2023 was a year of unprecedented upheaval across the world and close to home. Hamas’ brutal mass murder of more than 1,000 innocent Israelis; Israel’s full-scale attack on Gaza killing tens of thousands of innocent Palestinians; Russia’s continued assault on Ukraine; a warming planet; the first federal indictments of a former President.

ABC News was there to witness, contextualize and amplify this extraordinary and unrelenting year of news. As always, every story we covered was fueled by our mission to bring everyday Americans face-to-face with the human impact of the issues that shape their world, whether by World News Tonight with David Muir (often the top-rated program across all of television; 20/20 (our award-winning primetime newsmagazine); or Good Morning America (in its 10th consecutive year of ranking #1 among morning news programs in total viewers). Together, they reach more Americans than any other outlet…by far.

It was a second consecutive transformational year for ABC News under the leadership of our president Kim Godwin—a fierce advocate for collaboration, inclusion and the vital role of transparent news reporting—empowering the network to break new ground in numerous ways, including:

Storytelling that stretches long past the initial news cycle. This groundbreaking but simple approach to news coverage was conceived in the wake of the tragedy at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas on May 24th, 2023. We watched news crews – ours and others – overtake the small town as we often do in breaking news.  Every hotel room, restaurant seat and parking spot are swallowed up quickly and then – just as quickly – the news cycle takes us to the next big story.  We decided to cover Uvalde differently and commit to a deeper reporting initiative.  ABC News opened a bureau, embedding in all aspects of the community. Our reporting year culminated in May with the moving two-hour documentary, It Happened Here: A year in Uvalde. This intimate, moving series of reports prompted us to re-evaluate how we cover mass tragedy going forward. After one of the worst wildland fires in American history, we returned to Maui time and time again, expanding our coverage with a monthly reporting initiative across all programs and platforms, Maui Strong: 808. Our dozens of in-depth stories on streaming, network, audio and digital have examined the impacts of the crisis, the ongoing recovery efforts and the strength and spirit of the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander community.

Expanded partnerships with affiliates and owned stations. ABC News knows our power is rooted in collaboration. In 2023, we prioritized reporting partnerships with our 206 affiliates and 8 owned stations. In a groundbreaking investigation on plastic bag recycling (more on this in our digital section), the research company that manages the online directory of 18,000 recycling drop-off locations removed all Walmart and Target locations from its list.Our America: Unforgettable, a moving special produced by ABC Owned Television Stations and ABC News’ medical unit started with a statistic: Hispanic people are 1.5 times more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than white people. Our producers set out to investigate both why that gap exists and how families and individuals comprising that statistic are coping. It’s one of the most comprehensive accounts of the problem to be reported for television.

Significant expansion and committment in our climate reporting. In April, 2023, we launched The Power of Water, an ambitious network-wide initiative examining what happens when water is underestimated and taken for granted. The amount of water available for humans to consume and sustain a healthy lifestyle is shrinking as climate change continues to dry up lakes and reservoirs worldwide, and unsustainable industry practices contaminate sensitive hydrological systems.

Teams from nearly every ABC News program and platform dove into the factors threatening water supplies around the globe and how communities are being affected. Producers traveled to Puerto Rico to speak to environmentalists and residents about how big industry is polluting the island’s finite water supply. Meteorologists ventured to the drought-ridden American West to witness firsthand how water managers can engineer the ideal atmospheric conditions necessary to encourage rainfall. Correspondents also flew to St. George, Utah, the fast-growing metropolitan area in the country, to inquire about efforts to ensure the growing population has enough water at a time when much of the region is drying up.

In some cases, it took months of communication and visits to gain the trust of residents in water-challenged communities from The Navajo Nation, to the San Juan Tlacotenco Forest in Mexico to Tensas Parish in Louisiana. Near the Salton Sea, ABC News spent months talking with stakeholders on the ground. The team knew that telling the story through the immigrant community, while the most challenging, would be the most impactful for our viewers.

Leading the political news cycle with exclusive reporting.Our team's preparation for and commitment to reporting on the complex and ever-shifting civil and criminal proceedings that former President Donald J. Trump faces has been utterly unrivaled, with our reporting consistently becoming the primary source for other newscasts and news outlets, and often going unmatched. ABC News has produced over 250 stories on the indictments of Donald J. Trump, each is a testament to journalism’s foundational principle: to inform the public so they can make their own decisions about the most important issues facing our country.

After developing sources within Donald Trump’s orbit for years, ABC News was first to learn that former chief of staff Mark Meadows told investigators he disagreed with many statements Trump made about classified documents taken from the White House.

ABC News broke news that Trump had a conversation about U.S. nuclear submarines with Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt just months after leaving the White HouseIn mid November, ABC News obtained the video proffer sessions two former Trump attorneys gave after they entered into cooperation deals with the Fulton County District Attorney. Within minutes, our report flooded the airwaves via other outlets and less than 24 hours later, the District Attorney asked the judge in the case to hold an emergency hearing requesting he issue a protective order shielding the rest of the evidence in the case from being released.

In the run-up to the 2024 election, we hope our coverage will inform and engage viewers, readers and listeners as they determine who will lead the country for those next four years.

We have expanded our culturally impactful programming. From broadening our groundbreaking Soul of a Nation docuseries (a holistic examination of the Black lived experience in America) to our The Freedom to Exist special, focused on the LGBTQ community, to The New Face of Hollywood, our second national news special in primetime dedicated solely to honoring vibrant AANHPI communities, we inspired and educated our audience in new ways.

We continue to broaden our reach in the digital space. In 2023, we further expanded our ABC News Live streaming service, which has seen triple-digit growth each month since its inception across 26 distributed platforms. ABC News Live closed out 2023 with nearly 400 million hours streamed—41 million in September alone. During its biggest special events program of the year, ABC News Live's viewership spiked to over 7.6 million viewers.

In 2023, we launched a daily two-hour afternoon newscast based on the West Coast with an outside-the-beltway feel. We also continued our commitment to culturally relevant topics, including live coverage the nation's largest Pride marches in one broadcast - for the first time.

Our digital initiatives included immersive long-form series and documentaries; introduced innovative digital magazines for social media platforms; created chart-topping podcasts; and offered unmatched statistical analysis on FiveThirtyEight.

ABC News respectfully submits the following selection of original content for your consideration for what we regard as the most important award in journalism: the 2024 Edward R. Murrow Overall Excellence Award.

ABC News Digital

TRASHED: THE SECRET LIFE OF PLASTIC RECYCLING

This groundbreaking digital investigation had immediate and continuing impact after examining what happens to the plastic bags consumers return to retail stores to be recycled and helped paint a clearer picture for many who have wondered whether items they drop off are actually being recycled. The ABC News investigative team in collaboration with nine ABC owned and affiliate station partners deployed 46 trackers bundled up in plastic bags at recycling bins in Target and Walmart stores across 10 states. The results revealed a troubling reality. Just four out of 46 trackers made it to facilities that claim to be involved with recycling plastic bags. Half turned up in landfills or incinerators. The team boldly challenged everyone involved in the process, engaging with retailers like Target and Walmart and also sitting down with the American Chemistry Council; their spokesperson eventually acknowledged in a stunning interview that the retail recycling program does not work to the scale they would want. As a result of the report, both Target and Walmart were removed from the national recycling directory of plastic bag recyclers.

BUFFALO: HEALING FROM HATE ONE YEAR LATER

The story of the racially motivated murders at the Tops supermarket in East Buffalo made international news. The deeper story, however – the dynamics of a mass shooting motivated by racial hate, its long-term impact on the affected community, and the decades of government neglect that helped create the environment for it to happen – while there to see, was explored by few if any major media.

Over the course of a year, ABC News Digital amplified the voice of the East Buffalo community, many who have spent their lives feeling marginalized. As we worked to earn the community’s trust, East Buffalo in turn opened its arms to us and shared their stories. We were privileged to spend a year witnessing the community’s profound strength in the face of heart-wrenching pain, and their determination not to allow racial hatred and violence to define their lives and future.

YOUR VOICE YOUR VOTE How Trumpism Took Over the Michigan GOP — And Tore a Small Community Apart

YOUR VOICE YOUR VOTE: 538

ABC News’ 538 turns deep statistical analysis into compelling stories about elections, politics, economics, and American society. The gap between America’s two political parties has only grown sharper over the past four years, so 538 went to Ottawa County, Michigan, a place that epitomizes the forces tearing the country apart. As the genteel lakeside community moved left during the Trump era, conservative forces refused to go down without a fight. They took over local government, ruling with an iron fist which prompted protests and went so far as to alienate former members of their own party.

HAITI: THE FORGOTTEN CRISIS

Gang violence in Haiti is rampant and the threat of kidnapping constant. While other news outlets told Haiti’s story from afar, ABC News was the only news organization to do so from inside Haiti itself. Our team remained in the country for extended periods allowing us to reveal the depth of a crisis the world didn’t fully know was happening.

ABC News’ reporting on the crisis in Haiti directly impacted senior decision makers in international governance, which in turn directly affected the lives of Haitians themselves (for the better). Linda Thomas-Greenfield, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations discussed ABC News' reporting just after a historic Security Council vote on assistance for Haiti in October.

Greenfield said: “This summer, ABC News reporter Matt Rivers traveled to Port-au-Prince to shed light on the dire crisis facing the Haitian people…And one 12-year-old boy told ABC – …‘I would like the shooting to stop, so people can be at home and have normal lives.’ This young boy, and people across Haiti, are crying out for help. And they are calling on the international community to step up. Today, we answered that call.” ABC News viewers were moved to donate more than $500,000 to the World Food Programme. The funds were used to distribute crucial food supplies to thousands of Haitians displaced by gang violence.

PROTECTING PRIDE

This GMA Digital series is a poignant exploration of what happens when safe havens of the LGBTQ+ community are violated.

Through moving testimonies from survivors of the Club Q shooting in Colorado Springs, this GMA Digital series sheds light on the personal toll gun violence has taken on the LGBTQ+ community and examines the deeper connections formed by turning to each other for comfort through love, drag and inner spirit.