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SouthBayDem

(32,088 posts) Sun May 5, 2024, 11:55 PM May 5

ABC News President Kim Godwin Is Stepping Down

Source: Wall Street Journal (gift link)

ABC News President Kim Godwin stepped down Sunday night, months after a corporate restructuring that effectively stripped away much of her management autonomy.

“I have decided to retire from broadcast journalism,” Godwin said in the email sent to staff Sunday night. “Anyone who’s passionate about what we do knows there’s no other business like it, so this was not an easy or quick decision. But after considerable reflection, I’m certain it’s the right one for me as I look to the future and prioritize what’s most important for me and my family.”

No successor has been named for Godwin, who was named president of the division in 2021.

Godwin’s retirement comes after a restructuring in February that gave her a new boss in Debra OConnell, who serves as president of parent Disney’s pointing triangle news group. OConnell is a company veteran who is familiar with ABC News, having scrutinized operations across Disney’s networks as part of a corporate review.

Read more: https://www.wsj.com/business/media/abc-news-president-kim-godwin-is-stepping-down-28bf9617?st=cvarivtziu4plnu&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

7 replies

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Highlight:

ABC News President Kim Godwin Is Stepping Down (Original Post) SouthBayDem May 5 OP

Despite what they say, corporate news... Mawspam2 May 6 #1

Network news programs were never profitable, but it used to not matter PSPS May 6 #2

Was it really so much better then? Or has time re-written every line? Marcuse May 6 #3

Wow! That image speaks volumes for 'the good ol days' ! FailureToCommunicate May 6 #4

Smells like Disney wants even tighter control. Hermit-The-Prog May 6 #5

This is Kim Godwin BumRushDaShow May 6 #6

Sounds like a "twice as good to get half as much" situation. SouthBayDem May 6 #7

Mawspam2

(751 posts)

1. Despite what they say, corporate news...

Reply to SouthBayDem (Original post)

Mon May 6, 2024, 12:33 AM

May 6

...is not an efficient money maker. Replace World News Tonight / David Muir with a re-run of Two and a Half Men and ratings will soar.

Besides, Trump will jail all reporters once he takes office, so who wants to pay for their lawyers?

PSPS

(13,653 posts)

2. Network news programs were never profitable, but it used to not matter

Reply to Mawspam2 (Reply #1)

Mon May 6, 2024, 01:33 AM

May 6

There was a time when TV networks maintained a separation between their entertainment and news divisions. One would never encroach on the other. News never turned a profit but the entertainment side made boat loads which subsidized the news division. It also kept the news side free to do their job "without fear or favor."

Now, of course, that's all gone. News has to make a profit, so we now have "infotainment." The news programs are designed to entertain and make money, not really inform. Here's a news piece from eight years ago:

Donald Trump’s candidacy might not be making America great, CBS Chairman Les Moonves said Monday, but it’s great for his company. "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS," Moonves said at the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference in San Francisco, according to The Hollywood Reporter — perfectly distilling what media critics have long suspected was motivating the round-the-clock coverage of Trump's presidential bid.

"Most of the ads are not about issues. They're sort of like the debates," Moonves said, noting, "[t]here's a lot of money in the marketplace." The 2016 campaign is a "circus," he remarked, but "Donald's place in this election is a good thing."

"Man, who would have expected the ride we're all having right now? ... The money's rolling in and this is fun," Moonves went on. "I've never seen anything like this, and this going to be a very good year for us. Sorry. It's a terrible thing to say. But, bring it on, Donald. Keep going.”

It should be noted that many (maybe most or all) of the ABC affiliates across the country were purchased by Sinclair Broadcasting, a rabidly right-wing supporter of trump.

Marcuse

(7,568 posts)

3. Was it really so much better then? Or has time re-written every line?

Reply to SouthBayDem (Original post)

Mon May 6, 2024, 01:53 AM

May 6

FailureToCommunicate

(14,040 posts)

4. Wow! That image speaks volumes for 'the good ol days' !

Reply to Marcuse (Reply #3)

Mon May 6, 2024, 07:48 AM

May 6

Hermit-The-Prog

(33,614 posts)

5. Smells like Disney wants even tighter control.

Reply to SouthBayDem (Original post)

Mon May 6, 2024, 08:11 AM

May 6

BumRushDaShow

(130,292 posts)

6. This is Kim Godwin

Reply to SouthBayDem (Original post)

Mon May 6, 2024, 07:51 PM

May 6

'Nuff said.

SouthBayDem

(32,088 posts)

7. Sounds like a "twice as good to get half as much" situation.

Reply to BumRushDaShow (Reply #6)

Mon May 6, 2024, 08:26 PM

May 6

Past ABC News presidents got away with worse, like the legendary Roone Arledge who was responsible for https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-10-07-ca-16725-story.html" target="_blank">blocking the broadcast of a 20/20 story in 1985 that would have linked Marilyn Monroe and JFK. The last straw had to be that fraud lawsuit by Food Lion in 1995; Arledge retired about a year after ABC lost the lawsuit.

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