Forrest Sawyer (born April 19, 1949) is an American broadcast journalist. Sawyer worked 11 years with
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
, where he frequently anchored ''
ABC World News Tonight
''ABC World News Tonight'' (titled ''ABC World News Tonight with David Muir'' for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014) is the flagship daily evening news broadcasting#television, television news program of ABC News, the news division ...
'' and ''
Nightline
''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the progra ...
'' and reported for all ABC News broadcasts. He anchored the newsmagazines "
Day One Day One may refer to:
Film and television
* ''Day One'' (1989 film), a 1989 television film
* ''Day One'', also known as ''To Write Love on Her Arms'', a 2012 drama film
* ''Day One'' (2015 film), a 2015 short film
* ''Day One'' (TV series), a ...
" and "
Turning Point
A turning point, or climax, is the point of highest tension in a narrative work.
Turning Point or Turning Points may refer to:
Film
* ''The Turning Point'', a 1914 silent film starring Caroline Cooke
* ''The Turning Point'' (1920 film), an Ame ...
" He recorded stories from all over the globe, and earned awards for his reports and documentaries, including Emmy Awards in 1992, 1993, and 1994. He left ABC News in 1999 to become a
news anchor
A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...
for both
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
and its cable counterpart,
MSNBC
MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...
, where he was a regular substitute for
Brian Williams
Brian Douglas Williams (born May 5, 1959) is an American retired journalist and television news anchor. He was a reporter for ''NBC Nightly News'' starting in 1993, before his promotion to anchor and managing editor of the broadcast in 2004. ...
as anchor for ''The News with Brian Williams''. He left NBC News in 2005 to become founder and president of Freefall Productions, where he produces documentaries and serves as a media strategist and guest lecturer.
Early years
Sawyer was born and reared in
Lakeland, Florida
Lakeland is the most populous city in Polk County, Florida, part of the Tampa Bay Area, located along Interstate 4 east of Tampa. According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau release, the city had a population of 112,641. Lakeland is a principal c ...
, where he graduated from
Kathleen High School
Kathleen Senior High School is the second oldest of four high schools in Lakeland, Florida, United States. It was originally housed north of its present location, at the site of the current Kathleen Middle School.Alpha Tau Omega
Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United Stat ...
at the
University of Florida
The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...
, where he earned a
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in Eastern Philosophy and World Religions and a
Master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. in Education.
Professional career
After starting in radio, Sawyer worked as newsman and news director at WAAB in Worcester for a short period in 1973, and left for a news job at WVBF in Boston for year or so, before moving to Television. One of the WAAB newsmen, John Gallagher, said Sawyer had the sharpest mind and quickest wit he’d ever seen in a radio newsman and could write the news and commentary, as fast he could speak it. After falling out with WAAB/WAAF owner George Gray, he moved to on air at WVBF in Boston for a year, then moving to tv. (in a fit of emotion, when he was fired, or quit (still disputed according to WAAB newsman Mike Marcy) he left the WAAB studios calling owner George Gray a "chubby little clown"....the nickname stayed with employees until 4 years later when the radio stations were sold to a group headed by Dick Ferguson, Steve Marx and Bob Williams. A few years later, Sawyer was invited to host a program called "World in Review" for
Georgia Public Television
Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) is a state network of PBS member television stations and NPR member radio stations serving the U.S. state of Georgia. It is operated by the Georgia Public Telecommunications Commission, an agency of the Ge ...
, where world events in the news each week were looked at in depth by a panel of academic experts. The news director of Atlanta's then-CBS affiliate saw how talented he was and hired him; he was still full-time at his radio job. Sawyer moved into commercial television with Atlanta's
WAGA-TV
WAGA-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, airing programming from the Fox network. Owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division, the station maintains studios and transmitter facili ...
where he shared a
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
in 1982 for ''
Paradise Saved'', a documentary on
Cumberland Island
Cumberland Island, in the southeastern United States, is the largest of the Sea Islands of Georgia. The long-staple Sea Island cotton was first grown here by a local family, the Millers, who helped Eli Whitney develop the cotton gin. With its ...
. Sawyer, Don Smith, and photographer
George Gentry were cited for a documentary in which viewers were "treated to a quality of visual beauty not often seen on television and, at the same time, were informed, enlightened, and challenged concerning the problems of retaining a great natural heritage and a diminishing resource—the unspoiled beauty of the Atlantic Coast."
From August 1985 to August 1986, Sawyer and
Maria Shriver
Maria Owings Shriver (born November 6, 1955)
is an American journalist, author, a member of the Kennedy family, former First Lady of California, and the founder of the nonprofit organization The Women's Alzheimer's Movement. She was married to ...
were anchors of ''
The CBS Morning News''. Sawyer stayed with CBS until 1987. He joined ABC in 1988 as anchorman of ''
ABC World News This Morning
''America This Morning'' is an American early morning news program, broadcast on ABC on weekday mornings. The newscast is anchored by Andrew Dymburt and Rhiannon Ally, who also serve as anchors of ABC's overnight news program ''World News Now''. ...
'' and also hosted "World News Sunday" and "Day One." He hosted ''Justice Files'' on
The Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...
in the early 1990s. Sawyer filed the first in-depth network report on the
1996 Mount Everest disaster
The 1996 Mount Everest disaster occurred on 10–11 May 1996 when eight climbers caught in a blizzard died on Mount Everest while attempting to descend from the summit. Over the entire season, 12 people died trying to reach the summit, making it ...
, was the first reporter to gain access to the KGB's files on
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963.
Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...
, and filed history's first live television report from a battlefield during the
First Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...
. Sawyer also served as a regular substitute anchor on the
ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
programs ''ABC World News Tonight'' and ''
Nightline
''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the progra ...
'' before leaving ABC and joining NBC.
In addition to his Peabody Award, he has received a total of seven National
Emmy Awards
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
, two
Sigma Delta Chi Award
The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are presented annually by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) (formerly Sigma Delta Chi) for excellence in journalism. The SPJ states the purpose of the award is to promote "the free flow of information vital ...
s, two
Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe f ...
Awards, an
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
Award, an
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
State Award, an Ark Award and two
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It ha ...
Awards.
Sawyer played himself as moderator in "
The Debate" an episode of ''
The West Wing
''The West Wing'' is an American serial (radio and television), serial political drama television series created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999, to May 14, 2006. The series is set primarily in the ...
'' which aired live and was dedicated solely to a
debate
Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...
between two fictitious presidential candidates.
He was a guest speaker at the
American Association of Community Colleges The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), headquartered in the National Center for Higher Education building in Washington, D.C., is the primary advocacy organization for community colleges at the national level and works closely wit ...
Conference in Long Beach, CA, during April 2006 and was keynote speaker on May 11, 2007 at the
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...
, at a conference titled, "The Future of Multi-Media Digital News and Cultural Networks."
In late 2007, while filming a documentary in Tanzania, Sawyer survived a helicopter crash in which he suffered a serious knee injury before hiking miles with other survivors to safety. His recent media appearances include anchoring the July 19, 2008 edition of the ''
CBS Evening News
The ''CBS Evening News'' is the flagship evening television news program of CBS News, the news division of the CBS television network in the United States. The ''CBS Evening News'' is a daily evening broadcast featuring news reports, feature s ...
''. and reporting the 2009
Frontline
Front line refers to the forward-most forces on a battlefield.
Front line, front lines or variants may also refer to:
Books and publications
* ''Front Lines'' (novel), young adult historical novel by American author Michael Grant
* ''Frontlines ...
documentary "
Ten Trillion and Counting,"
a journey through the politics behind the national debt.
References
External links
*
Yahoo! TV
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sawyer, Forrest
1949 births
American television news anchors
American television reporters and correspondents
Emmy Award winners
Living people
Peabody Award winners
University of Florida College of Education alumni
People from Lakeland, Florida
ABC News personalities
CBS News people
60 Minutes correspondents
University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and Sciences alumni