Sawyer Takes Herself Out of Running for ABC Anchor

ABC has removed Diane Sawyer from the list of candidates to replace the late Peter Jennings as World News Tonight anchor.

Responding to a report in the trade magazine Broadcasting & Cable that Sawyer was interested in the anchor post, ABC News spokesman Jeffrey Schneider told reporters, "She is not a candidate for World News Tonight. ... She has never asked to come off of Good Morning America." However, Sawyer's GMA co-host, Charles Gibson, who has been acting as temporary anchor of the nightly newscast (with Elizabeth Vargas) since Jennings left the show, has reportedly made no secret of the fact that he would like to become its full-time anchor.