Should Stephanopoulos Turn Down Good Morning America?

John Hudson 15 Views Dec 4, 2009

ABC is offering one of the most coveted positions in television news--and they may get snubbed. The Washington Post's Howard Kurtz reports that George Stephanopoulos, host of This Week, is contemplating his company's offer of a co-host position for Good Morning America. The multimillion dollar gig has long been a springboard to ABC's top spot as the host of World News. However, the "fluffier" aspects of morning shows are not Stephanopoulos's cup of tea. Should he pass up the opportunity? Fellow media figures weigh in:

'Is This the Best Choice for George?' wonders James Poniewozik at Time: "It depends on what he wants, of course. If the idea is to burnish his credentials for, say, the evening-news anchor chair down the line, it could be, despite--no, precisely because of--the fact that GMA covers fluffier stuff than This Week on Sundays. After all, an anchor these days has to show range, and Katie, Charlie and Diane--not to mention Tom Brokaw--all came from the morning."

Good Morning America Is a Downgrade, writes James Joyner at Outside the Beltway: "From where I sit, Stephanopoulous has the much sweeter gig. He doesn't," for example, "have to get up at the crack of dawn every day and he's got the only Sunday show worth watching, getting to talk about whatever he wants to before an audience of opinion leaders." So he thinks Stephanopoulos should pass: "aside from going from a millionaire to a multi-millionaire, why would you give that up to do chit-chat, tomfoolery, and salacious crap to entertain people who have you on as background noise while they’re getting ready for work?"

He'll Have to Leave Washington, notes Chris Rovzar at New York Magazine:"Stephanopoulos has lived and been a player in Washington, D.C., for over a decade, since he arrived there alongside Bill Clinton as a campaign staffer in 1992. A former communications director for Clinton, Stephanopoulos has long been near the heart of media and politics, and his desire to keep at least his toes in the thick of it through The Week could reflect reluctance to leave Washington as a whole. With his two daughters settled there, there may be a significant amount of inertia keeping him in place."

The Position Isn't Even Relevant Anymore, adds James Joyner: "While I find the morning shows, save for C-SPAN's 'Washington Journal,' insipid, they're not only tremendously popular but the primary launch pad for the nightly news anchors. Then again, the latter job is a relic of a bygone age."

Don't Leave Diane! begs Dan Riehl, revealing his awkward infatuation with Diane Sawyer, the 63-year-old morning host who's leaving GMA to host World News: "Okay, I confess. ABC's GMA emailed me once about some blog posts of mine. I told them they could have anything they wanted for a signed photograph of Diane Sawyer in a cashmere sweater from back in the day. heh! I don't watch it, but I don't see Georgie bringing the same things to it Diane did so wonderfully for so long."

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John Hudson