ABC News president David Westin held a closed circuit staff meeting yesterday. It was moderated by Bill Weir and seen in NY, DC, LA, Atlanta, Chicago, and London. It was also archived.
Westin told staffers that Bob Woodruff is progressing well. “David was with him last week and says he is reading a lot of newspapers, watching the broadcasts and reading scripts to keep his mind working,” according to a tipster, who adds:
“On a personal note, knowing Bob and seeing him and his post on the World Newser brought a huge smile to peoples faces in the building. Unfortunately, it was because of Kimberly Dozier being hurt and the death of her two crew members. But to see Bob write something, and be published on the Web site is a relief for many here.”
Click continued for more highlights from the virtual meeting…
> “At the beginning David talked about survey results from ABC Newsers. I didn’t get the exact numbers but they brought up the good, most people like working here, most staffers think they can bring up ideas and concerns to managers and overall, ABC News is healthy.”
> “ABC News is undergoing a digital revolution. The second rollout of i-News and how to make shows run better will start soon. ABC News Now and .com are making great strides and expanding. The company believes in News Now and can be seen by about 25 million over broadband connections like Comcast and on ABCNews.com.”
> “Bill then moved on to questions about each ABC News show. David said ‘there have been a couple surprises the last year or so.’ He reiterated that Elizabeth stepped down because she knew she couldn’t give the broadcast her all. He said he thinks ABC News is a great place for working moms like Cynthia McFadden, Taina Hernandez (Anchor of World News Now and World News This Morning) and Kate Snow (GMA Weekend Anchor) who both just got back from maternity leave.”
> “When talking about Nightline, David is very proud of the new anchors and how the staff is bringing Nightline to new viewers. The ABC Entertainment people want to get the time slot, but the Company is committed to Nightline and thinks its doing great.”
> “Overall, the call in questions were great, the graphics were put together nicely and David really is pushing to get ideas and concerns from staffers. He even volunteered to do lunches with people to talk about the News Division and meet everyone he hasn’t met, like younger staffers and people in other locations (like DC and LA).”