ABC Presidents

Why doesn’t anyone ever think about the talent? Other than MSNBC’s abortive fling with Dan Abrams, TV news outlets have tended to keep the anchors out of the executive suite. But when it comes to learning how to run a news organization, leading a broadcast must be as good as, say, law school. Walters, who co-anchored the ABC Evening News in the 1970s, has served for three decades as an on-air correspondent for the network, and created the buzz-factory that is The View, probably knows the inner workings of ABC News better than anyone else. And compared to new Newsweek owner Sidney Harman, the 80-year-old Walters is a kid. Has anyone ever approached her about running the network? “No one has ever actually asked me anything about becoming president of ABC News,” Walters said, “although one former vice president who worked closely with me used to say that I was more energized and had more ideas than anyone he knew. But I have always loved what I am still doing.”