For being the face of ABC’s primetime news cycle for over a decade and counting, David Muir continues to maintain a sense of optimism about the state of the world.
The journalist, 51, has anchored World News Tonight with David Muir since September 2014, and during an appearance on LIVE with Kelly and Mark, opposite close friends Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos, he broke down his love for consistently being on the air.
The show recently took home Outstanding Live News Program at the 6th annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards for the third year in a row, and on the July 1 episode of LIVE, Kelly couldn’t help but shower him with praise.
© Getty Images“I predict you’re literally going to be the Oprah Winfrey of the evening news, where you take yourself out of contention so the other anchors have [a chance],” she joked.
David explained that despite coming out on top for the third year in a row, it was also the third year in a row he couldn’t actually make the banquet, saying that he had prior commitments the first two times and was too “superstitious” to attend the third time.
“It’s really about the team,” he continued. “I was at a dinner, but I did have the phone on with the live feed. I just glanced over and I could read the lips, and I think they said ‘ABC World News,’ and then the team gets up.”
© Getty Images for TIME“And I have to say, I told the team, it meant more to me to be able to see them go up on the stage, they’re incredible. These folks, I’ve been working with [them] for 11 years now.”
David even recalled Kelly and Mark being there for his first week as anchor, taking over from Diane Sawyer, and when Mark asked whether it felt the same from then to now, he noted that the recent news cycles did make it more difficult.
“Listen, it’s been a really heavy time, and it hasn’t let up,” he admitted. “I’ve joked with you guys, I feel like I need to say, ‘Good evening, and I’m sorry’,” although added after: “But we’ll get through it.”
© Disney via Getty ImagesRecently, the longtime ABC News anchor revealed that as long as he had the ability to travel the world and bring news to the public’s doorsteps, he wanted to continue doing so at the helm of World News Tonight.
“I think it’s really important to continue to try being better,” he shared with People about looking to the future. “The moment you stop learning, the moment you’re no longer curious, the moment you don’t believe you can be better than you were a night ago or a week ago, is probably a time to sort of check yourself.”
© ABC via Getty ImagesHe touched upon his journey to his position now, starting out as a teenager interning at local news stations. “I still feel like I’m that kid racing into that local newsroom all those years ago.”
“I began interning, carrying all the equipment — and back then the equipment was huge and heavy — and I’d jump into the back of the cruiser and I was honestly the happiest kid,” he fondly remembered, mentioning how he would write letters to local reporters. “All these years later, I look back on that as a defining moment in my life.”
