The Wall Street Journal asked six luminaries to weigh in on “progress” and ABC World News Tonight anchor David Muir was among them.
Broadcast now is sort of a living, breathing thing that evolves all day long. The stakes are much higher at 6:30 p.m. because people are engaged in the news from the moment they wake up. They check their iPhones and see the headlines. Given the tools of social media, there are so many individuals who have a voice now who didn’t have a voice before. My first week in the anchor chair we went to the Syrian border and reported on a little girl who hadn’t gone to school for years—she was a refugee—working instead six or seven hours in the fields. Viewers responded within 24 hours of the report, donating enough money to supply 2,200 classrooms. We revisited her recently. Now at the end of her workday she skips across the fields to attend a makeshift school. It’s a reminder to us that we can connect people with what’s happening a world away.
Fox Business Network’s Maria Bartiromo discusses the upcoming debates in Gotham magazine. Bartiromo also touches on waking up early, social media and what she likes to invest in.
I can confirm the city never sleeps! I’ve done those early hours at CNN Business, but I had 10 years without them. Still, it’s fantastic, because by 9 am I’ve interviewed 20 people, covered the news, and after meetings or working for my Sunday show, I’m free at 1 pm. It has cut into my social life, because I have to be in bed by 8:30.
NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt spoke with Southwest Florida’s NBC affiliate about hearing “Nightly News with Lester Holt” for the first time, his backup career and not wanting to be the news.
My mantra is get over yourself. What we do is important. The people we cover are important, but it’s not about us.