Diane Sawyer, the award-winning anchor of ABC World News, will host the 69th Annual George Foster Peabody Awards ceremony May 17 at the Waldorf=Astoria in New York City.
Sawyer will be the first media personality—news or entertainment—to emcee a second Peabody ceremony, having presided over the 56th annual awards in 1996. She shared in the Peabody Award bestowed upon “Rush to Read,” a 1994 investigative report presented by ABC News Prime Time Live.
“Diane Sawyer has worked in every facet of broadcast journalism,” said Horace Newcomb, director of the Peabody Awards. “Now, as anchor of ABC’s World News, all her prior experience is brought to bear on the most significant events of our time in the most professional manner. We are delighted that for the second time she will serve as our host and master of ceremonies for the 69th Peabody Awards presentation.”
In addition to helming ABC’s flagship evening news broadcast, Sawyer is the network’s principal anchor for breaking news, election coverage and special events. She has traveled the globe delivering in-depth and breaking news reports and has conducted interviews with almost every major newsmaker of our time.
Her prime-time documentaries have won critical acclaim for shedding light on difficult and under-reported topics. A native of Glasgow, Ky., and raised in Louisville, Sawyer earned a bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College.