Speaking to National Public Radio in 2016, David Westin, the University of Michigan-trained corporate lawyer and also a former Supreme Court clerk, made the comment, "Television news is a true team effort. I knew that; I said that. I didn't appreciate the extent to which when you're out there and it's your face, your voice, going out, when someone makes a mistake, the prompter's wrong, they write the wrong things in there, nobody says, 'Oh, the control room did something wrong; nobody says that producer made a mistake.' It's you."
In 2015, David Westin anchored Bloomberg TV's morning show, 'Bloomberg GO', "I thought (between 1997 and 2010) they're (ABC news anchors) just being finicky, or they're awfully sensitive, or they're temperamental, they're talent. Now (in 2016) I realize, oh I see why they were so upset by that; I see why that was so frustrating to them; I understand why they lost their temper."
It was noted "Bloomberg Television draws modest audiences but it does attract influential viewers from the specialized worlds of finance, business and government."
Diane Sawyer shared "a little chuckle at the ironies of life." Speaking to David Folkenflik, Diane Sawyer recounted, "I'm told that every management at every network calls us 'anchor monsters'. I'm just throwing that out there, not that it could possibly ever be warranted. He (David Westin) has such an effective and concise mind — I guess that was honed as a lawyer. But he understands immediately the way we think of stories — beginning, middle, end. He understands that intuitively."
Charlie Gibson concurred, "David was a very astute lawyer. He's facile in the way his brain works. And the way he synthesizes things — the way he listens to what people are saying and then puts things together. I thought this is a really unconventional choice, but he's really good on the closed circuit broadcasts."
Diane Sawyer continued, "I think sometimes when you're new — and I certainly did this a lot — you think you have to stop and have a little thought or two or paragraph or six before you turn. I've said to him, speed is your friend. When you came after a broadcast and said, 'Let's talk about the broadcast,' he thought that you were looking for reassurance, or you were looking for compliments.
"In fact you were saying, 'I am out there with the teleprompter, which I am reading, and the news copy which I am working on, and working ahead, and the story order is changing, and the stage manager is telling me which camera to look at, and I'm concentrating on the viewer, and there's somebody in my ear who may be telling me about breaking news. 'Tell me — did we land the broadcast? Did we say what we wanted to say? Who were we out there?'"
David Westin acknowledged, "There are very few jobs you can have ... where they pay you a reasonable amount of money to come in every day, learn about things other people don't know about, and then tell other people about it in a way they can understand and retain and use. That's a really good job. And on a really good day, make a difference."
Emily Miller worked at ABC News, Washington D.C. bureau, at the time David Westin succeeded Roone Arledge as ABC News president. As reported in 'Human Events' website, Emily Miller told readers, "Roone Arledge was one of the greatest minds in broadcast history. Westin inherited the Arledge legacy and proceeded to squander it.
Even now (in 2010), I remember the shock and disappointment among the journalists that a lawyer — Westin — would be running their beloved news division.
"Westin was not a news man. But, as time went on, Westin’s bigger problem was that he wasn’t a businessman. Journalists like to think themselves above the fray of the business side of their industry. But media is a business like any other. When existing revenue streams are drying up (TV shows lose viewers) and there is no new revenue streams (by creating new programs that appeal to viewers, develop a cable network outlet, digital media/the Internet), then expenses have to be cut. Arledge created programming to meet the audience demands.
"Magazine shows, derided by critics as being undignified for a news division, were the most profitable divisions at ABC News. He wasn’t elitist and met the public demand with shows such as '20/20' and 'PrimeTime Live'.
The late night news program 'Nightline' evolved out of a nightly report on the Iran hostage crisis that was getting good ratings. Arledge recognized the space for competition to NBC's 'Meet the Press' so he decided to create his own Sunday public affairs show. 'This Week with David Brinkley' quickly became the Sunday morning standard both in ratings and revenue. 'World News Tonight with Peter Jennings' was the No. 1 evening newscast for years."
It was mentioned, "During Westin's tenure, ABC News received 11 George Foster Peabody Awards and over 40 News and Documentary Emmys."
'Nightline', after New Year's Day 1993.
Barbara Walters: He's a man searching for peace but mostly finding trouble … Boutros Boutros-Ghali said he is a politician and not a diplomat. He is a man who like to find solutions … He's Secretary General of the United Nations at a critical time as crises are popping up like poisonous weeds in the post-Cold War world. But he can't even try to apply solutions, it seems, without causing a stir. Last Thursday (New Year's Eve 1992), he came to Sarajevo and the city came out to greet him. And it was ugly. He was booed. He was spat on. He was condemned for urging negotiation of a military intervention against the Serbs.
"And yesterday (Sunday January 3, 1993), in Somalia, protestors threw garbage and stone at him. Many Somalis blamed the U.N. for not moving earlier to prevent widespread famine and civil war. Earlier today (Monday January 4, 1993), I spoke with U.N. Secretary General Boutros-Ghali about the obstacles he faces in his peace missions around the world. He was in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) where he was mediating informal peace talks amongst Somalis clans. Nothing comes easily for Dr Boutros-Ghali these days and that include our conversation. He has trouble hearing me and I have to shout over a less than clear connection."
Barbara Walters: He's a man searching for peace but mostly finding trouble … Boutros Boutros-Ghali said he is a politician and not a diplomat. He is a man who like to find solutions … He's Secretary General of the United Nations at a critical time as crises are popping up like poisonous weeds in the post-Cold War world. But he can't even try to apply solutions, it seems, without causing a stir. Last Thursday (New Year's Eve 1992), he came to Sarajevo and the city came out to greet him. And it was ugly. He was booed. He was spat on. He was condemned for urging negotiation of a military intervention against the Serbs.
"And yesterday (Sunday January 3, 1993), in Somalia, protestors threw garbage and stone at him. Many Somalis blamed the U.N. for not moving earlier to prevent widespread famine and civil war. Earlier today (Monday January 4, 1993), I spoke with U.N. Secretary General Boutros-Ghali about the obstacles he faces in his peace missions around the world. He was in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) where he was mediating informal peace talks amongst Somalis clans. Nothing comes easily for Dr Boutros-Ghali these days and that include our conversation. He has trouble hearing me and I have to shout over a less than clear connection."
Barbara Walters: Welcome, Mr Secretary General. We're very happy to have you with us. This has been a very difficult time for you. You went over on a peace mission but on Friday (New Year's Day, 1993) you were spat on and insulted while in Bosnia and yesterday (two days after New Year's Day) you were driven out of Mogadishu (Somalia). Do you feel besieged?
Boutros Boutros-Ghali: Not at all. I believe that what happened in Sarajevo and what happened in Mogadishu represent something very marginal, that the great majority of the population welcome the United Nations and are in favor of the actions, the mediation and the assistance given by the United Nations.
