Diane Sawyer's impact on women in television broadcast media

Diane Sawyer

Women in the U.S. have played exceptional role in variety of fields and done a great deal of service to their gender by attracting attention to what women can achieve. Diane Sawyer is one such remarkable American who rose to fame when in 1987, she was refused entry into Kremlin in Russia because she was a woman and instead of succumbing to the rules, she had the courage to say that she wasn't a woman but an American journalist. We can only imagine the power of those words because they were enough to grant her an entry into one of the most well guarded places in the world in a land that has the staunchest laws.

Since then Sawyer has not looked back. Diane was brilliant on CBS as an investigative reporter, a newsperson and an exceptional interviewer. She interviewed some of the most well-known people like Saddam Hussein and Michael Jackson but that wasn't all. The reason she is seen as an icon is not because she was able to make it big on TV but because she had no women predecessors and has been a pioneer for women who wanted to enter the hitherto male dominated field of media reporting.

As a real trailblazer, Sawyer touched new heights of fame and accomplishment when in 1999 she was asked to co-host ABC's most demanding and most widely watched morning show. But the reason Diane is a true pioneer and icon for women is because she didn't have it easy in the beginning making a place for herself in the media world. But instead of giving up her dream of being a reporter, she tenaciously looked for assignments and finally found her break in 1979 with CBS.

Sawyer was interested in politics at one time too which is why she has been highly successful in her interviews with politicians and in her analysis of various political situations. In 1970 when she found it hard to land a good job in the broadcasting industry, Diane began working in White House press office and even worked as Richard Nixon's personal assistant. Even after his resignation, she stayed with the former president for four more years to work on his memoirs. That close association was one reason she found it difficult to enter the mainstream media reporting. People were wary of her political views but that also said a great deal about her as a person. Diane Sawyer didn't leave the president when the world did because she is by nature very loyal and empathetic- two qualities that won her many fans over the years. In her own words, she says, "I am by nature loyal. I worked for this man; he had been good to me and now he was asking something of me. I have never regretted that decision." (Blue, p. 41)

Diane's desire to work hard and really reach a breakthrough won her a position as a reporter with CBS and that changed everything for her and also for her gender. The real mark of her achievements came in the form of a promotion to CBS morning show in 1981 and within three short years, she became the first ever female correspondent to become part of team of 60 Minutes- only the most coveted show in television history. She was soon jetting around the world covering one story after another. She has been exceptional in her interviewing skills as one CBS producer once said, "She has the skills of a surgeon, except that she gets under the skin of her subject without drawing blood." (Blue, p. 77)