Paul Mason Named Sr. VP of News
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“Paul Mason, an Emmy-winning 23-year veteran of ABC News, has been named senior VP of ABC News, a position that has been empty since Rick Kaplan was named president of MSNBC in February,” Michele Greppi reports today in Television Week.
“The promotion makes Mr. Mason one of the highest-ranking black executives on the network news scene. He will have day-to-day responsibility for ‘Nightline,’ ‘This Week,’ ‘ABC News Radio,’ ‘World News Now,’ ‘World News This Morning’ and ‘Good Morning America’s’ news inserts. Mr. Mason, who will report to ABC News President David Westin, also will oversee the network’s coverage of this year’s political conventions and general election.
“Today, after his promotion was announced, Mr. Mason was not hazarding any predictions about how extensively networks are likely to cover the Democratic and Republican nominating conventions this summer. ‘I’m just getting up to speed with decisions made before I came in,’ he said.
“‘This is undoubtedly one of the best jobs in journalism at a very critical time. With ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East, and a political campaign with a host of important foreign and domestic issues at stake, this new assignment is also a great responsibility,’ Mr. Mason said.” Mason is 48.
“This is great and welcomed news, and we can only hope that this represents just the beginning of a trend by ABC and the rest of the national broadcasters to bring more people of color into their ranks, especially at the executive levels,” Ernest R. Sotomayor, president of Unity: Journalists of Color, told Journal-isms. “These kinds of appointments are long overdue, and there’s still a great void left to fill.”
