Diane Sawyer, On the Ground And in High Gear

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, February 19, 2007

Eight days ago, amid shouts of "Death to America!," Diane Sawyer waded into a huge demonstration in Tehran and asked a group of boys, "Do you not like me?" They thought for a moment and switched to "Death to George Bush!"

When Sawyer finished interviewing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about his country's role in Iraq, he said: "Those were combative questions. Women should not be asking tough questions about war, but about love and family and culture."

It was not your typical morning-show fare, but Sawyer is not having a typical season. Following her earlier forays to Syria and North Korea, along with a prime-time special on poverty, the "Good Morning America" co-host seems to be kicking into higher gear.

"I was trying to go to the places I think are one-dimensional to a lot of us, and trying to make them three-dimensional," Sawyer says. "It's something I love to do: not only get a sense of the politics but of the people. It felt a little bit like my own personal endurance course."

Figuring out her career takes endurance as well. Just as industry insiders are wondering whether she is ready to abandon the predawn grind, Sawyer embarks on a one-woman diplomatic mission that has the business buzzing.

"I think she's really energized," says Charles Gibson, her morning co-host until he took over ABC's "World News" in May. The Ahmadinejad interview "showed Diane off at her best, because she was very persistent with him." During the years he sat next to her, Gibson says, "three or four times a week, I'd think to myself, where did that question come from? She taught me a lot about the business of interviewing."

Sawyer's foreign adventures are a reminder that she can glide from geopolitics to pickles -- she had a grand time sampling the wares at a Syrian restaurant -- as well as chat up the usual celebrities.

Sawyer says she feels freer to hop on airplanes now that her new on-air group -- Robin Roberts, Chris Cuomo and Sam Champion -- has settled in. NBC's new "Today" duo of Meredith Vieira and Matt Lauer leads "GMA" this season, averaging 5.7 million viewers to the latter's 4.9 million, although ABC boasted of a rare win with the Iran visit last Monday.

Foreign travel is nothing new for her, Sawyer notes, recalling a "60 Minutes" visit to Iran two decades ago and a pre-Gulf War sit-down with Saddam Hussein. But how often, in the space of one week, as happened this month, does a journalist sit down with the leaders of two countries with whom U.S. officials are barely communicating?

Senior Executive Producer Jim Murphy, who made both trips, says they landed in each country Saturday night and went all-out until it was Monday morning in New York. "We would spend hours and hours every day out shooting and talking to people, and go into situations others would find dicey," he says.

Asked about criticism that she was giving America's enemies a platform, Sawyer says: "We may violently disagree with them, but first we must try to understand the way they see the world if we can."

Ahmadinejad ducked or finessed Sawyer's questions about the Bush administration's claims that Iran is supplying deadly weapons to Iraqi insurgents. "It was interesting to watch him retreat from his most incendiary statements," she says. "He would not repeat them."

When Sawyer asked Syrian President Bashar al-Assad about his country's role in the murder of a former Lebanese prime minister -- even mentioning suggestions that his brother-in-law was involved -- Assad said there were only "accusations" but no "evidence."

Sawyer's "20/20" special last month on poverty in Camden, N.J., examined a subject that has largely vanished from the media, deemed depressing and unappealing to the affluent viewers prized by advertisers. She focused on a handful of children, one of whom, a 4-year-old homeless boy, said he wanted to be Superman so he could help his family. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, viewers sent the boy stacks of Superman comics, pajamas and blankets. A 13-year-old girl mailed $200 of her bat mitzvah money to him.

Sawyer says she and her team had to overcome "a feeling on the part of a lot of people that no one would watch and there was not a way to give these kids a voice." She is pleased with the "stunningly generous" response -- which, of course, flows only to the featured few captured on camera.

In between that story and her recent trip, Sawyer squeezed in a visit to Washington for a freewheeling session with all 16 female senators.

Will she stick with the morning shift? Everyone at ABC tiptoes around Sawyer, because she is vital to the network's success. Having agreed, with Gibson, to temporarily rescue "Good Morning America" back in 1998, she has the right to opt out whenever she wants.

Sawyer, it turns out, can deflect questions as smoothly as she asks them. "Honest to goodness, I've been working flat out," she says. "I am so happy, and that's all I've been thinking about and doing right now."

Sneaking Into First

It's just one week in a long battle, but last week's ratings win for ABC's "World News" had to be a gratifying milestone for Gibson.

Often overshadowed by the accolades for NBC's Brian Williams, the ratings leader who won a slew of awards for his Katrina coverage, and the tsunami of publicity that surrounds CBS's Katie Couric, Gibson has quietly built an audience in his eight months as anchor. He is a familiar presence from his 19 years on "GMA," with a comfortable style that is anything but flashy.

"World News" averaged 9.7 million viewers for the week of Feb. 5, edging "NBC Nightly News," with 9.5 million. The "CBS Evening News," which is enjoying a modest rebound after bottoming out, trailed with just under 8 million.

Not that Gibson is about to crow. "One week doth not a trend make," he says. "It's a good, spirited competition."

It's true that ABC benefits from strong lead-in audiences, fueled in part by Oprah Winfrey, but "World News" has been stuck in second place for a decade. Gibson was initially passed over by ABC in favor of Bob Woodruff and Elizabeth Vargas but got his chance after Woodruff was injured in Iraq and Vargas became pregnant. At 63, he has won over older viewers who may have been fans of interim CBS anchor Bob Schieffer.

Gibson insists he doesn't pay much attention to the Nielsens. "You cannot pursue ratings for ratings' sake," he says. "All we can do is do the best broadcast you can, and the ratings will follow."

Ubiquitous Olbermann

Look for Keith Olbermann to start popping up with some words of wisdom on "NBC Nightly News."

The occasional appearances are part of the new four-year contract that the acerbic MSNBC host signed last week after a 91 percent rise in ratings since his show's 2003 launch. But he says the liberal firebreather who delivers those anti-Bush denunciations on "Countdown" won't be showing up at Brian Williams's side.

"I don't think that 'Nightly News' is necessarily the right environment for straight political commentary," Olbermann says. What he has in mind are produced essays about "the passing of a political figure, or a milestone event in the entertainment world or the sports world." Sometimes, "if you have a position as a commentator, you know to leave that at the door."

NBC News President Steve Capus told reporters he isn't worried about Olbermann wearing "different hats," saying: "He knows where to draw the line." Capus sounded thrilled that the cable guy, who quit MSNBC in 1998 with a swipe at management, is sticking around.

Missing Detail

CNBC host Larry Kudlow recently interviewed Catholic League President Bill Donohue, who ripped two liberal bloggers with John Edwards's presidential campaign for their swipes against religion, but Kudlow failed to note that he serves on the league's board of advisers. "I should have mentioned it," Kudlow says. "I plead guilty."