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Goldston Tapped to Replace Bettag on ‘Nightline’

Jul 28, 2005  •  Post A Comment

A year after James Goldston joined ABC News as a senior producer of prime-time specials and investigative reports, the BBC and ITV veteran has been tapped to become executive producer of “Nightline” following the departure of Tom Bettag at the end of the year, when Ted Koppel also leaves ABC News.

Mr. Goldston is expected to remain based in New York but travel frequently to Washington, which is home to the “Nightline” studio and the bulk of its staff.

Though Mr. Goldston has a close professional relationship with British TV journalist Martin Bashir, who arrived at ABC News around the same time as Mr. Goldston, there is no indication that Mr. Bashir might be in mind for an ongoing “Nightline” role.

Mr. Goldston, who has been reporting to ABC News Senior VP Phyllis McGrady, is expected to be replaced in the prime-time role that produced, among other programming, the ABC investigation into Victor Conte, the man at the center of the Balco steroids sports scandal.

The producer is familiar with the challenges of nightly topical shows. Among the programs on which he was a producer at BBC News was its “Nightline”-esque “News Night.” For the two years prior to joining ABC, Mr. Goldston was executive producer of ITV1’s “Tonight With Trevor McDonald” from 2002-04, during which time he and the United Kingdom’s most-watched current affairs show earned a number of prestigious awards.

“James is a talented and experienced producer with deep roots in daily and documentary news. His admiration and respect for ‘Nightline’s’ rich history and tradition coupled with his strong journalistic background makes James the ideal producer to lead ‘Nightline’ into the future,” ABC News President David Westin said.