Van Scott To Return To ABC News To Serve As Head Of Communications

Ted Johnson
·2 min read

Van Scott is returning to ABC News as vice president of communications after a brief stint at Vice Media Group.

Scott will be responsible for publicity strategies for the news division and will report to Kim Godwin, president of ABC News, and Shannon Ryan, president of content marketing, Hulu and general entertainment. The position has been vacant since Julie Townsend’s departure in May.

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Scott had been director of communications for ABC News until last spring, when he joined Vice Media and vice president for communications, as the company has been making a push into video outside its news division. Vice continues to pursue a SPAC merger and public stock offering, but talks reportedly have bogged down as participants have balked at the terms.

In a statement, Godwin said, “We will benefit from Van’s gifted approach to delivering meaningful results during this moment in history when supplying timely, relevant news is more important than ever.”

Godwin became president of ABC News in the spring, succeeding James Goldston.

Godwin reportedly called for an outside investigation after a Good Morning America staffer, Kirstyn Crawford, filed suit against the former top producer of the show, Michael Corn, claiming sexual assault. Corn has denied the claims. Crawford’s lawsuit also names the network as a defendant, and claims that senior executives were made aware of her claims in 2017 but did not take action to remove Corn.

In his previous tenure at ABC News, Scott oversaw publicity strategy for areas such as breaking news, political coverage and special events, as well as World News Tonight. Before he initially joined ABC News, Scott was at CNN, where he led communications strategy for various projects.

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