkers in journalism
