Martin Bashir Leaving ABC For NBC, Bill Weir In At 'Nightline'

"Nightline" co-anchor Martin Bashir is leaving ABC for a job at NBC News.

"GMA" weekend co-anchor Bill Weir will take his place alongside Terry Moran and Cynthia McFadden as co-anchor of "Nightline," which has seen strong ratings this past year.

Bashir will join MSNBC as a daily afternoon anchor and will be a contributor to Dateline NBC.

In May, Kate Snow also left ABC for NBC.

ABC News President David Westin announced the change in a message to staff Thursday morning:

I'm pleased to announce that Bill Weir will be joining Terry Moran and Cynthia McFadden as a Nightline anchor. Since joining us in 2004, Bill has done some of our most innovative reporting from every conceivable venue, both as co-anchor of weekend GMA and for all of our other programs and platforms. He has traveled the globe covering breaking news and uncovering global trends, including his coverage of Afghanistan last January where he came under fire with American troops, his in-depth reports on the economic rise of China and India, and the primetime hours he's done on topics ranging from the rise and fall of General Motors to the pursuit of happiness around the world. Bill has been at the forefront of our adoption of all that new technology makes possible, often shooting his own material in the field and embracing new forms of reporting now possible in the digital world.

Under the leadership of James Goldston, Nightline has done what few imagined possible five years ago: It has combined groundbreaking and important journalism with an appeal to the audience that has led it to grow while others in its time period have declined. I'm confident that the addition of Bill to James' extraordinary team will ensure Nightline's success in the years to come, while at the same time the entire division continues to benefit from Bill's contributions.

As Martin Bashir just announced to the Nightline staff, he will be leaving ABC News next month for a position at NBC News. Martin has been an important part of the successful Nightline effort. All of us owe him a debt of gratitude for his many contributions to ABC News during his six years here, and I know that all of us wish him well.

Please join me in congratulating Bill on his new job and thanking Martin for his service to ABC News.

Bashir sent the following note to "Nightline" staff Thursday:

My Dear Friends,

I wanted to let you know, as my close working colleagues for a considerable period of time, that I will be joining MSNBC/NBC - to work in both daily and long-form journalism.

Before I say anything more - I must acknowledge my debt of gratitude to each of you. It has been my privilege to partner with you at ABC and I shall forever be grateful for your professionalism, kindness and support. I do believe that we have always sought to reach for the very best in all our journalistic ventures.

In the process, we have become more than colleagues - and so, even as I prepare to leave, I know that our friendship (which began six years ago) will continue into the future.

I do trust that the show will continue to enjoy success and that you will be as welcoming of Bill Weir as you have been of me.

With all good wishes,

Martin

Comments

[latia65]

09:55 AM on 08/10/2010

Oh God no.

[MsIrisMG]

05:01 PM on 08/09/2010

One small step for a man, one giant leap backward for journalism.

[Christopher Carrey]

01:08 PM on 08/01/2010

Martin Bashir is a con artist, not a journalist. I highly doubt that he gets any respect or admiration from his peers. I am certain they watch their backs when they are around him. He is shady and self-serving and not to be trusted. Why MSNBC hired this despicable man is beyond me. Bashir is a tabloid hack whose unbridled ambition far outweighs his integrity or talent as a true journalist. He made his career off of defaming an amazing humanitarian and philanthropist. Bashir has more blood on his hands than Doc Murray in my opinion. Bashir killed Michael's spirit and peace of mind for the last years of his life, Murray just finished off the job. Bashir is the true culprit in the demise of Michael Jackson.

[Tina-Marie]

08:09 PM on 07/26/2010

“It seems that in the alternate universe of “medialoid”, treachery is rewarded. MSNBC: epic FAIL.
Until Bashir is history, so is my viewing of anything you network has to offer. Pffffft!”

[Flarvin]

05:44 PM on 07/26/2010

So Bashir gets an anchor gig at MSNBC? There are plenty of talented African American journalists out there that have put in their time and earned their due. When it comes to diversity, MSNBC fails. They had a chance to take a step in the right direction, and they went ahead and give a coveted afternoon anchor gig to this disgraced being. Incredible.

[stagebandman]

10:59 AM on 07/26/2010

YAY!

Excellent move. He was a horrible fit for Nightline, which is supposed to be a serious news show. Although Bill Weir is kind of a joker on GMA, he's good at his job. He did good work in Chicago, and has handled his share of serious topics. This may be the best move for him. As long as Cynthia stays, too.

[Jensen Bergmark]

10:31 AM on 07/25/2010

Bashir's move is being heralded as somehow moving journalism forward, when in fact it's significant step back. Whether one liked or disliked Jackson is immaterial. The point is,
Bashir massively overstepped the limits of ethical journalism to further his own ends.

In the 2005 trial of Jackson, a trial dismissed as "bullshit" by renowned journalist Mike Taibbi,
it was revealed that Bashir had made several legally binding promises to Jackson. Promising not only to desist from asking questions about Jackson’s children, Bashir actually urged Jackson to invite children to Neverland in order to facilitate the dramatic overdubs about
'children in danger.'.

The secondary footage Jackson made clearly showed Bashir’s use of duplicitous editing. By editing the footage to portray malevolence by Jackson where there was none, Bashir sold
false footage for millions and bagged himself a job at ABC. It is also widely known in media circles that Bashir’s team alerted the press that Jackson and his children would be visiting
the zoo, obviously create a frenzy he could film and take advantage of.

This is not journalism, it's cannabilism. This decision by MSNBC sends a message to other journalists that underhand, dishonest misrepresentation by the press is okay.

Bashir didn’t expose Watergate. He used a frail, father of three’s naivete and compromised state of mind to advance his own career. Journalistic integrity and professional self-respect used to count for something.

Bashir is estranged from both.

[Donna McGregor]

01:18 AM on 07/25/2010

While I am not a fan of this man, he is not the cause or even part of the cause of Michael Jackson's demise. He was already on a downward spiral and caused his own damage to his image. He did a lot of great charity work but he was unstable.

[martymartymarty]

09:06 AM on 07/24/2010

Any clue on who will be replacing Bill Weir on GMA Weekend?

[annie7788]

06:43 AM on 07/24/2010

ABC finally did something right in letting Bashir go. But why MSNBC would take in this unscrupulous so-called journalist is beyond me. Bashir represents all that is sleazy, unwholesome and indecent to me. He definitely contributed to Michael Jackson's early demise and irreparably damaged his reputation. If Bashir hadn't crushed Michael's spirit who knows how much more Michael could have done to make the world a better place?

[GloriaY]

09:48 PM on 07/23/2010

This Bashir man should never have a place on NBC/MSNBC. His place is on Faux "news." The British accent hardly appeals to most of us. His program will not be a must see for me, don't like him, won't watch him.

[ScottishLefty]

07:07 PM on 07/24/2010

Blimey Gloria.....you should here my VERY abrasive Glaswegian accent.......hardly anyone understands me but almost everybody loves it lol

[Amber Luvs Mj]

06:10 PM on 07/23/2010

Why does Martin Bashir even still have a job? He proved that he lacks journalistic integrity when he blatantly deceived Michael Jackson into doing that horrible interview a few years ago. Everyone knows that Martin Bashir has a hand in killing Michael Jackson. If any of you believe that Michael was guilty of anything, you are so wrong, and believe the lies and speculations that journalists like Bashir make their careers off of.

[sdmcmla]

05:34 PM on 07/23/2010

And why should anyone care? Don't we have an American who can do this fella's job? What, Americans' don't speak with a posh enough accent or something? Whatever. I'm getting tired of these foreigners being hired to comment on American life, and owning American news outlets (which is why Fox sucks). How many Americans are running around England or Australia telling them about their respective countries? Not a whole lot I'll bet. Enough already.

[alicam]

03:38 PM on 07/23/2010

I never did see how this clown got the job at ABC anyway. He pretty much hammered the nail in MJ's coffin with that totally twisted interview he did of him. (MJ's undoing) Everytime I see him I think of that interview and the damage it did to Michael causing everyone to falsely assume he was some sort of pervert.

[Gavin Saunders]

11:11 AM on 07/24/2010

James Goldston was the editor of that shockumentary. It rated it's pants off because it was about a reclusive superstar. It took 5 years of Bashir pestering Michael Jackson before he finally agreed because Bashir lied that it would focus on Mike's charities for kids. No good deed goes unpunished it seems.
The networks only care about numbers and that special was the most watched ever and when Ted Kopel left a big void ABC's solution was to get this pair.

[Duppy]

03:08 PM on 07/23/2010

you could not pay me to watch this guy