David Jason Muir ( ; born November 8, 1973) is an American journalist and anchor for '' ABC World News Tonight'' and co-anchor of the

ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...

magazine '' 20/20'', part of the news department of the ABC broadcast-television network, based in New York City. Muir previously served as the weekend anchor and primary substitute anchor on ABC's World News Tonight with

Diane Sawyer Lila Diane Sawyer (; born December 22, 1945) is an American television broadcast journalist known for anchoring major programs on two networks including ''ABC World News Tonight'', ''Good Morning America'', ''20/20 (U.S. TV series), 20/20'', and ...

before succeeding her on September 1, 2014. Since joining ABC News in 2003, Muir has reported from international hotspots all over the world, with dispatches from Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Ukraine, Tahrir Square, Mogadishu, Gaza, Guantanamo, Fukushima, Beirut, Amman, and the Syrian border, among other locations. At ABC News, Muir has won multiple

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

and Edward R. Murrow awards for his national and international journalism. He was the 2024 recipient of the

Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' from 1962 to 1981. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trust ...

Award for Excellence in Journalism. Muir won the Emmy for ''Outstanding Live News Program'' in both 2023 and 2024 and won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Network TV Newscast in the same years. Muir has become one of the most visible journalists in America. ''World News Tonight'' ''with David Muir'' has been the most watched newscast in the United States since 2015. Muir's climate reporting has also been recognized with the George Polk Award, and the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award.

Early life and education

Muir was born into a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

, and grew up in Onondaga Hill. Muir has one older sibling, two younger stepsiblings, six nieces, and three nephews. As a child, he watched ABC News' flagship program each night with his family and credits longtime anchor

Peter Jennings Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings (July 29, 1938August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-American television journalist. He was best known for serving as the sole anchor of ''ABC World News Tonight'' from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 200 ...

as his biggest journalistic influence. He graduated from Onondaga Central Junior-Senior High School in May 1991. He attended Ithaca College, graduating ''magna cum laude'' with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism in May 1995. During high school, he interned at WTVH-TV in Syracuse. While in college he was inspired by a professor who told him he had "the cut of a TV newsman". He spent a semester at the Institute on Political Journalism at the Fund for American Studies at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

and another semester abroad at the

University of Salamanca The University of Salamanca () is a public university, public research university in Salamanca, Spain. Founded in 1218 by Alfonso IX of León, King Alfonso IX, it is the oldest university in the Hispanic world and the fourth oldest in the ...

in Spain with the Institute for the International Education of Students.

Career

WTVH television

From 1994 to 2000, Muir worked as an anchor and a reporter at WTVH-TV in Syracuse, New York. Muir's reports from Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Israel, and the Gaza Strip following the 1995 assassination of Israeli Prime Minister

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; , ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the prime minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–1977, and from 1992 until Assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, his ass ...

earned him top honors from the Radio-Television News Directors Association. The

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

honored Muir for Best Enterprise Reporting and Best Television Interview. The Syracuse Press Club recognized Muir as the anchor of the "Best Local Newscast", and he was voted one of the "Best Local News Anchors" in Syracuse.

WCVB television

From 2000 to 2003, Muir was an anchor and a reporter for WCVB television in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, where he won the regional Edward R. Murrow Award for investigative reporting and the National Headliner Award and Associated Press honors for his work tracing the path of the hijackers involved in the

September 11, 2001, attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Hijackers in the September 11 attacks#Hijackers, Nineteen terrorists hijacked four com ...

. The Associated Press also recognized his news-anchoring and reporting.

ABC News

In August 2003, Muir joined

as anchor of the overnight news program '' World News Now''. He also became the anchor of ABC News' early morning newscast '' World News This Morning ( America This Morning).'' In 2006, and occasionally after that, he co-anchored the newsmagazine ''

Primetime Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to b ...

''. In June 2007, Muir became the anchor of ''World News Saturday''. In February 2011, Muir became an anchor for both weekend newscasts, and the broadcast was named ''World News'''' with David Muir''. Muir has been silently credited with a rise in the ratings of the weekend evening broadcasts. In March 2013, Muir was promoted to co-anchor ABC's '' 20/20'' with Elizabeth Vargas.

Early anchoring and reporting

In September 2005, Muir was inside the New Orleans Superdome as

Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

hit and stayed in New Orleans to report on the unfolding humanitarian crisis. Muir's reports revealed and highlighted the deteriorating conditions inside the Convention Center and Charity Hospital as Muir waded through chest-deep water to find patients trapped inside the hospital. Muir reported from the Israeli-Lebanon border in October 2006 on the Israeli war with Hezbollah. Muir was in Gaza in March 2007 to cover the Hamas coup, reporting from inside the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. In October 2007, Muir was dispatched to

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

after the worst earthquake to hit that country in more than two decades. In September 2008, Muir reported from

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, more than two decades after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. In April 2009, David Muir and Diane Sawyer reported a ''20/20'' hour about guns in America getting "disturbing results" as described by the ''

New York Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson in New York City as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in Tabloid (newspaper format ...

''. In May 2009, Muir's reporting on ''20/20'' revealed a significant increase in the number of homeless children in America. Muir made multiple trips to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

to investigate the BP oil spill. In January 2010, Muir traveled to Haiti in the wake of the devastating earthquake, which orphaned tens of thousands of children and destroyed the country's buildings and basic services. More than 220,000 people died, and many others were injured in the 7.0-magnitude quake. He has returned to Haiti multiple times since the earthquake hit, uncovering attacks on women and the unfolding mental health crisis in Port au Prince. In June 2011, Muir reported from Tahrir Square during the political revolution in Egypt, and from Fukushima, Japan following the deadly tsunami and nuclear power plant accident. Muir wrote about his reporting from Mogadishu, Somalia, and his subsequent return, "Inside Somalia's Crippling Famine", for the Daily Beast. In November 2012, Muir served as one of ABC's lead correspondents for the 2012 U.S. presidential election. Muir's interviews with Republican candidate

Mitt Romney Willard Mitt Romney (born March 12, 1947) is an American businessman and retired politician. He served as a United States Senate, United States senator from Utah from 2019 to 2025 and as the 70th governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 ...

generated national headlines on the issues of economics and immigration policy in the United States. In December 2012, Muir also anchored several hours of the

Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting On December 14, 2012, a mass shooting occurred at Newtown Public Schools, Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, United States. The perpetrator, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, shot and killed 26 people. The victims were 20 children bet ...

as it unfolded, and then reported from the scene as President Obama visited the town. Muir also reported from the movie theater mass shootings in Aurora, Colorado; from Joplin, Missouri in the aftermath of a destructive tornado; and from Tucson, Arizona after the

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missile ...

of Congresswoman Gabby Giffords that left six others dead. In January 2013, Muir reported from inside Iran, leading up to the nuclear talks. Muir was the first Western journalist to report from

Mogadishu Mogadishu, locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and List of cities in Somalia by population, most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Ocean for millennia and has ...

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

on the famine. Muir and his team came under fire while reporting from Mogadishu. In 2013, he received the Edward R. Murrow Award for his reporting.

World News Tonight with David Muir

On June 27, 2014, ABC News announced that Muir would succeed

as the anchor and managing editor of '' ABC World News''. Muir made his debut broadcast on September 1, 2014. In April 2015, ''World News Tonight with David Muir'' became the country's most-watched evening newscast, outpacing

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas'' for its weeknight broadcasts ) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network ...

for the first time since September 7, 2009. Muir's Emmy-nominated ''Made in America series'' on the

American economy The United States has a highly developed mixed economy. It is the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and second largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). As of 2025, it has the world's seventh highest nominal GDP per capita and ninth ...

is a continuing feature on his broadcast. Muir has brought the series to other television programs, including ABC's The View, where he has served as guest co-host. In March 2016, Muir released a year-long report on the heroin crisis in America winning a CINE Golden Eagle Award for his reporting. Muir has moderated multiple Democratic and Republican Presidential Primary debates and interviewed numerous presidential candidates. During one of Muir's interviews with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2015, she admitted it was a mistake to use a private e-mail server and offered her first apology to the American people. Muir interviewed then President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

on January 25, 2017, in the White House. It was Trump's first interview as president, five days after inauguration. In 2020, Muir's ratings exploded during the beginning of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

along with the other Evening News programs. Averaging around 12 million viewers, and becoming the most watched TV Program. On May 6, 2020, Muir interviewed President Donald Trump about the COVID Pandemic. Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, Muir conducted the first joint interview with Democratic nominee

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

and his running mate, then-Senator

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

. He has interviewed President Biden multiple times. At the White House in December 2021, Muir pressed Biden on whether the U.S. was prepared for the Covid surge. In February 2023, Muir conducted two interviews with President Biden, one in

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

on U.S. support for

. Muir also interviewed Biden in

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

during the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Muir was the first network anchor to interview Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Muir later interviewed Zelenskyy in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

began its counteroffensive against Russia. In 2021, Muir became the lead anchor of breaking news and special event coverage for ABC News, a role previously held by GMA anchor

George Stephanopoulos George Robert Stephanopoulos (born February 10, 1961) is an American television host, political commentator, and former Democratic advisor. Stephanopoulos currently is a news presenter, coanchor with Robin Roberts (newscaster), Robin Roberts and M ...

from 2014 to 2020. In 2021 he traveled to Southern

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

to report on what the United Nations World Food Program warned was the first climate-change driven famine in the world. After the report aired, ABC News viewers donated over $3 million to the World Food Program. The report earned Muir a prestigious George Polk Award for environmental reporting, as well as two News & Documentary Emmy Awards. In 2023, he traveled to

South Sudan South Sudan (), officially the Republic of South Sudan, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the north by Sudan; on the east by Ethiopia; on the south by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Kenya; and on the ...

to report on the historic flooding that had destroyed communities, leading to severe

malnutrition Malnutrition occurs when an organism gets too few or too many nutrients, resulting in health problems. Specifically, it is a deficiency, excess, or imbalance of energy, protein and other nutrients which adversely affects the body's tissues a ...

as war broke out to the north, in

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. Muir's report ''South Sudan: Isolated by Water and War'' earned a News & Documentary Emmy, and anchored ABC News’ climate coverage recognized with a Alfred I. duPont-Columbia award.

2024 Presidential debate

On September 10, 2024, Muir and Linsey Davis moderated a presidential debate on ABC News between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Kamala Harris, which was watched by nearly 70 million Americans. Muir frequently fact-checked Trump for making false statements, including Trump's claim that Haitian immigrants in

Springfield, Ohio Springfield is a city in Clark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in southwestern Ohio along the Mad River (Ohio), Mad River, Buck Creek, and Beaver Creek, about west of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus and northeast of ...

were eating dogs and cats. Muir pressed Harris on whether she bears any responsibility for the chaotic and deadly withdrawal from Afghanistan, and on the economy, Muir asked Harris if Americans were better off than they were 4 years ago. Muir’s and Davis's interjections sparked claims of bias from Trump and discussion over the role of moderators in presidential debates.

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

said ''ABC’s Matter-of-Fact Moderators Built Factual Guardrails Around Trump'' and

Columbia Journalism Review The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its original purpose was "to assess the performance ...

said ''The refs worked''. On June 6, 2024, Muir interviewed president Biden in Normandy. During the interview, Muir pressed Biden on whether he would pardon his son, Hunter Biden. Biden told Muir he would not. On December 1, 2024, Biden reversed course, pardoning his son. Multiple news outlets cited Muir’s interview and Biden’s pledge that he would not pardon his son.

Honors

* Muir delivered the commencement address at Ithaca College in New York in May 2011; he urged graduates to use their voices. On March 13, 2015, the college awarded Muir, an alumnus, an honorary Doctor of Letters degree and the Jessica Savitch Award of Distinction for Excellence in Journalism. * In 2012, Muir was awarded an Edward R. Murrow for Hard News Reporting for ''A Cry For Help: Famine in Somalia''. * In 2013, ''

TV Week ''TV Week'' is a weekly Australian magazine that provides television program listings information and highlights, as well as television-related news. Content ranges from previews for upcoming storylines of popular television programs, particu ...

'' called Muir one of the "12 to Watch in TV News". He was listed as one of ''People'''s Sexiest Men Alive in 2014. * On May 8, 2015, Muir delivered the commencement address at

Northeastern University Northeastern University (NU or NEU) is a private university, private research university with its main campus in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by the Boston Young Men's Christian Association in 1898 as an all-male instit ...

in Massachusetts. During the ceremony, he was given an honorary Doctor of Media degree. * In 2017, Muir's reporting for 20/20 "Heroin: Breaking Point in America" on the heroin epidemic won a CINE Golden Eagle Award in the News Program/Continuing Coverage category. * Muir moderated a

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

with

President Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. Ob ...

on race and policing after a series of police-involved shootings in the summer of 2016, winning a News & Documentary

. * On May 12, 2018, Muir delivered the commencement address at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

in Madison, Wisconsin. * In 2018, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir received the RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Award for TV Network Newscast, for their coverage of the Santa Rosa wildfires. * Muir's live reporting from Panama City Beach, Florida later that year, as Hurricane Michael hit the panhandle as a category 5 storm won a News & Documentary

for breaking news. * In 2019, Muir would win another

for his reporting on the Las Vegas shooting for ABC's 20/20. * In 2020, Muir traveled to the

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

with a group of survivors who had been imprisoned at the camp as children. That report earned him a News & Documentary

a year later. * On May 15, 2022, Muir delivered the commencement address at

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

. * In 2022, Muir's reporting on climate change-driven famine in

earned him a prestigious George Polk Award and a News & Documentary Emmy for

environmental journalism Environmental journalism is the collection, verification, production, distribution and exhibition of information regarding current events, trends, and issues associated with the non-human world. To be an environmental journalist, one must have an ...

. The report was also part of ABC World News Tonight's Emmy win for continuing coverage on the climate crisis. * On September 19, 2023, Muir was named the winner of the 40th Cronkite Award by Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. * On January 25, 2024, Muir and ABC News were recognized with a Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Silver Baton Award for Environmental Reporting. Later that same year, his climate reporting from

earned him a News & Documentary Emmy. * Muir has received multiple News and Documentary Emmy Awards and Edward R. Murrow Awards for his reports. On September 27, 2023, Muir was awarded a News & Documentary Emmy for ''Outstanding Live News Program'' and an RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Award for TV Network Newscast. In 2024, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir received both awards for the second year in a row. * In 2025, Muir was named in TIME100 list of most influential people of 2025 by

TIME magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps as ''TIME'') is an American news magazine based in New York City. It was published weekly for nearly a century. Starting in March 2020, it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York Cit ...

References

External links

Profile
on ABC News * R4R7 {{DEFAULTSORT:Muir, David 1973 births Living people 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists American television news anchors American male journalists American television reporters and correspondents Georgetown University alumni Ithaca College alumni Journalists from New York City Television personalities from Syracuse, New York University of Salamanca alumni