ABC News names digital chief for ‘World News’
Cory Bergman April 5th, 2007
Jason Samuels has been named the senior producer in charge of digital content for ABC World News with Charles Gibson. Samuels will oversee Gibson’s daily webcast as well as be World News‘ liason with ABCNews.com. Earlier, Samuels was a senior producer at ABC News Now. Press release…
PRESS RELEASE — Jason Samuels has been named the senior producer in charge of digital content for “World News with Charles Gibson.” In the role, he oversees the daily production of the “World News” webcast and the broadcast’s integration with ABCNEWS.com. Samuels reports to Jon Banner, executive producer of “World News with Charles Gibson.”
“Since its debut in January 2006, ‘World News’ has set the standard in network digital offerings as the first and only evening newscast to produce an original program for the web. Jason’s strong production background and digital experience will allow us to continue pushing the resources of ‘World News’ into the digital space via ABCNEWS.com, ABC News Now, iTunes, and mobile phones,” said Jon Banner, executive producer.
Charles Gibson anchors the daily “World News” webcast. Unlike digital offerings from other networks, the program is not a repurposed version of the evening broadcast. Instead, the 15-minute program, produced exclusively for the web, includes national and international reports, original video blogs and essays, and the latest on technology, sports, and pop culture. The webcast airs live at 3:00 p.m., ET on ABCNEWS.com and ABC News Now, and is available shortly thereafter online, as a video podcast on iTunes or via RSS readers, and on mobile phones. The webcast also gives viewers the ability to digitally skip between stories and click on the screen for more editorial information. “Simply put, it’s a network-quality news broadcast for a new generation of digital viewers,” said Samuels.
Prior to joining “World News,” Samuels was a senior producer at ABC News Now, the network’s twenty-four hour digital channel, where he led new content initiatives.
Samuels joined ABC News in 2006 from NBC’s “Dateline,” where he was a producer for eleven years. There he produced a number of long-form projects that examined issues like welfare reform, post-traumatic stress disorder among Vietnam veterans, and a controversial federal housing mobility program that affected low-income families. In 2004, Samuels produced “A Pattern of Suspicion,” a groundbreaking examination of racial profiling that won a number of journalism’s top honors, including a Columbia-Alfred I. duPont Silver Baton, a RTNDA/Edward R. Murrow Award, and an Investigative Reporter and Editor Award.
Samuels has won numerous other honors for his work, including: an Emmy Award, five Emmy nominations, a Peabody Award, a Freedom Forum’s Excellence in Urban Journalism Award, a Cine Golden Eagle Award, a New York Association of Black Journalists’ Griot Award for Overall Excellence, and an American Women in Radio and Television’s Gracie Allen Award.
Born and raised in New York City, Samuels is a graduate of Tufts University, where he received a BA in English, and the University of California, Berkeley, where he received a Master’s degree.
4 Comments Add your own
1. tom levin | April 6th, 2007 at 10:25 am
i have followed this young man’s work, jason samuels, and abc did a good thing to hire him. he is smart, award winning, and knows the field. kudos to abc and to jason.
2. roberta | April 8th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
I worked with Jason for many years at NBC News and he is an oustanding producer, an ethical journalist and a kind person. ABC is lucky to have him. Jason thinks outside of the box and he will make a real difference - if he is given the opportunity.
3. Kameko J. | April 9th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
As a young professional coming up in this industry I have looked to Jason Samuels for guidance and support. Jason has shown others like myself that when we work hard and produce quality work you have no place to go but upward. He is a wonderful addition to the ABC team.
4. Marlene K. Rowlett | April 18th, 2007 at 11:33 am
Jason Samuels is first a good man. He has the real caring and compassion that you can sense from the very first time you speak with him. I met Jason when he worked on a story for Dateline with Maria Shriver called “Breaking Away” back in 1998. It was a story about ending the cycle of poverty for several families. I worked as a case manager for one of the women in that story. When I met Jason I could tell he did not judge her. His caring and compassion was evident. In 2006 when I contacted Jason again, he still remembered the story and the women! We need more people in the news media like Jason Samuels!!
Leave a Comment
(Please keep URLs out of the comment body or the spam filter will block you.)Subscribe to the comments via RSS Feed