Barbara Walters Didn’t Just Break Barriers. She Rewrote the Rules. Then She Did it Again.
By Amaris Castillo for Poynter
On opening night, Barbara Walters recalled feeling strangely calm in the studio. She knew she could read from the teleprompter. She just prayed that she wouldn’t stumble over her words.
This was Walters’ toughest audition yet. A great deal of money had been invested in this night. Much was new — a new executive producer, new writers, even a new set. Intense pressure.
Harry Reasoner, seated beside her, spoke first.
“Good evening,” he said into the camera, his face the mark of a serious news anchor. Reasoner introduced the first major story, about the secretary of agriculture resigning over a racial joke.
A beat later, Reasoner introduced Walters.
“Closer to home, I have a new colleague to welcome. Barbara?”
She smiled and thanked him. Then the first woman to co-anchor a national news show on prime-time television turned to face the camera.
“Well, tonight has finally come for me,” a poised Walters said, “and I’m very pleased to be with you, Harry, and with ABC News. And later I’ll have a chance to comment on my new duties.”
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