ABC News executive Stacia Deshishku is leaving the network
Story by Jeremy Barr
• 17h ago
ABC News executive editor Stacia Deshishku has decided to leave the network and end her 35-year career in journalism.
“I’ve been fortunate that my career has always felt like a calling,” Deshishku wrote in a draft memo that was intended to be released Thursday and was obtained by The Washington Post. “My run has been nothing short of extraordinary and I leave with a deep appreciation for the stories I’ve been privileged to help tell.”
Deshishku worked as a producing executive for CNN before joining ABC News in 2014 as deputy Washington bureau chief.
She has served as executive editor since 2022, overseeing the network’s editorial direction and its most consequential news programs. Her last day will be Friday, June 28.
Her departure comes a month and a halfafter a sudden resignation and retirementof ABC News president Kim Godwin, to whom she reported. Godwin exited after the network’s parent company, Disney, appointed veteran executive Debra OConnell in a newly created role just above her to oversee the news division.
Deshishku’s departure is unrelated to Godwin’s resignation or OConnell’s appointment, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly.
In the memo, Deshishku said she spoke with ABC News leaders “several months ago” about her intent to leave the network.
Deshishku, who preceded Godwin at the network, said she plans to embark on a second act, “one that rekindles the passion and purpose that journalism afforded me for so long.”
Her departure comes at a crucial moment for ABC News, which is gearing up to cover a turbulent presidential election, as well as the criminal trials facing former president Donald Trump. OConnell has been leading the network following Godwin’s departure.
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