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David Westin faced calamities, layoffs during 13-year tenure
by Howard Kurtz David Westin, the longest- 2006 PHOTO BY IDA MAE ASTUTE/ABC VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
ON THE AIR:David Westin and Elizabeth Vargas discuss the condition of Bob Woodruff after he was badly injured in Iraq.
serving network news chief, an- nounced Monday night that he is resigning as president of ABC News after a tough year that in- cluded anchor changes on every broadcast and cutting a quarter of the staff. Thirteen years after he suc- ceeded Roone Arledge, Westin, 58, felt he was ready to move on to another career and told Bob Iger, chief executive of Disney, the network’s parent company, that he wanted to wrap up his tenure. Westin will stay on the job until year’s end to give Dis-
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ABC News president to step down at year’s end
ney time to find a successor. “I’ve always admired those few who know when it’s time to move on,” Westin said in a letter to the staff. “This is the right time for me.” In a series of personnel deci- sions that tumbled like dominos, Westin named Diane Sawyer as the anchor of “World News”; in- stalled George Stephanopoulos in her old job as co-host of “Good Morning America”; brought in Christiane Amanpour for the Sunday program “This Week”; sent Chris Cuomo from “GMA” to “20/20”; and put Bill Weir on “Nightline,” replacing Martin Ba- shir. “Leading you has been a great privilege and a solemn responsi- bility — a responsibility that I tried to fulfill for over 13 years by doing what I believed was best for this important news organi- zation,” Westin told the staff.
At the same time, he wrote,
“there are some other things I want to do professionally — things that I cannot explore while fulfilling my responsibili- ties here.” Westin is said to be thinking of doing some writing and speaking; he had to kill a proposed op-ed piece on the Su- preme Court after his advisers told him it was too opinionated for a network news leader. In a note to the staff, ABC
President Anne Sweeney said that “David proved himself a tire- less advocate for ABC News, ef- fectively guiding the group through some of the most seis- mic industry, and divisional, changes imaginable” and “helped reinvent our news or- ganization.” She said she will an- nounce a successor “in the near future.” Westin had to deal with a num- ber of calamities during his ten-
ure. After Peter Jennings died in 2005, Westin tapped Bob Wood- ruff and Elizabeth Vargas for “World News,” but he was badly injured in Iraq and she became pregnant. Westin moved Vargas to “20/20” in favor of Charlie Gibson. He also had to manage the “Nightline” transition from Ted Koppel, who helped found the broadcast in 1979, to a three- anchor team. But the layoffs — which Westin called “a very difficult transfor- mation made necessary by changes in our business and its economics” — were perhaps the most wrenching set of decisions, as many veteran correspondents and producers were cut loose in an effort to shrink the network’s costs.
kurtzh@washpost.com
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Tuning in to WAMU program director’s potential conflicts of interest wamu from C1
ing programs from a company operated by McDonald’s wife, Melinda Wittstock, thus benefit- ing McDonald in the process. CNC, in turn, benefits from its presence on WAMU’s schedule. As one of the most popular sta- tions in the Washington area and one of the largest public radio sta- tions in the country, WAMU’s contract represents a powerful calling card for CNC, as the serv- ice markets its programs to other public stations around the coun- try. CNC’s Web site even includes a promotional quote from Jim Asendio, WAMU’s news director and McDonald’s underling, call- ing it “irreplaceable and un- matched.” In an interview, McDonald says the relationship between WAMU and Pundit Productions — the company run by his wife — is strictly arm’s length. McDonald said he does not take part in dis- cussions about the programs, de-
Although the station hasn’t publicly disclosed the McDonald-Wittstock relationship, “we always disclose
it, if asked. It’s not a secret.” — WAMU spokeswoman Kay Summers
ferring decisions about it to Asen- dio, and to his boss, station man- ager Caryn Mathes. “I don’t discuss it at all” inside the sta- tion, McDonald said. “I don’t have anything to do with that.” WAMU spokeswoman Kay Summers said the station has been aware of the potential for “the appearance of impropriety” from the time it started purchas- ing CNC programming in 2007 and thus set up a “firewall” be- tween McDonald and CNC. Al- though the station hasn’t publicly disclosed the McDonald-Witt- stock relationship, Summers said, “we always disclose it, if asked. It’s not a secret.” But the unorthodoxy is com- pounded by McDonald’s connec- tion to another enterprise — one
he owns and runs on the side. In addition to his duties at WA-
MU, McDonald also operates an outside consulting firm that of- fers “media coaching” services to clients. The business is called Pundit Media Consulting, which McDonald said is a separate enti- ty from his wife’s Pundit Produc- tions. Until last week, the Web site for
McDonald’s consulting business said McDonald offered to train clients in “all professions; from print journalists to CEOs, lawyers to pundits, public relations pro- fessionals to politicians.” Among the services offered were instruc- tion in dealing with the news me- dia, such as “turning tough ques- tions to your advantage [and] cri- sis management techniques for
radio, TV, new media and print.” However, this language was re- moved from the Web site last week; McDonald acknowledged that he removed it after The Washington Post began making inquiries for this story. The consulting business sug-
gests another possible conflict: that the top executive for a radio station with an extensive news- gathering operation is privately paid by newsworthy sources to learn how to respond to the me- dia, including potentially his own station’s reporters. News organi- zations typically avoid such en- tanglements, lest they interfere with their news judgment or cast suspicion on their motives in de- ciding which stories to cover. McDonald’s boss, Mathes, said
in an interview that she was aware of McDonald’s outside ac- tivities and that she considered them permissible under conflict- of-interest rules set by American University, which operates WA- MU. However, Mathes said she had not seen McDonald’s Web site ad- vertising his services. McDonald said that the busi- ness was an extension of his teaching duties at American Uni- versity and that he has done “minimal work,” mostly with “in- dividuals who are graduating [from college] or coming into the [broadcast] industry. . . . I would not do anything to compromise the integrity of the newsroom.” His Web site tells a somewhat
different story. Among the online testimonials is one from Brooks Rainwater, the director of local relations for the American In- stitute of Architects, a Washing- ton-based organization. “Mark worked with me as a media coach, and as a result of his in-
struction, my confidence has in- creased when I speak to the me- dia and give presentations to groups,” Rainwater says on the site. “ . . . Mark’s media back- ground offered a unique insight and understanding.” Rainwater apparently has ap- peared twice on WAMU, offering commentaries that promote AIA initiatives. On Aug. 27, for exam- ple, he offered a two-minute piece advocating environmentally friendly schools. “We can design schools that prepare students for a more successful future,” he said. “At the American Institute of Ar- chitects, we believe in the power of design and are approaching sustainability with a solution- based approach.” Rainwater didn’t mention that such retro- fitting would probably be a boon to members of his organization. He was described on the air as “a commentator.” His status as a former client of the station’s pro- gram director was not disclosed.
farhip@washpost.com
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