Elizabeth Vargas is approaching her two-year anniversary at NewsNation, and the network has a present already picked out. Starting Monday, Elizabeth Vargas Reports is getting a two-hour bump into primetime, moving from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. ET.
It’s a big vote of confidence in Vargas, whose pres-NewsNation career includes stops at NBC News and ABC News, where she worked alongside pioneering journalists like Barbara Walters and Diane Sawyer. In fact, she took over the 20/20 co-anchor chair after her mentor moved on from the primetime newsmagazine—making her one of only two women who can say they replaced Walters. (Jane Pauley is the other.)
Vargas’ move back into primetime comes as NewsNation seeks to build on its 2024 election cycle momentum, when it became the first news outlet to call the race for President Donald Trump. The Chicago-based network went 24/7 last summer, establishing itself in a space previously dominated by the Big Three—Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC.
In the latest edition of TVNewser’s 5 Questions For… series, Vargas reveals how she’ll keep “opinion creep” out of her reporting in a time slot increasingly dominated by opinion-driven news, and which Michael Douglas character she’d most like to grab a bite with.
1. Donald Trump is the biggest story in the country right now, but the news doesn’t stop with the new president. What are three non-Trump related stories that you’re particularly excited to pursue?
Well, honestly there is so much news right now with this new Trump administration and it touches so many aspects of our lives that it has really taken over much of our coverage. It feels like everything is a Trump-related story. On my show—and on this network—we have covered a lot of stories that the mainstream media has barely touched.
We have reporters dedicated to covering the border, and we were in East Palestine breaking news there long after all the other national media left. But I always look for ways to tackle the addiction crisis in America, and mental health. Millions of people suffer from addiction in this country, and there is still so much stigma around it, though it is getting better!
2. You’re moving back into primetime, a news space that’s heavy on opinion on many cable outlets. You had a close relationship with Barbara Walters, who made a point of not bringing her opinions into her news reporting. How do you avoid “opinion creep” in your own reporting?
Our philosophy has always been to be smart and ask probing, pointed questions—to both sides! That’s what works I believe and the audience seems to agree. Our audience at 5 pm has grown massively, even though I was up against the number one show in cable television. So much of what you see on cable news right now is opinion masquerading as news.
My job is to simply ask the questions, and if I need to call it out when someone says something false, I will. But I learned from Barbara and Diane Sawyer the power of asking pointed questions, and then politely but firmly, press them to answer them.
3. You’ve been open about your road to sobriety, and we’re seeing younger generations eschew drinking for their own health reasons. How have you see the discussion around the stigma of alcoholism change in the past decade?
I love that more and more young people are quitting alcohol. The science that is emerging really seems to show that no amount of alcohol is healthy. And I do think the way society views addiction and those who suffer from it is changing. More people now realize it is a disease, and that a person can get better. The stigma is still there, but it’s getting better…slowly.
4. You had a whirlwind relationship with Michael Douglas in the ‘90s. Which Michael Douglas character would be the ideal dinner date—Jack Colton, Gordon Gekko or Andrew Shepherd?
Oh that is an easy one—Andrew Shepherd of course. He’s the American President!
5. Besides news, you’re also experienced in covering true crime. Which five real-life murder cases keep you up at night?
I loved reporting on true crime. I love watching it and reading it, too. I hope to go back to doing those documentaries some day. I must say, the Brian Kohberger case in Idaho is very haunting to cover so I would say that one is the closest to keeping me up at night. To be honest, the news cycle right now is what keeps me up—figuring out what to cover, how to cover it, and how to stay true to our mission statement: News for All Americans.
Read Previous Editions of 5 Questions For…
Ari Melber
Lawrence Jones
Kaitlan Collins
Will Cain
