ABC anchor role for Bashir
British journalist Martin Bashir, best known for his controversial Michael Jackson interview, is to co-anchor a popular late-night news programme on US network ABC.
Bashir will replace veteran broadcaster Ted Koppel, joining two other new presenters on the Nightline show.
The line-up marks a radical revamp for the show, which Koppel anchored since its launch 25 years ago.
Bashir has kept a low profile since Jackson’s child sex abuse trial earlier this year.
He joined ABC a year ago after working on documentaries for the BBC and has been working on the 20/20 news show, which he will continue.
Both he and co-anchor Cynthia McFadden will be based in New York, while Terry Moran, currently ABC’s chief White House correspondent, will present from Washington.
The trio will focus on three separate stories a night as opposed to just one.
Bashir was catapulted to fame with his Diana interview for BBC1’s Panorama in the mid-1990s.
His bombshell documentary, Living With Michael Jackson, first broadcast on ITV1 in 2003, triggering an investigation into the star’s behaviour with young boys.
Jackson faced 10 charges of child sex abuse but was acquitted in June after a high-profile six-month trial.
