Walters leaves '20/20' for new role at ABC
By Gail Shister
Knight Ridder News Service
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When Walters walked into ABC's conference room Monday to tell her "20/20" staff she would step down in the fall after 25 years, she got a standing ovation.
"It made me cry," said Walters, 74, queen of the "get" and the tearful reaction. "It was quite touching, quite a compliment."
A certifiable legend who has interviewed virtually every newsmaker from Fidel Castro to Monica Lewinsky, Walters will leave "20/20" as co-anchor in September to transition into what ABC calls "a special role."
Maintaining her palatial office, Walters will do five or six news specials a year, including her annual Oscar-night telecast. She'll continue as a regular on "The View," which she owns and produces.
"I wanted more flexibility," Walters said. "This gives me everything I want, without the daily pressure. I'm very excited and happy. There's no 'back story.' No intrigue. It's just what I'm saying."
CBS's Mike Wallace, 85, who cut his "60 Minutes" workload to about eight stories a year, can relate.
"I don't blame Barbara," he said from Amsterdam, Netherlands, where he's reporting a "60" piece. "She's of a certain age now. She doesn't want to keep getting on planes. She's very wise to do what she's doing."
Walters also is weary of the increased competition for the hard-to-get interview and the emphasis on stories that will appeal to the young. Celebrities draw big ratings, but don't feed her journalistic soul.
"This is a country where we hope young people will vote, never mind care about world events," she said. "I have gone with the change, as all the programs are doing, but it does become a pressure.
Walters has interviewed such world leaders as China's Jiang Zemin and Russia's Vladimir Putin, as well as every U.S. president since Richard Nixon. Her celebrity roster ranges from Katharine Hepburn to Barbra Streisand. Walters' 1999 heart-to-heart with Lewinsky drew 48.5 million viewers — a record for broadcast news.
Walters also snagged the first TV interviews with actor Christopher Reeve after his paralyzing accident, with murder suspect Robert Blake, and with Martha Stewart after her indictment on charges of obstruction of justice.
Walters had been thinking of leaving "for quite a while," she said. "You never exactly know when is the right time. I thought of doing it last spring. Then I got Hillary (Clinton).
"Then I thought, maybe fall.
I wanted to leave when I thought I was at the top and the program was at the top. Then came Martha (Stewart). Then came Christmas. Then I sat down with (ABC News president) David Westin and said, 'Let's try to figure out the best time.' "
Walters has 18 months left in her contract, with an estimated salary of more than $7 million a year.
She says she'll negotiate a new deal that includes her redefined duties.
Walters began her TV career in 1963 on NBC's "Today," then became the show's first female cohost. She defected to ABC in 1976 as the first female co-anchor of a nightly newscast.
Walters co-anchored "20/20" with Hugh Downs until he retired in 1999. He was replaced by ABC's John Miller, who left the network in December 2002. "20/20" correspondent John Stossel was named co-anchor in May.
Age was not a factor in her decision, Walters said.
"My energy level, unfortunately, is just as high as it ever was." What she looks forward to most is what she's had precious little of during her 40-year career — time for herself.
"I want to write a book. I can finally take a trip that's not for work, or read books that aren't homework, or go to a movie that isn't related to an actor's new project. I may even be able to see a friend for lunch."
One of those friends could be Don Hewitt, 81, creator of CBS's "60 Minutes." He'll step down as executive producer after 36 seasons in June.
Hewitt has talked with Walters over the years about joining his "60" crew, but never "took a real run at her."
"In the whole history of TV, only three women have become icons — Lucille Ball, Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters," said Hewitt.
"They're icons. They don't need last names."
