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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
/ | |
Embattled ABC News President Kim Godwin steps down after tumultuous run | |
By Oliver Darcy, CNN | |
Updated: | |
8:46 PM EDT, Sun May 5, 2024 | |
Source: CNN | |
Kim Godwin, the embattled president of ABC News, abruptly announced | |
Sunday evening that she will exit the network, capping a tumultuous | |
three-year run at the outlet after staffers said her polarizing | |
leadership led to plummeting employee morale. | |
“I have decided to retire from broadcast journalism,” Godwin told | |
staffers in a memo that rocked the ABC News newsroom. | |
“I have been fortunate and blessed enough to have done almost every | |
job there is in this business,” Godwin added. “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.” | |
Godwin’s sudden exit came after CNN reported earlier this week that | |
Debra OConnell, the Disney () veteran who was tapped in February to | |
oversee ABC News as part of her portfolio, was conducting a review of | |
her performance and had voiced dissatisfaction in private conversations | |
with the state of affairs at the network. | |
Morale at ABC News has suffered significantly since Godwin took the | |
helm in 2021, with employees frustrated with her leadership, more than | |
two dozen staffers and others close to the network told CNN this week. | |
The staffers spoke to CNN under the condition of anonymity because they | |
were not authorized to speak to the press. | |
Godwin, staffers told CNN, made several profound errors, including | |
employing a hands-off approach to managing, not developing a strategic | |
vision for the newsroom, eliminating the heads of the talent-relations | |
division and appointing an inner-circle that alienated staffers, among | |
a stream of other complaints. Moreover, while ABC’s flagship morning | |
show “Good Morning America” continues to be a ratings success, it | |
has slipped in viewership in recent months and has flirted with “CBS | |
Mornings” for third place, raising alarms among staffers. | |
Godwin’s allies who spoke to CNN in recent days argued that she | |
employed a different type of leadership style than the network’s | |
staffers had grown accustomed to under previous leadership, who had | |
taken a more hands-on approach. But even her allies acknowledged that | |
she perhaps wasn’t a good fit to lead the network. | |
OConnell told employees in a memo that “for the time being,” she | |
will oversee the network. Thanking staffers for their “patience and | |
understanding through this period of transition,” OConnell said she | |
is “looking forward to working with the leadership team as we forge a | |
new path forward together. | |
“Since assuming this role in February, my goal has been — and will | |
continue to be — to provide this team with the means necessary to | |
build on our success and carry on the proud tradition of ABC News into | |
a future full of opportunity and innovation,” OConnell said. | |
Over the last few months, complaints about Godwin had made their way to | |
OConnell, who also privately voiced frustration with Godwin’s | |
leadership and inquired with industry figures about who to install into | |
the C-suite to help repair the damage, according to people familiar | |
with the conversations. Initial inquires had also been made with | |
potential candidates who might be interested in assuming the post of | |
network president in a post-Godwin era, people familiar with the matter | |
told CNN. | |
Ironically, Godwin entered ABC News three years ago as the first Black | |
woman to lead a broadcast television news division with the mandate of | |
healing its culture, only to exacerbate its problems and help sap the | |
competitive spirit that once coursed through and animated the newsroom. | |
It was not clear when the decision was made for Godwin and ABC News to | |
part ways, but Godwin as recently as Friday was leading editorial | |
meetings at the Disney-owned network. | |
Disney announced in February that Godwin had renewed her contract to | |
lead ABC News, even as the company installed OConnell in a new role | |
overseeing her portfolio — a sign that chief executive Bob Iger had | |
doubts about Godwin’s stewardship of the news division. After | |
OConnell was appointed, Godwin privately voiced displeasure about being | |
layered away from Iger and bemoaned what she called Disney’s | |
micromanagement. A spokesperson for Disney declined to say on Sunday | |
whether the company would pay out the remainder of her contract. | |
“I leave with my head held high and wish the entire team continued | |
success,” Godwin wrote in her note to staff. | |
This story has been updated with additional information. | |
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