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CBS News executive Kim Godwin is poised to become the first black woman to run a broadcast network news operation, as she has been offered the job of ABC News president, The Post has learned.
Sources said Godwin, who joined CBS in 2007, will fill the position exited by James Goldston, who left the network at the Walt Disney division last month. CBS has agreed to let Godwin out of her contract, which had one year remaining on it, so that she could make the historic move, a source close to the situation said.
Reps for ABC and CBS did not respond for comment. The pick was first reported Friday by NBC News.
Goldston’s exit came six months after his No. 2, Barbara Fedida, the network’s veteran business affairs chief, left after an investigation into her alleged use of racist language when discussing the news division’s staffers.
Nonetheless, it was under Fedida, who was head of development at CBS News from 2006 to 2011, that Godwin moved from the network’s local TV stations to work in the big leagues on the “CBS Evening News” with Katie Couric.
Now Godwin is being brought into ABC News with the charge to repair the division’s culture, which, under Goldston, has been described by sources as “insular, divisive, cut-throat,” and difficult for minorities and women to rise in the ranks.
At CBS, Godwin had editorial oversight of the network’s newsgathering operation, including the national desks, foreign desks and bureaus.
Now at ABC, Godwin’s appointment would put women in lead roles at four national TV news operations. Suzanne Scott has helmed Fox News Media since 2018. Susan Zirinsky has headed up CBS News as president since 2019. Rashida Jones became president of NBCUniversal’s MSNBC cable channel in December, making her the first black woman to lead a major national TV news network.
Prior to joining CBS in 2007, Godwin held a host of positions at local TV stations. She was the acting news director and assistant news director at WCBS-TV in New York, vice president and news director at KNBC-TV in Los Angeles, vice president of news operations for NBC Television Stations and vice president and news director at KXAS-TV in Dallas.
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