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Elizabeth Vargas

• ABC POSTS ITS BEST VIEWER AND YOUNG ADULT NUMBERS IN 4 WEEKS

  Futon Critic - Found Nov. 3, 2009 Adults 18-49 (1.3/4 vs. 1.1/4). "20/20" (10:00-11:00 p.m.) ABC News' "20/20," with Elizabeth Vargas' two "Vanished" reports drew 7.3 million...

• Headhunter, Stephen Viscusi say's "And ... the Winner is Gayle ...

  Huffington Post - Found Nov. 2, 2009 ... to retiring them to a show called '20/20' (like in 20 / 20 hindsight!). Think: 'Elizabeth Vargas' ...even 'Barbara Walters' was relegated to...

• Marc Cohn:On the Road Again

  Examiner.com - Found Oct. 29, 2009 In 1999, he met ABC TV News Anchor Elizabeth Vargas at the US Open who was trying to get an interview with Andre Agassi, when Agassi (who Cohn...

• Community News Briefs - Painters meet; Fruitcake for sale; Millville ...

  Bridgeton News - Found Nov. 6, 2009 Inglourious Basterds Inside Doctor's Without Borders: Live With Elizabeth Vargas The Invention of Lying Irene in Time It's a Wonderful Life...

• Salem County freeholders: Laury, Timberman

  Todays Sunbeam - Found Nov. 6, 2009 Inglourious Basterds Inside Doctor's Without Borders: Live With Elizabeth Vargas The Invention of Lying Irene in Time It's a Wonderful Life...

• Gloddy family feels '20/20' segment told human side of coping with ...

  The Citizen - Found Nov. 5, 2009 Janet Gloddy Young, who was interviewed by '20/20' news magazine correspondent Elizabeth Vargas, said at first she was 'a little freaked out...

• 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' to Add Celebrity Questions

  Reuters - Found Oct. 22, 2009 ... with Regis and Kelly), Jo Frost (Supernanny), Mario Lopez (Extra), Larry King, Elizabeth Vargas (ABC News), Al Roker (Today Show), Donald... 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' to Add Celebrity Questions - Houston Chronicle 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' to Add Celebrity Questions - Interest!ALERT 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' to Add Celebrity Questions - Earthtimes.org Explore All

• "Hose-to-the-Sky:" Still Spewing SO2 idea to Stop Global Warming?

  Treehugger - Found Oct. 26, 2009 Photo by Tony Stl via Flickr How do you get a hose that high vertically, 20/20's skeptical Elizabeth Vargas asked?

• 'Ten Years Later,' The Matthew Shepard Story Retold

  NPR - Found Oct. 12, 2009 ABC's Elizabeth Vargas interviewed Shepard's killers, Aaron McKinney and Russ Hendern, both serving life sentences. 'Laramie' Producers Revisit Matthew Shepard Tragedy - NPR "The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later" - Minneapolis Star Tribune Theaters link for 'Laramie Project' sequel - Southwest Florida Herald Tribune The Laramie Project:: Ten Years Later premieres in Lewisburg, WV - Out in America Explore All

• 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire' to Add Celebrity Questions

  NewsBlaze - Found Oct. 22, 2009 ... with Regis and Kelly), Jo Frost (Supernanny), Mario Lopez (Extra), Larry King, Elizabeth Vargas (ABC News), Al Roker (Today Show), Donald...

Elizabeth Vargas extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Elizabeth Vargas
Born	September 6, 1962 (1962-09-06) (age 47) Paterson, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Journalist
Years active	1993–present
Spouse(s)	Marc Cohn (2002-present) 2 children

Elizabeth Vargas (born September 6, 1962) is a television journalist who is anchor of ABC's television newsmagazine 20/20 and ABC News Specials. She was previously co-anchor (and de facto anchor after Bob Woodruff was injured in Iraq) of World News Tonight.

Contents 1 Early years 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 See also 5 References 6 External links

Early years

Vargas was born in Paterson, New Jersey to a Puerto Rican father who was a Colonel in the U.S. Army, and an Irish-American mother. She spent her youth moving from base to base in Germany, Belgium and Japan.

Vargas graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia, where she made her debut broadcast as a reporter/anchor for KOMU-TV.

She spent four years as a reporter and anchor for WBBM-TV, an affiliate of CBS in Chicago, Illinois. Phyllis McGrady, a senior vice president at ABC, said of her: "Elizabeth is one of the most flexible talents I've ever worked with. She could do interviews, and do hour-long specials that make you think, and then she'll do a great interview with P. Diddy. She is versatile." ¹

Career

Vargas was the first woman to anchor a network evening newscast in the U.S. since Connie Chung, and the first national evening news anchor of Puerto Rican and Irish American heritage. She is said^{citation needed} to be particularly proud of an ABC special report in which she questioned why the Laci Peterson case merited more attention than two other similar cases, one involving a black woman and the other involving a Hispanic woman. Another story she did, based on the book The Da Vinci Code and the role of Mary Magdalene, helped fuel a nationwide religious debate. Vargas stated that for centuries Mary Magdalene has been portrayed as a prostitute by the church, despite evidence to the contrary. She went on to question the strictly limited role of women within the church. In 1999, she won an Emmy Award for her coverage of the Elián González story and in 1998, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for her 20/20 investigation into the wrongful conviction of Betty Tyson.

As Peter Jennings was receiving chemotherapy for his lung cancer in April 2005, she and Charles Gibson temporarily filled in for him on World News Tonight until Jennings' death in August. After a period of mourning and indecision, she and Bob Woodruff were chosen as co-anchors on December 5, 2005.

Although Katie Couric is the first woman named as permanent solo anchor of a network evening newscast, Vargas can be considered the first de facto solo woman evening news anchor, given that she anchored many broadcasts alone after Bob Woodruff's injury in Iraq in January 2006. Briefly, she also co-anchored World News Tonight with either Charles Gibson or Diane Sawyer.

On May 23, 2006, Vargas announced her resignation from WNT. Gibson was then named sole anchor of the show, effective from May 29, 2006, replacing Vargas and Woodruff.² To explain the sudden change, Vargas cited her doctors' recommendation to cut back her schedule considerably due to a difficult pregnancy and her wish to spend more time with her new baby when he arrives. Most "inside accounts", however, claimed she fully expected and wished to return to the anchor chair soon after giving birth, but Gibson threatened to quit the network if he wasn't made sole permanent anchor.³ According to these sources, his gambit succeeded and she was left embittered, although not enough to sever ties with the network. In late 2006, Vargas returned as co-anchor of 20/20 and primary presenter of ABC News specials. As of September 19, Vargas has become the only anchor of 20/20.

Personal life

After three years of dating, on July 20, 2002, Vargas married singer-songwriter Marc Cohn.⁴ They were introduced by Andre Agassi at the 1999 U.S. Open. They have two children, Zachary Raphael Cohn (January 31, 2003) and Samuel Wyatt Cohn (August 16, 2006).⁵ Vargas also has two stepchildren, Max and Emily, from Cohn's first marriage.

See also

• List of famous Puerto Ricans
• List of Irish-Americans
• Irish immigration to Puerto Rico

References

External links

• Elizabeth Vargas at the Internet Movie Database
• About.com Profile of Elizabeth Vargas, ABC News Journalist
• ABC News bio

Media offices
Preceded by Peter Jennings	ABC World News Tonight Co-Anchor with Bob Woodruff January 3, 2006–May 26, 2006	Succeeded by Charles Gibson
Preceded by Barbara Walters	20/20 Co-Anchor with John Stossel 2004 – present	Succeeded by Incumbent

v • d • e Co-Anchors of 20/20 Hayes • Hughes • Downs • Walters • Miller • Stossel • Vargas

v • d • e Anchors of ABC World News H. R. Baukhage · Jim Gibbons · Bryson Rash · Pauline Frederick · Gordon Fraser · Leo Cherne · John Daly · Don Goddard · John Daly · Bill Shadel · Bill Lawrence · Al Mann · John Cameron Swayze · Ron Cochran · Peter Jennings · Bob Young · Frank Reynolds · Howard K. Smith · Harry Reasoner · Barbara Walters · Frank Reynolds · Max Robinson · Peter Jennings · Bob Woodruff · Elizabeth Vargas · Charles Gibson · Diane Sawyer (2010)