Forrest Sawyer
Encyclopedia
Forrest Sawyer is an American broadcast journalist. Sawyer worked 11 years with ABC News
, where he frequently anchored ABC World News Tonight and Nightline and reported for all ABC News broadcasts. He anchored the award-winning prime-time newsmagazines "Day One
" and "Turning Point" He recorded exclusives from all over the globe, and earned numerous awards for his reports and documentaries, including Emmy Awards in 1992, 1993, and 1994. He left ABC News to become a news anchor
for both NBC
and its cable counterpart, MSNBC
, where he was a regular substitute for Brian Williams
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.
, where he graduated from Kathleen High School. At the University of Florida
, he earned his bachelor's degree
in Eastern philosophy and world religions and a master's degree
in education.
From August 1985 to August 1986, Sawyer and Maria Shriver
were co-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
and also hosted "World News Sunday" and "Day One." Sawyer filed the first in-depth network report on the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster, was the first reporter to gain access to the KGB's files on Lee Harvey Oswald, and filed history's first live television report from a battlefield during the First Gulf War. Sawyer also served as a regular substitute anchor on the ABC News
programs World News Tonight and Nightline before leaving ABC and joining NBC.
In addition to his Peabody Award, he has received a total of seven National Emmy Awards, two Sigma Delta Chi Awards, two Edward R. Murrow
Awards, an Associated Press
Award, an Ohio
State Award, an Ark Award and two American Psychological Association
Awards.
Sawyer played himself as moderator in "The Debate
" an episode of The West Wing
which aired live and was dedicated solely to a debate
between two fictitious presidential candidates.
He was a guest speaker at the American Association of Community Colleges
Conference in Long Beach, CA, during April 2006 and was keynote speaker on May 11, 2007 at the University of California, Santa Barbara
, at a conference titled, "The Future of Multi-Media Digital News and Cultural Networks."
In late 2007, while filming a documentary in Tanzania, he survived a helicopter crash. Sawyer rescued a Maasai villager from the wreckage, and, with an injured knee, carried another man several miles across a toxic lake to safety. His recent media appearances include anchoring the July 19, 2008 edition of the CBS Evening News
. and reporting the 2009 Frontline documentary "Ten Trillion and Counting," http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tentrillion/view/
a journey through the politics behind the national debt.
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
, where he frequently anchored ABC World News Tonight and Nightline and reported for all ABC News broadcasts. He anchored the award-winning prime-time newsmagazines "Day One
Day One (TV news series)
Day One was a television news magazine produced by ABC News from 1993 to 1995, hosted by Forrest Sawyer and Diane Sawyer.One of its stories, titled "Smoke Screen", was an important report on the cigarette industry's manipulation of nicotine during the manufacturing process...
" and "Turning Point" He recorded exclusives from all over the globe, and earned numerous awards for his reports and documentaries, including Emmy Awards in 1992, 1993, and 1994. He left ABC News to become a news anchor
News presenter
A news presenter is a person who presents news during a news program in the format of a television show, on the radio or the Internet.News presenters can work in a radio studio, television studio and from remote broadcasts in the field especially weather...
for both NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
and its cable counterpart, MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
, where he was a regular substitute for Brian Williams
Brian Williams
Brian Douglas Williams is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed 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.
Biography
Sawyer was born and reared in Lakeland, FloridaLakeland, Florida
Lakeland is a city in Polk County, Florida, United States, located approximately midway between Tampa and Orlando along Interstate 4. According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimate, the city had a population of 94,406...
, where he graduated from Kathleen High School. At the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
, he earned his bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in Eastern philosophy and world religions and a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
in education.
From August 1985 to August 1986, Sawyer and Maria Shriver
Maria Shriver
Maria Owings Shriver is an American journalist and author of six best-selling books. She has received a Peabody Award, and was co-anchor for NBC's Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics. As executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of...
were co-anchors of The CBS Morning News
The Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...
. Sawyer stayed with CBS until 1987. He joined ABC in 1988 as anchorman of ABC World News This Morning
ABC World News This Morning
America This Morning is a half-hour early morning newscast airing on the ABC television network, produced by ABC News and offered to ABC stations...
and also hosted "World News Sunday" and "Day One." Sawyer filed the first in-depth network report on the 1996 Mt. Everest disaster, was the first reporter to gain access to the KGB's files on Lee Harvey Oswald, and filed history's first live television report from a battlefield during the First Gulf War. Sawyer also served as a regular substitute anchor on the ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
programs World News Tonight and Nightline before leaving ABC and joining NBC.
In addition to his Peabody Award, he has received a total of seven National Emmy Awards, two Sigma Delta Chi Awards, two Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
Awards, an Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
Award, an Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
State Award, an Ark Award and two American Psychological Association
American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with around 154,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants and students. The APA...
Awards.
Sawyer played himself as moderator in "The Debate
The Debate
"The Debate" is episode 139 of The West Wing. The episode was broadcast live with the NBC watermark on screen. Because of this, there are actually two versions of this episode; one performed live for east coast audiences and a second performed a few hours later for west coast broadcast...
" an episode of The West Wing
The West Wing (TV series)
The West Wing is an American television serial drama created by Aaron Sorkin that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1999 to May 14, 2006...
which aired live and was dedicated solely to a debate
Debate
Debate or debating is a method of interactive and representational argument. Debate is a broader form of argument than logical argument, which only examines consistency from axiom, and factual argument, which only examines what is or isn't the case or rhetoric which is a technique of persuasion...
between two fictitious presidential candidates.
He was a guest speaker at the American Association of Community Colleges
American Association of Community Colleges
The American Association of Community Colleges , headquartered in the National Center for Higher Education in Washington, D.C., is the primary advocacy organization for community colleges at the national level and works closely with directors of state offices to inform and affect state policy...
Conference in Long Beach, CA, during April 2006 and was keynote speaker on May 11, 2007 at the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
, at a conference titled, "The Future of Multi-Media Digital News and Cultural Networks."
In late 2007, while filming a documentary in Tanzania, he survived a helicopter crash. Sawyer rescued a Maasai villager from the wreckage, and, with an injured knee, carried another man several miles across a toxic lake to safety. His recent media appearances include anchoring the July 19, 2008 edition of the CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
. and reporting the 2009 Frontline documentary "Ten Trillion and Counting," http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tentrillion/view/
a journey through the politics behind the national debt.