Today, I take a stand in defense of my favorite national news anchor, Diane Sawyer, who had a moment of being slightly less than awesome during ABC News’ coverage of the 2012 Presidential election. In front of millions of television viewers, she spoke with slurred speech while anchoring the “Your Voice Your Vote” broadcast. Later, millions more who missed the live presentation watched video clips of her on other news outlets and late night variety shows. Colleagues and comedians speculated that she was intoxicated; I do not believe this.
Practically everyone in this country shared the excitement and anticipation of watching initial voting results as they were announced. But, the end of the Presidential race coincided with a stressful week in the aftermath of super-storm Sandy. The historic storm devastated much of New York and New Jersey and undoubtedly disrupted the lives of many ABC employees who work in the eastern U.S. Likely, some were concerned about neighbors, friends and maybe their own families. Others may have been sleeping in the cold without power at night and performing post-storm clean-up during the day while working to deliver daily television news to America. The whole team was subject to this stress.
Now, add a telethon with a room full of pundits and producers affiliated with various parties and who personally support different candidates. Looming was the possibility an intense argument could erupt or that another network could be first to scoop a major development. Ms. Sawyer presented a cool, collected demeanor for the viewing audience while observing, for instance, floor directors freaking out, the loss of remote reporters’ live feeds and that recurrent chime, from on high, that stopped everyone in his (or her) tracks.
The annual autumn switch from Daylight Saving Time to Eastern Standard Time, less than three days earlier, is an important factor. Anyone in the eastern U.S., who set their clocks back one hour on the Sunday, before America went to the polls, could see the hands on their clocks approaching 2:00 a.m. when President Obama gave his acceptance speech. Unfortunately our “body-clocks” were still set to almost 3:00 a.m., the time it would have been if the clocks had not been reset. So much was happening in and around the ABC studio on this unusual week, I can understand if no one thought of this.
Just as a daily morning jog is different from a decathlon, a nightly world news broadcast is different from an election night telethon. In each pair, one is a frequent, sometimes solitary event, while the other is rare, but requires effort by many others. Diane took her post at the helm of ABC’s telecast nerve-center moments after finishing her nightly broadcast. If a news anchor has to be on camera continually for 7 hours or more when she normally appears on air for 30 minutes at a time, then additional advance preparation and support are needed. Some extra measures may have been taken, but the case is strong that much more was needed.
One does not have to work in television to know that anchors receive extensive make-up application before they appear in front of a camera. A similar level of care and attention needs to be given to the person on the inside. Talent bears the responsibility of staying alcohol and drug-free at work in accordance with applicable company policies & state/federal employment laws. So, I am not advocating random blood tests for things like low blood sugar (which is what I think was the culprit). Few occupations demand workers perform their duties for more than four hours without time off to eat or take a break.
Gaffes by professionals in the public eye, even if not the result of poor personal choices, can be funny. And funny people speculate what may have caused them. Their increasingly outlandish, imaginary scenarios get bigger laughs as they venture further away from the mundane truth. Sadly, in this case, the news bearer became a news maker on what was anything but a slow news day.
“Professional” does not mean “perfect”. Diane Sawyer is a professional. Her proven excellence earned her the role she now holds. Her transparency, even in moments of imperfection, has endeared her to a nation. Many come to the defense of their favorite celebrity moments before they confess to a scandal. But, I have so much confidence there is no scandal, in this case, that I invested large amounts of time to write, edit and re-edit this article (after all, SHE will probably read it).
Diane Sawyer does not work for ABC News alone. Yes, they issue her paychecks, but she actually works for the American people who buy from the advertisers who pay Disney to fund ABC News. So, in my authority as one of her bosses, I proclaim that she is, hereby, exonerated for her off-moment on the evening of November 6th/morning of November 7th and with my carefully chosen words, I hold out an overdue cup of water to her as she runs her daily race to bring me news of the world in the wonderful way that only she can.
With Gratitude, Admiration and Respect,
Cheryl L. Crockett
Footnote 1: The purpose of this article is not to indict ABC News or Disney, because nearly everyone associated with the New York broadcast had endured the same extreme experiences in the wake of super-storm Sandy. Others certainly had their moments, too. But, they weren’t in front of the cameras.
Footnote 2: In the (very) early 1990s, before the world had e-mail, Diane Sawyer responded, via postal mail, to a letter I mailed to her about her 20/20 expose’ of corruption amongst home daycare inspectors in the state of Louisiana. Her brief, thoughtful and encouraging reply, personally signed, validated my writing ability more than a decade before my work towards my college degree confirmed it. For this, I will continue to be grateful. The very least I can do is wield my pen to defend her honor at this time.
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