Vic Ratner has covered the news for
ABC News Radio
ABC News Radio is the news radio service of ABC Audio, a division of ABC News (United States), ABC News in the United States. Formerly known as ABC Radio News, ABC News Radio feeds, through Skyview Networks, five-minute newscasts on the hour ...
in 47 countries and 49 states. Named a general assignment correspondent for
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 ...
in 1973, he was primarily assigned to cover
Congressional
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ad ...
activities on
Capitol Hill
Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...
, but also reported on a variety of major news stories for ''
World News This Morning'', ''
Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
'' and the ABC Radio Networks.
Ratner was the lead Congressional correspondent for ABC Radio's extensive coverage of the
impeachment investigation and trial of President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...
in 1999.
That was his second impeachment assignment; upon joining ABC News, he covered the original
Watergate
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began in 1972 and ultimately led to Nixon's resignation in 1974, in August of that year. It revol ...
burglary trial and the subsequent investigations, which led to the resignation of President
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...
.
On assignment for Presidential Politics 2000, Ratner followed the major candidates of both political parties through major primary and caucus states. In 1992 and 1996, he was a floor reporter for ABC Radio at the Democratic & Republican conventions, and covered the Presidential campaigns and elections. He has covered the travels and crises of six American Presidents. He also played a key role in ABC News Radio's coverage of the
Egypt Air and
John F. Kennedy Jr. plane crashes.
A veteran space reporter, Ratner was the only radio network correspondent on the air live when the space shuttle
Challenger blew up. He remained on the air that day for over five hours, providing on-the-scene information and background on the tragedy for ABC News audiences.
Previously Ratner served as correspondent, news director and anchor for radio and television stations in several major cities, including New York and Philadelphia.
In 1997, he was the chairman of the executive committee of the House Radio Television Correspondents' Gallery (one of three press rooms or "galleries" serving as newsrooms for members of the media who cover the U.S. House of Representatives).
Ratner is the recipient of a number of awards for his work, including the prestigious Ohio State Award and the National Headliner Award. A native of
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, he holds a master's in mass communications from the Annenberg School of Communications and a bachelor's in business from the
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...
.
While at the University of Pennsylvania, he was active on WXPN,
which in those years was the student run and managed radio station serving Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley, where he broadcast news and other events with the same skill he further honed when he made radio news his career.
He resides with his wife, Judith, in Chevy Chase, MD. He retired from ABC News in January 2014.
References
External links
ABC News RadioABC NewsABC News: Shuttle Challenger audio January 28, 1986
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratner, Vic
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)