Wendy Fisher

Wendy Fisher serves as vice president of News Gathering at ABC News. In this position, she and her team manage and oversee editorial and logistical news coverage, both domestically and internationally.

When major breaking news hits, Fisher and her team are all hands on deck and are always thinking carefully about what is the best story and why. In 2020, she was integral to leading coverage efforts and keeping the on-the-ground teams safe during once-in-a-lifetime stories of the COVID-19 crisis and the nationwide protests as a result of police brutality, including the murder of George Floyd.

Fisher is a 30-year veteran of ABC News. In 2018, she was promoted to her current position from her previous role as ABC News’ first executive editor of News Content. During this time, Fisher has been involved with some of the world’s biggest stories, from natural disasters and wars to terrorist attacks and presidential elections.

Fisher is essential to “help[ing] [ABC News] create a next-generation newsroom producing the world’s best journalism for every platform, 24 hours a day, wherever news breaks,” James Goldston, president, ABC News.

Fisher is a graduate of Amherst College and received her master’s degree in French studies from New York University.

In this integral role, Smith has retooled ABC News’ content and distribution strategy, and revamped its suite of products to grow reach, engagement and monetization around the world. In 2018, he spearheaded the launch of ABC News Live, a new 24/7 channel for breaking news and live events. In one year, it has become America’s No. 1 streaming news channel with distribution on Hulu, The Roku Channel and Facebook Watch. In that same year, he oversaw the launch of a new digital portfolio for “Good Morning America,” which has grown to become one of the largest global lifestyle brands for young women. Smith also led the integration of FiveThirtyEight into ABC News to supercharge its political coverage with new real-time election night forecasts.

Smith joined The Walt Disney Company in 2011 with Disney – ABC Television’s business development team where he focused on mobile products. In 2015, he was promoted to vice president of ABC News Digital, where he instituted a new data-driven approach to editorial and product design to drive monthly video views from 60 million to over 1 billion. Under Smith’s leadership, ABC News received the prestigious Edward R. Murrow award for Best Website for the first time since 2001 and became the first digital team to win back-to-back News and Documentary Emmy® Awards in the history of the TV news industry in 2016 and 2017.

Smith’s career in media began at KPSP in Palm Desert, California, as senior executive producer. He is a graduate of Stanford University and received his Master of Business Administration from UCLA.