Diane Sawyer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Diane Sawyer
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Sawyer in 2014
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Lila Diane Sawyer
December 22, 1945 Glasgow, Kentucky, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Wellesley College (BA) |
| Occupation | Television journalist |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Known for | Broadcast anchor of Good Morning America and ABC World News Tonight |
| Spouse(s) | |
Lila Diane Sawyer (born December 22, 1945) is a famous American television journalist. She is well-known for hosting many important news shows on ABC News, including ABC World News Tonight, Good Morning America, 20/20, and Primetime. Before joining ABC, she worked at CBS News, where she hosted CBS Morning and was the first woman reporter on 60 Minutes. Earlier in her career, she even worked for U.S. president Richard Nixon at the White House. Today, she still works for ABC News, creating special documentaries and interviews.
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Growing Up
Diane Sawyer was born in Glasgow, Kentucky. Her mother, Jean, was an elementary school teacher, and her father, Erbon Powers "Tom" Sawyer, was a county judge. She has an older sister named Linda. Soon after Diane was born, her family moved to Louisville. Her father became a well-known politician and community leader there. He was a judge in Jefferson County, Kentucky, when he passed away in a car accident in 1969. A park in Louisville, E. P. "Tom" Sawyer State Park, is named after him.
Diane went to Seneca High School in Louisville. She was the editor-in-chief of her school yearbook and enjoyed many artistic activities. In 1963, during her last year of high school, she won the annual America's Junior Miss scholarship pageant, representing Kentucky. She impressed the judges with her calm manner in the final interview and an essay she wrote. From 1963 to 1965, Diane traveled around the country as America's Junior Miss. This experience helped her learn to think quickly and stay calm under pressure. After high school, Diane attended Wellesley College and graduated in 1967.
Her Career in Journalism
After college, Diane returned to Kentucky and started working as a weather forecaster for WLKY-TV in Louisville. She found weather reports a bit boring, so she sometimes added interesting quotes to make them more fun. Later, she became a general reporter, but she still wanted to do more.
In 1970, Diane moved to Washington, D.C.. She couldn't find a job as a journalist right away, so she looked for work in government offices. She became an assistant to Jerry Warren, who was the White House deputy press secretary. Diane started by writing press releases and soon began helping to write some of President Richard Nixon's public statements. Within a few months, she became an assistant to the White House Press Secretary, Ron Ziegler. She eventually became a staff assistant for President Richard Nixon.
Diane continued to work for President Nixon even after he resigned from the presidency in 1974. She helped him with his transition team and then moved to California to help him write his memoirs, RN: The Memoirs of Richard Nixon, which came out in 1978. She also helped President Nixon get ready for his famous television interviews with journalist David Frost in 1977.
When Diane came back to Washington, D.C., in 1978, she joined CBS News as a general reporter. She became a political reporter in 1980 and appeared on Morning with Charles Kuralt. In 1981, she became a co-anchor for the morning news show. Her arrival helped the show's ratings, but this didn't last. In 1984, Diane asked to be moved to a different role. From 1982 to 1984, she also co-anchored the CBS Early Morning News.
In 1984, Diane Sawyer made history by becoming the first female reporter on 60 Minutes, a popular CBS News show that investigates important stories.
In 1989, she moved to ABC News to co-anchor Primetime Live with Sam Donaldson. They worked together on Primetime Live until 1998, and then on its new version, 20/20 Wednesday, until 2000. Diane also co-anchored a Sunday version of 20/20 with Barbara Walters for a year.
On January 18, 1999, Diane returned to morning news as the co-anchor of Good Morning America with Charles Gibson. This job was supposed to be temporary, but she was so successful that she stayed for almost eleven years. She helped Good Morning America become much more competitive with NBC's morning show, Today.
In 2000, Diane also returned as co-anchor of Primetime (which later became Primetime Thursday). She was the first to tell Good Morning America viewers that the first plane had crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. In 2004, the show changed its name back to Primetime Live and focused more on investigative reporting. Diane rotated as co-anchor with other journalists. She left Primetime at the end of 2006 when the show changed its format again.
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On September 2, 2009, it was announced that Diane Sawyer would take over from Charles Gibson as the anchor of ABC World News. She left GMA on December 11, 2009, and started as the ABC World News anchor on December 21, 2009. For over a year (2010–2011), with Katie Couric anchoring CBS Evening News, two of the three main network news anchors on television were women. Diane's ratings for ABC World News initially increased. She anchored ABC's main news broadcast and was the network's lead anchor for breaking news, election coverage, and special events until 2014.
On June 25, 2014, it was announced that she would step down from anchoring ABC World News in September 2014. She continued to work for ABC News, focusing on creating special programs and conducting important interviews.
Career Highlights
- 1967–70: News and weather reporter for WLKY-TV in Louisville, Kentucky.
- 1970–74: White House press aide.
- 1974–78: Assistant to President Richard Nixon for his memoirs.
- 1978–81: Reporter and correspondent for CBS News.
- 1981–84: Co-anchor of Morning with Charles Kuralt/The CBS Morning News.
- 1982–84: Co-anchor of CBS Early Morning News.
- 1984–89: Correspondent for 60 Minutes.
- 1989–98: Co-anchor of Primetime Live.
- 1998–present: Correspondent for 20/20.
- 1998–2000: Co-anchor of 20/20.
- January 18, 1999 – December 11, 2009: Co-anchor of Good Morning America.
- 2000–06: Co-anchor of Primetime.
- December 21, 2009 –August 27, 2014: Anchor of ABC World News.
- September 2014–present: Special contributor for ABC News.
Awards and Recognition
Diane Sawyer has received many awards for her work in journalism:
- 1987: Received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement.
- 1997: Inducted into the Television Hall of Fame.
- 2000: Won a Daytime Emmy Award for her excellent work in morning programming.
- 2001: Named one of the thirty most powerful women in America by Ladies' Home Journal.
- Since 2004: Often included in Forbes Magazine's List of The World's 100 Most Powerful Women.
- 2007: Won an Emmy Award for outstanding news and documentary program.
- 2009: Received a Peabody Award for her work on "A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains."
- 2007: Awarded a Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for her "A Call to Action: Saving Our Children" segment on ABC News.
- 2010: Won the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.
- 2012: Received an honorary Doctorate of Letters from Brown University.
- 2019: Named a Disney Legend, an award for those who have made amazing contributions to the legacy of Walt Disney.
Personal Life
On April 29, 1988, Diane Sawyer married the famous film and theater director, producer, and actor Mike Nichols. Mike Nichols had two daughters and a son from his previous marriages. He passed away on November 19, 2014, at the age of 83.
See also
In Spanish: Diane Sawyer para niños
- New Yorkers in journalism
