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David Muir

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This article is about the ABC News journalist. For other uses, see David Muir (disambiguation).

David Muir
Sideshot of Muir standing in front of an American flag. He is a middle-aged white man with black hair, wearing a morning suit.
Muir in 2021
Born
David Jason Muir

(1973-11-08) November 8, 1973 (age 51)
Syracuse, New York, U.S.
Alma materIthaca College (BA)
Occupations
  • News anchor
  • television journalist
  • managing editor
Years active1994–present
EmployerThe Walt Disney Company
Television
TitleAnchor of ABC World News Tonight
PredecessorDiane Sawyer

David Jason Muir (/ˈmjʊər/ MURE; born November 8, 1973) is an American journalist and anchor for ABC World News Tonight and co-anchor of the ABC News magazine 20/20, part of the news department of the ABC broadcast-television network, based in New York City. Muir previously served as the weekend anchor and primary substitute anchor on ABC's World News Tonight with Diane Sawyer before succeeding her on September 1, 2014. At ABC News, Muir has won multiple Emmy and Edward R. Murrow awards for his national and international journalism. He was the 2024 recipient of the Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism.[1] Muir won the Emmy for Outstanding Live News Program in both 2023 and 2024 and won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Network TV Newscast in the same years.[2][3]

Muir has become one of the most visible journalists in America.[4] World News Tonight with David Muir has been the most watched newscast in the United States since 2015.[5]

Since joining ABC News in 2003, Muir has reported from international hotspots all over the world, with dispatches from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Ukraine, Tahrir Square, Mogadishu, Gaza, Guantanamo, Fukushima, Beirut, Amman, and the Syrian border, among other locations.[6]

Muir was the first American anchor to interview Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and later traveled to Kyiv to interview Zelenskyy at the beginning of Ukraine's counter-offensive in 2022. Muir's climate reporting has also been recognized with the George Polk Award,[7] and the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award.[8]

Early life and education

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Muir was born into a Catholic family[9] in Syracuse, New York,[10] and grew up in Onondaga Hill. Muir has one older sibling, two younger stepsiblings, six nieces, and three nephews. As a child, he watched ABC News' flagship program each night with his family and credits longtime anchor Peter Jennings as his biggest journalistic influence. He graduated from Onondaga Central Junior-Senior High School in May 1991. He attended Ithaca College, graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism in May 1995.[11] During high school, he interned at WTVH-TV in Syracuse.[12] While in college he was inspired by a professor who told him he had "the cut of a TV newsman". He spent a semester at the Institute on Political Journalism at the Fund for American Studies at Georgetown University and another semester abroad at the University of Salamanca in Spain with the Institute for the International Education of Students.[11][13]

Career

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WTVH television

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From 1994 to 2000, Muir worked as an anchor and a reporter at WTVH-TV in Syracuse, New York.[12] Muir's reports from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Israel, and the Gaza Strip following the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin earned him top honors from the Radio-Television News Directors Association. The Associated Press honored Muir for Best Enterprise Reporting and Best Television Interview. The Syracuse Press Club recognized Muir as the anchor of the "Best Local Newscast", and he was voted one of the "Best Local News Anchors" in Syracuse.

WCVB television

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From 2000 to 2003, Muir was an anchor and a reporter for WCVB television in Boston, where he won the regional Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting and the National Headliner Award and Associated Press honors for his work tracing the path of the hijackers involved in the September 11, 2001, attacks.[14] The Associated Press also recognized his news-anchoring and reporting.[15]

ABC News

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Muir interviewing President Donald Trump in 2020
Muir interviewing President Joe Biden in 2021

In August 2003, Muir joined ABC News as anchor of the overnight news program World News Now. He also became the anchor of ABC News' early morning newscast World News This Morning (America This Morning). In 2006, and occasionally after that, he co-anchored the newsmagazine Primetime. In June 2007, Muir was the anchor of World News Saturday. In February 2012, Muir became an anchor for both weekend newscasts, and the broadcast was named World News with David Muir. Muir has been silently credited with a rise in the ratings of the weekend evening broadcasts.[16] In March 2013, Muir was promoted to co-anchor ABC's 20/20 with Elizabeth Vargas.

Early anchoring and reporting

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In September 2005, Muir was inside the New Orleans Superdome as Hurricane Katrina hit and stayed in New Orleans to report on the unfolding humanitarian crisis. Muir's reports revealed and highlighted the deteriorating conditions inside the Convention Center and Charity Hospital as Muir waded through chest-deep water to find patients trapped inside the hospital.[17]

Muir reported from the Israeli-Lebanon border in October 2006 on the Israeli war with Hezbollah. Muir was in Gaza in March 2007 to cover the Hamas coup, reporting from inside the Gaza Strip.[11] In October 2007, Muir was dispatched to Peru after the worst earthquake to hit that country in more than two decades.

In September 2008, Muir reported from Ukraine, more than two decades after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. In April 2009, David Muir and Diane Sawyer reported a 20/20 hour about guns in America getting "disturbing results" as described by the New York Daily News.[18]

In May 2009, Muir's reporting on 20/20 revealed a significant increase in the number of homeless children in America. Muir made multiple trips to the Gulf of Mexico to investigate the BP oil spill.

In January 2010, Muir traveled to Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake, which orphaned tens of thousands of children and destroyed the country's buildings and basic services. More than 220,000 people died, and many others were injured in the 7.0-magnitude quake.[19] He has returned to Haiti multiple times since the earthquake hit, uncovering attacks on women and the unfolding mental health crisis in Port au Prince.[20]

In June 2011, Muir reported from Tahrir Square during the political revolution in Egypt, and from Fukushima, Japan following the deadly tsunami and nuclear power plant accident. Muir wrote about his reporting from Mogadishu, Somalia, and his subsequent return, "Inside Somalia's Crippling Famine", for the Daily Beast.[21]

In November 2012, Muir served as one of ABC's lead correspondents for the 2012 U.S. presidential election.[22] Muir's interviews with Republican candidate Mitt Romney generated national headlines on the issues of economics and immigration policy in the United States.[23][24]

In December 2012, Muir also anchored several hours of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting as it unfolded, and then reported from the scene as President Obama visited the town. Muir also reported from the movie theater mass shootings in Aurora, Colorado; from Joplin, Missouri in the aftermath of a destructive tornado; and from Tucson, Arizona after the shooting of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords that left six others dead.[11]

In January 2013, Muir reported from inside Iran, leading up to the nuclear talks.[25] Muir was the first Western journalist to report from Mogadishu, Somalia on the famine.[26] Muir and his team came under fire while reporting from Mogadishu. In 2013, he received the Edward R. Murrow Award for his reporting.

World News Tonight with David Muir

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On June 27, 2014, ABC News announced that Muir would succeed Diane Sawyer as the anchor and managing editor of ABC World News. Muir made his debut broadcast on September 1, 2014.

In April 2015, World News Tonight with David Muir became the country's most-watched evening newscast, outpacing NBC Nightly News for the first time since September 7, 2009.[27]

Muir's Emmy-nominated Made in America series on the American economy is a continuing feature on his broadcast.[28][29] Muir has brought the series to other television programs, including ABC's The View, where he has served as guest co-host.[30][31]

In March 2016, Muir released a year-long report on the heroin crisis in America winning a CINE Golden Eagle Award for his reporting.[32]

Muir has moderated multiple Democratic and Republican Presidential Primary debates[33] and interviewed numerous presidential candidates.

During one of Muir's interviews with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2015, she admitted it was a mistake to use a private e-mail server and offered her first apology to the American people.[33]

Muir interviewed then President Donald Trump on January 25, 2017, in the White House. It was Trump's first interview as president, five days after inauguration.[34]

In 2020, Muir's ratings exploded during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic along with the other Evening News programs.[35][36] Averaging around 12 million viewers, and becoming the most watched TV Program.[35] On May 6, 2020, Muir interviewed President Donald Trump about the COVID Pandemic.[37]

Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Muir conducted the first joint interview with Democratic nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, then-Senator Kamala Harris.[38] He has interviewed President Biden multiple times. At the White House in December 2021, Muir pressed Biden on whether the U.S. was prepared for the Covid surge.[39] In February 2023, Muir conducted two interviews with President Biden, one in Warsaw on U.S. support for Ukraine. Muir also interviewed Biden in Normandy during the 80th anniversary of D-Day.[40]

Muir was the first network anchor to interview Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Muir later interviewed Zelenskyy in Kyiv as Ukraine began its counteroffensive against Russia.[41]

In 2021, Muir became the lead anchor of breaking news and special event coverage for ABC News, a role previously held by GMA anchor George Stephanopoulos from 2014 to 2020.[42]

In 2021 he traveled to Southern Madagascar to report on what the United Nations World Food Program warned was the first climate-change driven famine in the world.[43] After the report aired, ABC News viewers donated over $3 million to the World Food Program.[44] The report earned Muir a prestigious George Polk Award for environmental reporting, as well as two News & Documentary Emmy Awards.[7]

In 2023, he traveled to South Sudan to report on the historic flooding that had destroyed communities, leading to severe malnutrition as war broke out to the north, in Sudan. Muir's report South Sudan: Isolated by Water and War earned a News & Documentary Emmy, and anchored ABC News’ climate coverage recognized with a Alfred I. duPont-Columbia award.[45][46]

2024 Presidential debate

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On September 10, 2024, Muir and Linsey Davis moderated a presidential debate on ABC News between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. Muir frequently fact-checked Trump for making false statements, including Trump's claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio were eating dogs and cats.[47][48][49] Muir and Davis's interjections sparked claims of bias from Trump and Republicans and discussion over the role of moderators in presidential debates.[50][51][52]

Honors

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ "ABC's David Muir accepts Cronkite Award for Excellence in Journalism, sees 'hope for future' from inspiring Cronkite students". Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  2. ^ "News 2024 Nominees – The Emmys". theemmys.tv. July 25, 2024. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  3. ^ "News 2023 Nominees – The Emmys". theemmys.tv. July 26, 2023. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  4. ^ "ABC's David Muir Was The Most-Used Reporter On Broadcast News In 2012". Mediaite. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  5. ^ "AMERICA'S #1 NEWSCAST ACROSS ALL OF BROADCAST AND CABLE IS 'WORLD NEWS TONIGHT WITH DAVID MUIR'— INCREASING WEEK TO WEEK IN ALL KEY DEMOS — LEADING NBC BY 1.3 MILLION AND CBS BY 3.2 MILLION VIEWERS". Tumblr. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  6. ^ ABC News. "David Muir biography". ABC News. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  7. ^ a b "David Muir, Clarissa Ward Among 2021 George Polk Award Winners". www.adweek.com. February 22, 2022. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  8. ^ "ABC Environmental Reporting Credits". duPont-Columbia Awards. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  9. ^ Pacheco, Patrick (June 25, 2014). "What Diane Sawyer Thinks of David Muir's 'World News' Success". Gotham.
  10. ^ "David Muir: Syracuse native was always on a path to the top of network news". The Post-Standard. Syracuse. July 23, 2014. Retrieved July 1, 2015.
  11. ^ a b c d "David Muir, February 14, 2013". ABC News. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  12. ^ a b Herbert, Geoff (November 30, 2016). "David Muir's success, reporting driven by Syracuse upbringing". The Post-Standard. Syracuse. Retrieved March 5, 2021.
  13. ^ "A Journalist in the Making: David Muir (Salamanca, Spring 1994) ABC News Anchor and Correspondent". International Education of Students. September 9, 2014. Archived from the original on August 25, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.
  14. ^ Ford, David (February 20, 2013). "ABC News Anchor David Muir Reports from Iran". ABC News. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  15. ^ "News Correspondents: David Muir Archived January 31, 2010, at the Wayback Machine". ABC News. Accessed February 6, 2010.
  16. ^ Fung, Katherine (August 24, 2011). "'ABC World News With David Muir' Sees Ratings Improvement". HuffPost. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  17. ^ "David Muir". Disney General Entertainment. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
  18. ^ Huff, Richard (April 9, 2009). "ABC News gets disturbing results with 'If Only I Had a Gun'". New York Daily News. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  19. ^ "David Muir: 27 memorable reporting moments". ABC News. Retrieved July 9, 2023.
  20. ^ "David Muir". ABC Audio. Archived from the original on April 21, 2021. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  21. ^ Muir, David (August 8, 2011). "Inside Somalia's Crippling Famine". Daily Beast. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  22. ^ Archer, Tucker (September 9, 2014). "David Muir: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  23. ^ "David Muir Mitt Romney Interview". ABC News. July 29, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  24. ^ Little, Morgan (July 29, 2012). "Romney unsure if he's paid less than a 12.9% tax rate in the past". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  25. ^ Ford, David (February 20, 2013). "ABC News Anchor David Muir Reports from Iran". ABC News. Retrieved February 2, 2014.
  26. ^ Fung, Katherine (July 28, 2011). "ABC's David Muir On Famine In Somalia: 'It's Heartbreaking'". HuffPost. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  27. ^ Steinberg, Brian (April 7, 2015). "ABC's World News Steals Most-Watched Crown From NBC's Nightly News". Variety. Retrieved April 7, 2015.
  28. ^ a b "ABC News". Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  29. ^ "David Muir, ABC 'World News Tonight' anchor to narrate WCNY documentary 'Erie: The Canal That Made America'". WCNY. July 7, 2017. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  30. ^ "Al Roker Jokes Deborah Roberts' Chemistry With '20/20' Co-Anchor David Muir Is 'a Little Too Good' (Exclusive)". whas11.com. January 12, 2024. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  31. ^ "David Muir Brings 'Made in America' Gifts to 'The View'". ABC News. January 25, 2013. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  32. ^ Ariens, Chris (April 29, 2017). "David Muir's Heroin Reporting Wins CINE Golden Eagle Award". AdWeek. Retrieved September 27, 2017.
  33. ^ a b ABC News. "Hillary Clinton on Private Email: 'That Was a Mistake. I'm Sorry'". ABC News. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  34. ^ "TRANSCRIPT: ABC News anchor David Muir interviews President Trump". ABC News. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  35. ^ a b Koblin, John (March 24, 2020). "The Evening News Is Back". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  36. ^ "Network Newscasts Keep up Ratings Momentum During Pandemic". The Hollywood Reporter. April 22, 2020.
  37. ^ "TRANSCRIPT: ABC News anchor David Muir interviews President Trump in Arizona". ABC News. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  38. ^ ABC News. "TRANSCRIPT: Joe Biden, Kamala Harris' first joint interview with ABC's David Muir". ABC News. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
  39. ^ ABC News (December 22, 2021). ABC exclusive: Biden on the state of COVID-19 in the US. Retrieved August 14, 2024 – via YouTube.
  40. ^ ABC News (June 6, 2024). David Muir interviews Pres. Biden at Normandy American Cemetery on 80th anniversary of D-Day. Retrieved August 14, 2024 – via YouTube.
  41. ^ ABC News. "Exclusive: Zelenskyy hints to David Muir of 'plural' Ukrainian counteroffensives against Russian forces". ABC News. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  42. ^ Lincoln, Ross A. (March 1, 2021). "David Muir to Head Up Breaking News Duties for ABC News". TheWrap. Retrieved April 12, 2022.
  43. ^ "In Madagascar, pockets of famine as risks grow for children, warns WFP". news.un.org. November 2, 2021. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
  44. ^ "The News That Caused People to Give Over $1M Dollars in 24 Hours". World Food Program USA. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  45. ^ "In South Sudan, a new front line of climate change after historic flooding". ABC News. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  46. ^ Thomas, Carly (September 26, 2024). "ABC, CNN and National Geographic Among Top Winners at 2024 News Emmys". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  47. ^ Gold, Hadas (September 11, 2024). "ABC debate moderators live fact-checked Trump's false claims from the stage". CNN. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  48. ^ "ABC's Matter-of-Fact Moderators Built Factual Guardrails Around Trump". NYTimes.
  49. ^ Allsop, Jon. "The refs worked". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  50. ^ Mastrangelo, Dominick (September 10, 2024). "Conservatives rail against ABC moderators after Trump, Harris debate". The Hill. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  51. ^ Bauder, David (September 11, 2024). "As Trump and Harris spar, ABC's moderators grapple with conducting a debate in a polarized country". AP News. Retrieved September 15, 2024.
  52. ^ Peters, Justin (September 11, 2024). "ABC's Debate Pulled Off a Trick No One Else Has Managed in the Trump Era". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  53. ^ "ABC News Anchor David Muir Urges Ithaca College Graduates to Find Their Own Voices" (Press release). Ithaca College. May 23, 2011. Retrieved July 9, 2023 – via News Wise.
  54. ^ Rochon, Thomas (March 17, 2015). "David Muir '95 Receives Honorary Degree". Ithaca College. Archived from the original on March 29, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  55. ^ "12 to Watch in TV News" (PDF). TV Week. December 17, 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 7, 2013. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  56. ^ Connor, Jackson (November 20, 2014). "ABC News Dominates People Magazine's 'Sexiest Men Alive' List". HuffPost. Retrieved November 22, 2014.
  57. ^ "Award-winning journalist David Muir to deliver Northeastern University's 2015 Commencement address". Northeastern Global News. April 13, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  58. ^ Ariens, Chris (April 29, 2017). "David Muir's Heroin Reporting Wins CINE Golden Eagle Award". Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  59. ^ Patten, Dominic (July 15, 2016). "Obama-ABC Town Hall Ratings OK, But 'Big Brother' Wins Night In Demo". Deadline. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  60. ^ Hutcheson, Susannah. "How I became the anchor of ABC "World News Tonight": David Muir". USA TODAY. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  61. ^ Erickson, Doug (February 21, 2018). "ABC News' David Muir, America's most-watched anchor, to be spring commencement speaker". University of Wisconsin News. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  62. ^ "First Amendment Awards – Radio Television Digital News Association". www.rtdna.org. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  63. ^ "NOMINEES FOR THE 40th ANNUAL NEWS & DOCUMENTARY EMMY® AWARDS ANNOUNCED – The Emmys". theemmys.tv. July 25, 2019. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  64. ^ "News – The Emmys". theemmys.tv. September 27, 2018. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  65. ^ "News 2021 Nominees (News) – The Emmys". theemmys.tv. July 26, 2021. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  66. ^ "Syracuse Native David Muir, Anchor of 'ABC World News Tonight with David Muir,' to Address Syracuse University Graduates at Commencement 2022". Syracuse University News. April 21, 2022. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  67. ^ "'ABC World News Tonight' anchor David Muir to receive 40th Cronkite Award". Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  68. ^ "News 2022 Nominees – The Emmys". theemmys.tv. July 28, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  69. ^ "'ABC World News' anchor David Muir chosen for Arizona State University's Cronkite Award". Associated Press. September 19, 2023. Retrieved February 8, 2024.
  70. ^ "Climate Reporting, War Documentaries and More Honored at the 2024 duPont-Columbia Awards Ceremony". journalism.columbia.edu.
  71. ^ Schneider, Michael (September 28, 2023). "News & Documentary Emmys 2023: Full Winners List". Variety. Retrieved August 2, 2024.
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Preceded by ABC World News Tonight anchor
September 1, 2014–present 		Incumbent
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