This Week with George Stephanopoulos

Sunday Mornings

ABC News’ Chief Washington Correspondent George Stephanopoulos anchors ABC’s Sunday morning news program, “This Week,” which features newsmaker interviews and panel debates on a wide range of issues, and commentary. On April 20, 2008, the program began broadcasting in High Definition Television from a studio overlooking the U.S. Capitol at Washington’s Newseum. Since Mr. Stephanopoulos began anchoring in September 2002, the program has covered breaking news and featured important exclusive interviews, ranging from heads of state to presidential candidates. These interviews put into unique perspective the preceding week’s news and often set the stage for what’s to come in the week ahead.

In his role as anchor of “This Week,” Mr. Stephanopoulos has interviewed President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Biden and Treasury Secretary Geithner, as well as other key members of the Obama Administration’s economic team. During the previous administration, he interviewed every key member of the Bush administration, including President Bush and Vice President Cheney, and throughout the 2008 presidential race he routinely interviewed the candidates in studio and on the trail. He also regularly interviews newsmakers from both sides of the aisle in Congress, as well as prominent political leaders on the state and local level, such as California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Mr. Stephanopoulos has conducted several exclusive interviews with international leaders, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in April 2009, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien and former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder. During the buildup to the war with Iraq, he traveled to Paris to conduct an exclusive interview with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, which generated headlines around the world. He anchored the program from Doha, Qatar during the war, conducting an interview with then Commander of U.S. Central Command General Tommy Franks. On the 50th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice, Mr. Stephanopoulos anchored the program from South Korea, near the demilitarized zone. In April 2005, he traveled to Rome to anchor “This Week” from St. Peter’s Square, providing in-depth and comprehensive coverage of Pope John Paul II’s death and the gathering of Cardinals.

“This Week with George Stephanopoulos” has been honored with two Walter Cronkite Awards for Excellence in Television Political Journalism from USC Annenberg for its On the Trail series in 2006 and 2008. The On the Trail segments take anchor George Stephanopoulos out of the studio to join candidates on the campaign trail, providing a behind-the-scenes look at the campaigns and each candidate while illustrating the driving issues in each race. The series focused on several heated Senate races during the 2006 Midterm elections, and picked up again in 2008 to spotlight more than 14 presidential contenders.

During the 2004 presidential election, Mr. Stephanopoulos also conducted several interviews On the Trail with presidential candidates, including Senator John Kerry, Senator John Edwards and former Governor Howard Dean. He was widely praised for his role as moderator of the first Democratic Presidential Debate in Columbia, South Carolina. In August 2007, he once again moderated two 2008 presidential debates in Iowa, one Democratic and one Republican.

 In July 2003, Mr. Stephanopoulos made Sunday morning television history with his joint interview of Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Stephen Breyer, the first time any sitting Supreme Court justice participated in a Sunday morning television interview.

The program’s multi-faceted and flexible format also offers:

• A panel discussion featuring a mix of journalists and policy and opinion makers, with free-flowing exchanges between Mr. Stephanopoulos, Sam Donaldson, Cokie Roberts, George Will, Donna Brazile, Matthew Dowd, Paul Krugman and other ABC News correspondents and contributors.
• The In Memoriam segment, featuring important figures who passed away the week prior, also including soldiers who died in Iraq and Afghanistan.
• Funnies, a few highlights from the late night comedy shows, usually political in nature

“This Week” continues to build its audience through expanding its presence on the web. As part of “This Week’s” evolving growth, the program introduced several new and unique features:

• “The Green Room,” a continuation of the round table discussion featuring each Sunday’s round tablers in the green room for more on what transpired on-air and more opinions and analysis.
• Mr. Stephanopoulos’ “The Bottom Line” http://blogs.abcnews.com/george/ blog on ABCNews.com, offering breaking news reporting and analysis throughout the day.
• Mr. Stephanopoulos’ continued reporting and analysis on Twitter. With more than 560,000 “followers” to date in May 2009, he has acquired more followers than any other ABC News personality. In April 2009, National Journal.com reported that Mr. Stephanopoulos had “rated the maximum ‘clout’ score” on Twitter, and is among the most “influential” Twitter users in Washington. http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/no_20090311_6338.php
• Mr. Stephanopoulos’ public “fan” page on Facebook, with links to his blogs and photos of “This Week” guests, and his personal “friend” page, where he has reached the maximum number of friends allowable on the social networking site. http://www.facebook.com/pages/George-Stephanopoulos/32680704142

“This Week” occupies an important historical place at ABC News, premiering in 1981 as “This Week with David Brinkley.” Under Mr. Brinkley’s stewardship, the program garnered critical acclaim and numerous awards, including the 1988 Peabody Award and the Joan Barone Award for “excellence in Washington-based national affairs/public policy reporting” from the Radio and Television Correspondents Association (RTNDA). Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts anchored the program from 1996 to 2002 during some of the biggest news stories in American history, including the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, the historic 2000 presidential election and events following September 11.

Ian Cameron is the executive producer of “This Week.” The program airs Sunday mornings on the ABC Television Network.