In recent news from the media industry, ABC News President Kim Godwin has decided to leave her position. She announced her resignation in an email to her colleagues on Sunday night, explaining that she wanted to focus more on her family and personal life.

Kim Godwin started leading ABC News in 2021 and was touted as a great DEI hire (sarcasm). Earlier this year, there was a big change in the organization when Debra O’Connell was appointed as the head of Disney’s newsgroup, which is trying to rebound from a series of losses. The change resulted in the amount of control Godwin had at ABC News.

Just in: ABC News staffers told on morning call that outgoing president Kim Godwin will be in office today ‘helping with the transition,’ but call is led by Disney exec Deborah OConnell, who is taking direct oversight of ABC News for the interim

— Brian Steinberg (@bristei) May 6, 2024

According to the New York Post Godwin was trashing Debra and that was “the last straw.”

When Godwin joined ABC, she came from a similar role at CBS. ABC News is known for its popular programs like “World News Tonight” and “Good Morning America.” However, under her leadership, those shows saw a decrease in viewership.

Some people have criticized Godwin’s management style. They say she did not encourage open conversations, was a tyrant and seemed to not know what she was doing.

In her farewell message, Godwin mentioned how important her role was, being the first Black woman to lead a network news division. She said she was proud of her work and hoped for the best for ABC News in the future.

As of now, ABC News has not named who will take over after Godwin. This is happening while Disney, the company that owns ABC News, is going through significant organizational changes.

It would appear that Godwin was given the ability to resign.

“For the time being, I will oversee ABC News,” Disney exec Debra OConnell says tonight, indicating no immediate replacement for Godwin.

An ABC News insider texts: “Thank god for Debra. She will do right by ABC.”

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 6, 2024