David Muir included in TIME100 list for his global field reporting
ABC News anchor and editor David Muir has been named among TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2025, recognized for his extensive global journalism.
Silas Davenport 
David Muir named to TIME’s influential 2025 list for impact-driven journalism
David Muir, the longtime anchor and managing editor of ABC’s World News Tonight with David Muir, has been selected as one of the most influential figures of the year in the annual TIME100 list published by TIME magazine. Muir, who also serves as co-anchor of ABC's 20/20, was recognized for his years of frontline coverage in global crisis regions and his ability to bring underreported stories to the forefront of public discourse.
Reporting from global conflict zones and climate frontlines
The editors of TIME magazine highlighted Muir's reporting from regions such as Ukraine, Iran, Israel, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Madagascar, Normandy, and Auschwitz, among others. His on-the-ground coverage of the climate-induced famine in Madagascar and the mass displacement in South Sudan due to severe flooding helped raise $9 million from viewers in support of the World Food Programme's efforts in the region. These efforts have earned Muir several industry honors, including multiple Emmy Awards, the George Polk Award, and the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Award.
Interviews with world leaders and political milestones
Muir's journalistic career also includes exclusive interviews with world leaders. In 2022, he traveled to Kyiv to speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the start of Ukraine's counter-offensive. He later held a rare interview with Pope Francis inside the Vatican, moderating the first-ever Vatican town hall ahead of the Pope’s visit to the United States.
In the political arena, Muir has interviewed sitting and former U.S. presidents including Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden. He also served as co-moderator for the only televised presidential debate between Trump and Kamala Harris, which was watched by more than 70 million viewers.
Diane Sawyer pays tribute to Muir’s reporting style
The tribute article in the TIME100 issue was written by fellow ABC News journalist Diane Sawyer, who described Muir as someone who always “shows up calm, respectful, and fearless.” Drawing a comparison to former anchor Peter Jennings, she wrote that Muir is “the first out the door to the story.” She also shared a personal note, saying, “I am lucky that my successor is also the irreverent friend I want to hang out with when the camera shuts down.”
Award-winning broadcast continues to lead viewership
World News Tonight with David Muir remains the most-watched newscast across broadcast and cable television in the United States. In 2023, the program received a News & Documentary Emmy for Outstanding Live News Program and an RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Award for TV Network Newscast—both accolades were awarded again in 2024, affirming the show’s consistent reach and relevance.
