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"ABC News has announced that Diane Sawyer will step down as the lead anchor of ABC World News, the network's flagship evening news program.\nSawyer, 68, will be replaced by David Muir, who will also become managing editor of the program, starting on Sept. 2. George Stephanopoulos, who co-anchors Good Morning America, has been named chief anchor for ABC News on special reports and breaking news.\nSawyer took the anchor's seat at World News in December 2009, and has been one of the most visible female journalists of her generation. She was the first female correspondent for 60 Minutes. She will remain with ABC News in a role \"tackling big issues and extraordinary interviews,\" but loses editorial control of the main news program at ABC.\n\u201CWe have an extraordinary team of anchors who are gifted storytellers and uniquely skilled broadcasters,\u201D said James Goldston, president of ABC News, in a press release. \u201CFor years to come, they will inspire us all to do our best work and set a high bar for excellence to inform, empower and inspire our viewers.\u201D\nThe move means the anchor position of each of the major evening news broadcasts returns to a slate of three white men, after Sawyer and Katie Couric became the first women to lead the high-profile news programs. Muir joins the ranks of Brian Williams with NBC Nightly News and Scott Pelley at CBS Evening News.\nMuir has been serving as co-anchor of \"20/20\" and the weekend anchor of World News.\n\u201COn this incredibly humbling day, I think of the 12-year-old boy with a dream of being a reporter and seeing the world. I never could have imagined seeing that world with Diane Sawyer,\u201D Muir said in a press release. \u201COn this day I thank her for not only setting the bar for the rest of us, but for being a trusted friend. I cannot wait to begin this new adventure with Diane and with George, whose political brain power and endless curiosity inspire me, and drive us all to be better every day.\u201D\n\n\nDiane Sawyer Throughout the Years\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDiane Sawyer, 17, Louisville, is shown being crowned Kentucky\u2019s Junior Miss after she defeated 18 other girls in the competition at Louisville Saturday, Feb. 4, 1963. S\n\nImage: CJ/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAmerica\u2019s Junior Miss Diane Sawyer of Louisville, Ky., gives a smile and a wave for the camera prior to the start of rain-soaked Senior Bowl football game in Mobile, Alabama on Jan. 4, 1964. \n\nImage: Jim Bourdier/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDiane Sawyer, 18,  after she was crowned Queen of the 47th Annual International Flower Show at the Essex House on Central Park South. \n\nImage: Bill Meurer/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPresidential Press Secretary  Ron Ziegler and his secretary, Diane Sawyer, greet Junior Miss and their winner in Washington on June 12, 1972. \n\nImage: Charles Tasnadi/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nJunior Press Office staff member Diane Sawyer with President Richard Nixon on February 26, 1972.\n\nImage: . The National Archives\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nWhite House aid Diane Sawyer makes a phone call from the press office of the White House in 1970.\n\nImage: Mediabistro\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nNews anchor Charles Kuralt and co-anchor Diane Sawyer on the set of the CBS News program titled, MORNING on August 17, 1981. \n\nImage: CBS/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nPeter Jennings, Diane Sawyer and Tom Brokaw during The Coro Foundation's 3rd Annual \"Commitment To Leadership\" Dinner at Tavern on the Green in New York City, New York on May 6, 1987.\n\nImage: Ron Galella/WireImage/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDiane Sawyer with Gloria Vanderbilt, March 22, 1985.  \n\nImage: CBS/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDiane Sawyer and Sally Ride are photographed at Gloria Steinem's 50th birthday celebration May 23, 1984 in New York City. \n\nImage: Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDiane Sawyer before an interview on March 16, 1990.\n\nImage: The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFormer VP Walter &amp; Joan Mondale (L) being interviewed by TV reporter Diane Sawyer on floor of Democratic National Convention on July 1, 1988.  \n\nImage: Diana Walker//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTV journalist Diane Sawyer and TV journalist Barbara Walters attend the Sixth Annual Television Academy Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on January 7, 1990 at 20th Century Fox Studios in Century City, California.\n\nImage: Ron Galella/WireImage/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSinger Jennifer Lopez (L) and Diane Sawyer sing together on Good Morning America's Fall Concert Series, October 9, 2007 in New York.  \n\nImage: Peter Kramer/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nA photo from the now infamous interview with entertainer Whitney Houston with ABC News' Diane Sawyer from November 7, 2002.\n\nImage: Ida Mae Astute/ABC/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDiane Sawyer facilitates a discussion between members of several rival gangs and the Chicago community to see what, if anything, can be done to reverse the alarming pattern of violence and murder in the streets. \n\nImage: Donna Svennevik/ABC/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nU.S. President George W. Bush talks to ABC News' Diane Sawyer during an interview December 16, 2003 in Washington, DC. \n\nImage: Eric Draper/The White House/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTelevision journalist Diane Sawyer pounds the podium gavel at the Democratic National Convention site in Denver, Sunday, Aug. 24, 2008.\n\nImage: Ron Edmonds/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDiane Sawyer talks one-on-one with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on April 6, 2011 as he visits Lincoln Elementary School in Kearney, NJ. \n\nImage: Ida Mae Astute/ABC/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDiane Sawyer reports from Afghanistan touring Camp Phoenix June 5, 2011.  \n\nImage: ABC News/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nGovernor Mitt Romney and his wife Ann sit down for their first joint network interview on \"World News with Diane Sawyer\" \n\nImage: Ida Mae Astute/ABC/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nABC News' team of political correspondents provide extensive reporting on the 2012 Presidential Election, anchored by Diane Sawyer and George Stephanopoulos, November 6, 2012.\n\nImage: Donna Svennevik/ABC/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nU.S. Speaker of the House Rep. John Boehner stands with ABC World News anchor Diane Sawyer on the first day of the Republican National Convention on August 27, 2012 in Tampa, Florida. \n\nImage: Mark Wilson/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDiane Sawyer receives a gift from the youth at the Urban Promise 25th Anniversary Banquet at the Scottish Rite Auditorium on September 27, 2012 in Collingswood, New Jersey.  \n\nImage: Jerritt Clark/WireImage/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAmanda Knox - the college junior who became the center of a dramatic murder trial in Italy, conviction and the court appeal that finally acquitted and freed her - speaks to Diane Sawyer during an exclusive interview airing on April 30.\n\nImage: Ida Mae Astute/ABC/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nFrom left, Diane Sawyer, the honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the honorable Sandra Day O\u2019Connor, are seen on stage at the Women's Conference Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010, in Long Beach, Calif. \n\nImage: Jae C. Hong/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nCharlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer make a surprise visit on \"Good Morning America,\" on September 13, 2013.\n\nImage: Fred Lee/ABC/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTelevision news anchor Diane Sawyer gestures to the crowd after receiving an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Brown University, May 27, 2012, in Providence, R.I. \n\nImage: Stew Milne/Associated Press\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n(L-R) Journalist Diane Sawyer, President, EGPAF Board of Trustees Willow Bay and Global Impact Award Recipient Hillary Rodham Clinton speak on stage during Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation's Global Impact Award Gala Dinner on December 3, 2013 in New York City.  \n\nImage: Cindy Ord/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nDiane Sawyer sits on the set of \"World News With Diane Sawyer\" during the nationally televised news brief at the ABC News headquarters December 21, 2009 in New York City. \n\nImage: Ida Mae Astute/ABC/Getty Images\n\n\n\n\n\n\nHave something to add to this story? 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