ABC News President Kim Godwin Quits

Kim Godwin, the embattled president of ABC News, has abruptly announced that she will exit the network, capping a tumultuous three-year run at the outlet after staffers said her polarizing leadership led to plummeting employee morale, as reported by Oliver Darcy for CNN.

Morale at ABC News has suffered significantly since Godwin took the helm in 2021. I Photo: Black PR Newswire / FAMU

“I have decided to retire from broadcast journalism,” Godwin told staffers in a memo that rocked the ABC News newsroom. “I have been fortunate and blessed enough to have done almost every job there is in this business,” Godwin added.

“But after considerable reflection, I’m certain it’s the right one for me as I look to the future and prioritize what’s most important for me and my family.”

Godwin’s sudden exit came after CNN reported earlier this week that Debra O’Connell, the Disney veteran who was tapped in February to oversee ABC News as part of her portfolio, was conducting a review of her performance and had voiced dissatisfaction in private conversations with the state of affairs at the network.

Morale at ABC News has suffered significantly since Godwin took the helm in 2021, with employees frustrated with her leadership, as more than two dozen staffers and others close to the network told CNN this week.