NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� In what's being portrayed as a generational change, PBS said Wednesday that Geoff Bennett and Amna Nawaz will replace Washington veteran Judy Woodruff as anchors of the weeknight 鈥淣ewsHour鈥� at the beginning of 2023.
Woodruff, 75, is that she's been doing since 2013 and embarking on a two-year reporting project on the nation's divisions. Her last show as anchor will be Dec. 30.
Nawaz, 43, has been Woodruff's chief substitute since joining 鈥淣ewsHour鈥� in 2018. She's won Peabody Awards for her reporting on the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and global plastic pollution, and previously worked at ABC and NBC News.
The 42-year-old Bennett became anchor of the weekend 鈥淣ewsHour鈥� earlier this year after jumping from NBC. The Washington reporter covered the White House and Congress for NBC and, prior to that, NPR.
鈥淵ou can't understate the importance of this moment,鈥� Nawaz said. 鈥淚t is an enormous change for an incredible institution that doesn't do this change often. On that level, I think both of us understand very deeply what we are taking on.鈥�
More buttoned-down than commercial TV, 鈥淣ewsHour鈥� reports on stories of the day along with deeper, magazine-style pieces. It was spoofed on a recent 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥� segment as 鈥渨e're what your grandma's talking about when she says, 鈥業 saw this on the news.鈥欌��
The show is broadening its audience beyond the estimated 2 million viewers who watch on television each evening by taking an active presence on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. 鈥淣ewsHour鈥� gets more than a million unique viewers each day on YouTube, according to Google Analytics and YouTube.
鈥淭here are few places these days that cover the fullness of American life, from hard news to feature stories, the way the 鈥楴ewsHour鈥� does,鈥� Bennett said.
PBS CEO Paula Kerger said the hirings also further the system's effort to have the 鈥淣ewsHour鈥�
鈥淥ne of the strengths of the public media system is we have these stations all across the country and we have been talking about ways to leverage that,鈥� she said. There are 179 separate licenses for PBS outlets.
Having two anchors gives 鈥淣ewsHour鈥� more flexibility to use them as reporters who can travel for stories, said Sara Just, the show's senior executive producer. Since its start in 1975, the show has used both single and co-anchors, essentially with just four people having occupied the role.
Robert MacNeil and co-anchored for two decades before MacNeil retired. Lehrer took it over alone and, after he left in 2011, Woodruff and Gwen Ifill started as regular co-anchors in 2013. Woodruff became sole anchor.
Woodruff, whose television career had included time at NBC News and two stints at PBS surrounding a stretch at CNN, said she felt like the midterm elections seemed like the right time to retreat. She recoils from an alliterative word: retirement.
鈥淚 honestly wanted to step away from the anchor desk at a point where I still have the energy and enthusiasm to do some reporting that really matters to me,鈥� she said.
She plans a whopping week off before diving into 鈥淎merica at a Crossroads,鈥� a two-year project examining the nation's political and social divisions. She plans to talk with citizens and experts of all stripes, hoping to deliver suggestions to improve things.
Woodruff will be reporting what she finds regularly on 鈥淣ewsHour,鈥� building toward a special at the end.
Woodruff has been in the business long enough to experience blatant sexism and underestimation of women 鈥� and has been able to surmount it.
鈥淚f I'd had any role at all in seeing one woman, or one person of color who didn't have a chance, if they've been able to look at the work that I'm doing and have confidence in themselves and their future and help them take the next step, I'm really proud of that,鈥� she said.
She's being replaced at the PBS anchor desk by a Black man and a first-generation American of Pakistani descent.
Nawaz recalls meeting a young woman recently who said she started watching 鈥淣ewsHour鈥� when she was home with her parents Now the woman follows along regularly on social media.
鈥淪he said it 鈥榤akes me feel so calm when I see you guys come up on the screen, because I feel like I can catch a deep breath and say ah. I'm about to get some information and I'm about to get it in a way that I'm ready to receive it,'" Nawaz said.
PBS would love it if she tells some friends.
David Bauder, The Associated Press