Wendy Fisher

Wendy Fisher is an American television news executive and senior vice president of editorial for CBS News CBS NewsCBS News is the news organization of the U.S. CBS system, part of Paramount, providing news coverage through television, the web and streaming. Its history extends from radio newsgathering to television and digital platforms; its signature programs include CBS Evening News, 60 Minutes and Face the Nation, and CBS News 24/7 is its streaming news service.Open the full entry and Stations. She spent more than 30 years at ABC ABCABC (American Broadcasting Company) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It grew out of NBC’s Blue radio network, took its name after becoming independent in 1943, developed into a national television network after merging with United Paramount Theatres in 1953, was acquired by Capital Cities in 1985, and has been owned by The Walt Disney Company since 1996. With CBS and NBC it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks, and it is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry News from 1989, serving as senior vice president of global newsgathering from 2020 to 2023, before joining CBS CBSCBS is an American commercial broadcast television network. It was founded in 1927 as United Independent Broadcasters, renamed the Columbia Broadcasting System in 1928, and grew from a radio network into a television network under William S. Paley. With ABC and NBC it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks; it has been owned in turn by Westinghouse, Viacom, ViacomCBS and Paramount Global, has been owned by Paramount Skydance Corporation since 2025, and is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry in 2024.

Contents12 sections

Key facts

1989Joining ABC News

Fisher graduated from Amherst College and received a master’s degree in French studies from New York University New York UniversityNew York University is a private university in New York City, founded in 1831, and one of the largest private universities in the United States.Open the full entry.⁠[1]

Her LinkedIn LinkedInLinkedIn is a social networking platform for professionals. It was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman and others, launched in 2003, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2011; after Microsoft acquired it for approximately $26.2 billion in 2016, it became a wholly owned Microsoft subsidiary. Its revenue comes from membership subscriptions, advertising, and recruitment solutions.Open the full entry summary states that before working at ABC News she was a graduate student in France and worked with the New York Times The New York TimesThe New York Times is an American morning daily newspaper published in New York City. Founded in 1851, it is published by The New York Times Company.Open the full entry Paris bureau chief.⁠[2]

She began her career at ABC News in 1989 and served as assignment editor, national editor, executive editor and vice president of newsgathering. Earlier positions listed on her LinkedIn profile include researcher from 1991 to 1993, assignment editor from 1993 to 1999, national editor from 2000 to 2011 and deputy managing editor from 2012 to 2017.⁠[1][2]

March 2013Peabody Award for Superstorm Sandy Coverage

On March 27, 2013, ABC News received a Peabody Award Peabody AwardsThe Peabody Awards are media awards based at the University of Georgia. First presented in 1941, they honor television, podcast/radio and streaming work, with winners chosen by unanimous vote of a Board of Jurors, and are named for the university benefactor George Foster Peabody.Open the full entry for its coverage of Superstorm Sandy, listed on the Peabody website as a 2012 winner. Fisher’s LinkedIn profile features a video titled “Wendy Fisher - Superstorm Sandy - 2012 Peabody Award Acceptance Speech.”⁠[3][4][2]

2018Vice President of Newsgathering

Fisher served as ABC News’s first executive editor of news content before being promoted in 2018 to vice president for newsgathering, overseeing the assignment of all newsgathering resources across every platform; her LinkedIn profile dates the start of that role to July 2018.⁠[5][2]

February 8, 2021Senior Vice President for Newsgathering

On February 8, 2021, ABC News president James Goldston announced in a staff memo that Fisher was being promoted to senior vice president for newsgathering, adding responsibility for the specialized units, the investigative team and the D.C. and London bureaus. The memo credited her with marshaling coverage of the pandemic, the racial reckoning across the country and numerous natural disasters, and with working alongside Justin Dial to support the growth of ABC News Live.⁠[5]

Her CBS News biography gives her tenure as senior vice president of global newsgathering as 2020 to 2023, managing local, national and international coverage including the war in Ukraine, mass shootings, major weather events and natural disasters; her LinkedIn profile lists December 2020 to April 2023.⁠[1][2]

February 6, 2023Announcing Jaclyn Lee and Melissa Adan

On February 6, 2023, Fisher, as head of newsgathering at ABC News, announced in a staff memo that Jaclyn Lee Jaclyn LeeJaclyn Lee is a multiplatform reporter for ABC News, which she joined in 2023 after working as an anchor and reporter at WPVI-TV in Philadelphia and as a reporter and weekend evening anchor at WVEC-TV in Norfolk, Virginia.Open the full entry of WPVI and Melissa Adan Melissa AdanMelissa Adan is a Los Angeles-based multiplatform reporter for ABC News, reporting for Good Morning America, World News Tonight and ABC News Live. Born and raised in Miami, she is a bilingual, first-generation Cuban American who previously worked at NBC 7 San Diego and Telemundo 20, NBC 6 South Florida and KLBK in Lubbock.Open the full entry of NBC NBCNBC (National Broadcasting Company) is an American national commercial broadcast television network. It was founded by RCA in 1926, began as a radio network and later developed television. With ABC and CBS it is one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks; it passed to General Electric with RCA in 1986, merged with Universal to form NBCUniversal in 2004, has been controlled by Comcast since 2011, and is one of the five networks that rotate in the White House television pool.Open the full entry 7 San Diego were joining ABC News as multi-platform reporters, based in New York and Los Angeles respectively.⁠[6]

March 30, 2023Leaving ABC News in Disney Layoffs

On March 30, 2023, Fisher, as senior vice president of newsgathering, was among the senior executives let go in the first round of Disney job cuts at ABC News, which eliminated about 50 positions. ABC News president Kim Godwin then reorganized her leadership team, promoting London bureau chief Katie den Daas to vice president of newsgathering.⁠[7]

2023–2024Consultant and University Lecturer

Her LinkedIn profile lists her as a project consultant for the USC University of Southern CaliforniaThe University of Southern California (USC) is a private research university in Los Angeles, California, planned by a group led by Judge Robert Maclay Widney and opened to students in 1880.Open the full entry Shoah Foundation from October 2023 to January 2024 and, from January 2024, as a lecturer in advanced reporting in the Department of Arts, Culture and Media at Rutgers University-Newark; her CBS News biography also states that she served as a lecturer in advanced reporting in that department at Rutgers University.⁠[2][1]

April 2024Vice President of Weather Strategy at CBS

On April 8, 2024, CBS News and Stations named Fisher to the newly created post of vice president of weather strategy, leading a national weather unit, to be known eventually as the CBS Weather Network, that works with all CBS news programs and more than 60 meteorologists and weather production teams across CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures, using augmented and virtual reality.⁠[8][1]

August 5, 2024Senior Vice President of Editorial at CBS

On August 5, 2024, CBS News and Stations announced a new editorial leadership structure in which Fisher was named senior vice president of editorial, focusing on strategic, comprehensive coverage across the group in close work with the Washington, foreign and domestic bureaus while continuing to oversee weather coverage; she and senior vice president of newsgathering Terri Stewart report to Adrienne Roark, president of editorial and newsgathering.⁠[9][1]

Personal

Her LinkedIn summary states that outside her professional life she is an avid runner and six-time marathoner.⁠[2]

Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts

ABC News: Official website: https://abcnews.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[10]

CBS News: Official website: https://www.cbsnews.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[11]

Rutgers University-Newark: Official website: https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/ (opens in a new window).⁠[12]

USC Shoah Foundation: Official website: https://sfi.usc.edu/ (opens in a new window).⁠[13]

LinkedIn: Public profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/wendysfisher/ (opens in a new window).⁠[2]