George Stephanopoulos has been promoted to chief Washington correspondent for ABC News, putting him in line with competitors Tim Russert and Bob Schieffer.
ABC Promotes George Stephanopoulos (AP)
ABC News has appointed “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos as its chief Washington correspondent, adding duties to his weekly job at the helm of the Sunday morning political talk show. Stephanopoulos, about to start his 10th year at ABC News, will also report for network programs “World News Tonight,” “Nightline” and “Good Morning America,” ABC News President David Westin said Monday. He will also oversee the network’s coverage of Congress with the impending departure of reporter Linda Douglass.
The new job title will put Stephanopoulos, an adviser to President Clinton before joining ABC News, in line with his Sunday-morning competitors: Bob Schieffer is chief Washington correspondent for CBS News, and Tim Russert is Washington bureau chief at NBC News.
“This Week,” where Stephanopoulos has been anchor since 2002, is currently third in the ratings behind NBC’s “Meet the Press” and CBS’ “Face the Nation,” but Westin said it had its best November sweeps performance in three years.
Because of his background as a Clinton partisan, I was quite dubious when Stephanopoulos was made anchor. He has done a fine job, though, and the format of the show has evolved into one of the more interesting.
