ABC News president Ben Sherwood appeared at the Television Critics Association Winter press tour Monday, and explained his philosophy for the network’s news division. Among the topics was Katie Couric, who is launching her own daytime talk show this Fall, and is currently contributing to ABC News.
“We’re going to showcase her all over the place,” Sherwood said, noting that one place Couric would not be appearing is as a fill-in for Diane Sawyer at “ABC World News.”
Sherwood also addressed the morning show wars and accusations that ABC News covered less “hard news” than its competition:
“We will cede no ground on the subject of hard-driving investigative journalism or hard-charging breaking news,” he said.
He cited ABC’s coverage of Bank of America’s dropped plans to charge a $5 monthly debit card fee as an example of a story that might not fit a traditional hard news agenda but is one that is important to viewers…
“We have so much data that tells us how consumers are using information and how they’re reacting to certain stories,” he said. “We try to let that help guide us. It doesn’t determine our choices, but it helps guide us.”
As for “Good Morning America,” Sherwood has his sights set squarely on NBC:
“The ‘Today’ show is very mighty, and they’ve been very mighty for a long time,” he said, adding that he was determined for “GMA” to be No. 1. “This is our goal.”