Diane Sawyer

Diane Sawyer is a seasoned television broadcast journalist known for her substantive career in both ABC News and CBS News. She embarked on her journalistic journey as a weather forecaster for WLKY-TV in Louisville, Kentucky, following her graduation from Wellesley College in 1967. Sawyer's trajectory in the field of journalism took a significant turn when she joined the U.S. President Richard Nixon's White House staff, eventually becoming an administrative assistant to White House Press Secretary Ron Ziegler and working on the Nixon-Ford transition team. Her association with the presidential realm didn't end there, as she also assisted Nixon in crafting his post-presidency memoirs.

Her career in television news broadcasting hit a milestone in 1984 when she became the first woman correspondent on CBS' "60 Minutes." In 1989, she joined ABC News and co-anchored "Primetime Live" and "20/20 Wednesday." Her contributions to "Good Morning America" from 1999 to 2010 significantly helped bridge the gap with the front-runner "Today" show. She took the helm of "ABC World News" in 2009, a position she held until 2014. Although she stepped down from the anchor chair, she continues to contribute to ABC News by producing documentaries and conducting high-profile interviews. Her interviewing prowess was on full display during a notable television interrogation of Mel Gibson following his 2006 DUI arrest.

Sawyer's dedication to her craft has not gone unnoticed, as evidenced by the numerous awards and accolades she has received. The American Academy of Achievement bestowed upon her the Golden Plate Award in 1987, and she was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1997. She received a Daytime Emmy Award for excellence in morning programming in 2000 and was named one of the thirty most powerful women in America by the Ladies' Home Journal in 2001. Her work on "A Hidden America: Children of the Mountains" earned her a Peabody Award in 2009 and the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism in 2010. In 2019, she was named a Disney Legend, further cementing her status as an influential figure in the field of journalism.