ABC World News Tonight’s David Muir recounts his time at WCVB Channel 5

HE SAID HE WAS STUPEFIED. IT SUMS IT UP PERFECTLY. MARIA: IT DOES. ED: OVER FIVE DECADES, SO MANY DEDICATED JOURNALISTS HAVE WALKED THE HALLS AND GRACED THE AIRWAVES HERE AT WCVB. SOME SPENT THEIR CAREERS HERE AND OTHERS TOOK WHAT THEY LEARNED TO A BIGGER STAGE. MARIA: AND FEW EMBODY THAT QUITE LIKE DAVID MUIR. FROM A FRESH-FACED REPORTER ON THE STREETS OF BOSTON, TO THE ANCHOR AND LEADER OF ABC’S “WORLD NEWS TONIGHT,” DAVID HAS NEVER FORGOTTEN HOW IT ALL BEGAN. DAVID MUIR, WELCOME BACK TO WCVB VIRTUALLY. GREAT TO SEE YOU, DAVID. >> IT IS GREAT TO BE BACK. AND I HAVE TO SAY THAT DOROTHY, THE DIRECTOR, GOT IN MY EAR RIGHT BEFORE WE DID THIS, MARIA. AND IT WAS LIKE TAKING ME BACK TO THE DAYS WHEN I’D HAVE A LIVE SHOT AT THE TOP OF THE NEWS OUT COME IN THE FIELD SOMEWHERE THERE IN NEW ENGLAND. AND I HAD A LITTLE BIT OF PTSD. I WAS WONDERING, IS MY STORY READY? ARE WE GOING TO MAKE AIR? MARIA: IN CASE YOU WERE WONDERING, THE NOW ANCHOR OF AMERICA’S MOST WATCHED EVENING NEWSCAST AND BELOVED WCVB ALUM AS A NEWS ANCHOR AND REPORTER, DAVID MUIR NEVER MISSED HIS MARK HERE AT CHANNEL 5. AS WE HONOR AND CELEBRATE 50 YEARS HERE, DAVID SO GRACIOUSLY LOOKS BACK. WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE MEMORIES BEING HERE? >> YEAH, I KNOW THAT’S A TOUGH QUESTION TO ANSWER BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY PROFOUND MEMORIES OF, YOU KNOW, THE DIFFICULT MOMENTS, THE JOYFUL MOMENTS, AND THERE WERE SO MANY OF THEM. AND WHAT I REMEMBER MOST IS NOT NECESSARILY WHAT PEOPLE SAW AT HOME. IT WAS BEHIND THE SCENES AT CHANNEL 5 AND HOW I FELT REALLY THE MOMENT I ARRIVED, YOU KNOW, THAT WHOLE “PUT ME IN COACH” SORT OF FEELING. AND THE FIRST WEEK I GOT THERE, YOU KNOW, I WAS OUT IN THE FIELD RIGHT AWAY DOING REPORTING FOR THE EVENING NEWSCASTS. AND I’LL NEVER FORGET, MARIA, MY FIRST REPORT OUT IN THE FIELD, I WAS I WAS LIVE IN THE 6:00 NEWS, AND I TOSSED IT BACK AT THE VERY END. AND I SAY, “REPORTING LIVE FROM,” YOU KNOW, WHEREVER I WAS, BACK TO YOU. AND IT JUST KIND OF ROLLED OFF THE TONGUE. AND I REMEMBER THINKING, WHAT, YOU KNOW, I GOT BACK TO THE NEWSROOM AND NATALIE WALKED UP TO ME BECAUSE IT WAS ONE OF MY FIRST TIMES ON. AND I SAID, WELL, IT WAS A LITTLE PRESUMPTUOUS OF ME JUST TO CALL YOU CHET AND NAT RIGHT OUT OF THE GATE. AND SHE SAID, YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU’VE EARNED YOUR PLACE HERE, YOU BELONG. AND I JUST THOUGHT, YOU KNOW, THAT SET THE STANDARD FOR THE REST OF THE TIME THERE. CHET AND NAT ARE, YOU KNOW, BOSTON ROYALTY. AND THEY WERE SO RESPECTFUL OF THE TEAM OF THE COMMUNITY. I THOUGHT, WELL, THIS IS A SPECIAL PLACE. MARIA: ONE THAT, NO MATTER HOW FORGETS. >> AND MARIA, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE THINGS WHEN YOU WALK INTO CHANNEL 5 IS YOU LEARN RIGHT AWAY THAT YOU ARE PART OF A MUCH LARGER THING. YOU KNOW, I REMEMBER LOOKING AROUND THE NEWSROOM. I REMEMBER RIGHT WHERE MY DESK WAS. JACK HARPER, JANET WU, PAM CROSS, ALL OF THESE VETERAN REPORTERS WHO KNEW THEIR COMMUNITIES, WHO KNEW THE ISSUES AND WHO CARE. AND AS YOU CONTINUE TO DO, MARIA YOURSELF, WHAT YOU DO AT THE END OF THE NIGHT, IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT. I KNOW FOR CHANNEL 5, IT IS COMMUNITY, CONNECTION, AND COMMITMENT TO THE VIEWER. AND YOU DON’T SAY IT THAT WAY. PEOPLE JUST FEEL IT. THEY SENSE IT. AND I STILL DO. I FEEL LIKE IT’S STILL HOME FOR ME. I THINK FOR ANYONE COMING UP THROUGH THE RANKS AT CHANNEL 5, I KNOW SOME OF THE NEW REPORTERS WHO’VE COME A LONG, LONG SINCE I LEFT. I’M SURE THEY LEARNED FROM THE MOMENT THEY ARRIVED WHAT A PROFOUND EXPERIENCE IT IS AND PLACE THAT IT IS, CHANNEL 5, BECAUSE OF THE LEVEL OF CARING THAT GOES INTO EVERY SINGLE STORY, WHETHER IT’S A STORY OF HEARTBREAK OR A STORY OF PURE JOY. AND THERE ARE SO MANY IN BETWEEN AS WELL. BUT CHANNEL 5 IS VERY UNIQUE IN THIS WHOLE LANDSCAPE OF LOCAL NEWS ACROSS THE COUNTRY. IT’S IMPORTANT THAT PEOPLE AT HOME KNOW THAT THEY HAVE A PLACE TO TURN TO THAT REALLY IS TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY, THESE TIMES SERIOUSLY, THESE ISSUES SERIOUSLY, BUT NOT TAKING THEMSELVES TOO SERIOUSLY. WE ARE REALLY UP THERE WITH EVERYBODY AT HOME. MARIA: AND YOU EXEMPLIFY THAT EVERY SINGLE NIGHT ON “WORLD NEWS TONIGHT,” DAVID, YOU TRULY DO. REALLY. THE LAST THING I WANT TO SAY IS, CAN YOU DESCRIBE WCVB IN ONE WORD? >> OH, IN ONE WORD, I WOULD SAY COMMUNITY. CHANNEL 5 IS AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN A PART OF THE COMMUNITY. WITHOUT THAT CONNECTION, WHAT DO YOU HAVE? I THINK THAT’S WHAT’S MADE NEWSCENTER 5 SO EXTRAORDINARY FOR SO MANY YEARS. AND TO THINK IT’S MARKING 50 YEARS OF THIS SORT OF MAGICAL CONNECTION WITH THE COMMUNITY, I THINK IS REALLY SOMETHING THAT I’M GOING TO APPLAUD FROM RIGHT HERE IN NEW YORK CITY. AND EVERYBODY HERE AT ABC KNOWS THE POWER OF OUR ABC STATION IN BOSTON, CHANNEL 5. MARIA: DAVID IS QUICK TO SAY HE WAS REALLY SHAPED BY THE VETERAN JOURNALISTS HE WORKED WITH HERE AT NEWSCENTER 5. ED: UNDOUBTEDLY. AS HE MENTIONED, THE FIRST TIME HE DID A LIVE SHOT WITH CHET AND MATT, HE SAID, NOW BACK TO YOU, CHET AND NAT.

ABC World News Tonight’s David Muir recounts his time at WCVB Channel 5

Updated: 8:10 PM EDT Sep 29, 2022

Over five decades, so many dedicated journalists have walked the halls and graced the airwaves at WCVB. Some spent their careers here, and others took what they learned onto a much larger stage.Few embody that quite like David Muir, from a fresh faced reporter on the streets of Boston to the anchor and leader of ABC’s World News Tonight. David has never forgotten how it all began.”What I remember most is not necessarily what people saw at home,” Muir said. “It was behind the scenes at Channel 5 and how I felt, really the moment I arrived, you know, that whole put me in coach sort of feeling. The first week I got there, you know, I was out in the field right away doing reporting for for the evening newscasts.””One of the things, when you walk into Channel 5, is you learn right away that you are part of a much larger thing,” Muir said. “You know, I remember looking around the newsroom. I remember right where my desk was, you know, Jack Harper, Janet Wu, Pam Cross, all of these veteran reporters who knew their communities, who knew the issues and who cared.”

NEEDHAM, Mass. —

Over five decades, so many dedicated journalists have walked the halls and graced the airwaves at WCVB.

Some spent their careers here, and others took what they learned onto a much larger stage.

Few embody that quite like David Muir, from a fresh faced reporter on the streets of Boston to the anchor and leader of ABC’s World News Tonight.

David has never forgotten how it all began.

“What I remember most is not necessarily what people saw at home,” Muir said. “It was behind the scenes at Channel 5 and how I felt, really the moment I arrived, you know, that whole put me in coach sort of feeling. The first week I got there, you know, I was out in the field right away doing reporting for for the evening newscasts.”

“One of the things, when you walk into Channel 5, is you learn right away that you are part of a much larger thing,” Muir said. “You know, I remember looking around the newsroom. I remember right where my desk was, you know, Jack Harper, Janet Wu, Pam Cross, all of these veteran reporters who knew their communities, who knew the issues and who cared.”