Disney/ABC Television Group president Anne Sweeney was honored with the Fred Dressler Leadership Award at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Communications’ annual Mirror Awards today.

“ABC World News” weekend anchor David Muir emceed the event, which honors the year’s best media reporting. He told TVNewser being on hand for Sweeney’s award was “an honor for me.”

“Sweeney is one of those rare corporate titans — the most powerful woman in Hollywood — who cares so much about journalism,” Muir told TVNewser. “It’s really had an impact on me watching someone who is at the top of the industry carry the mantle of journalism.”

In his remarks, Muir said it was rare to have someone so busy “give as much to the news division as Anne does,” recalling her reaction to a dangerous situation he and his crew were in while covering the 2011 Arab Spring protests in Egypt. Read more

• Longtime CBS News executive Bill Felling has been promoted to executive director of news services. TVSpy has more details.

• Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer is featured in the June issue of AVENUE Magazine. He talks about the place where he goes to get “away from the city’s concrete and steel,” the Hamptons.

• David Muir sat down for an interview with WSYR, from his hometown of Syracuse. “It has been, and was, a dream to sit here,” he said of the “ABC World News” anchor desk.

The broadcast networks are planning to give their news organizations extra space tonight to update viewers on the aftermath of the devastating tornado that ripped through a suburb of Oklahoma City. In addition to expanded evening newscasts, NBC and ABC will have dedicated programming to coverage of the devastation and recovery.

NBC: NBC News will have a special from 8-9 PM live from Oklahoma, anchored by Brian Williams. Lester Holt, Ann Curry, Harry Smith and Kate Snow will be among the contributors. “NBC Nightly News” will also offer an hour-long newscast to affiliates this evening.

CBS: CBS News will not have a primetime special, however Scott Pelley will host a special edition of the “CBS Evening News” from 6:30 PM until 8 PM, offered to affiliates.

ABC: ABC News will be offering a one hour edition of “ABC World News” to affiliates. Diane Sawyer will be in New York, with David Muir in Moore. In addition at 12:35 AM “Nightline” will be special edition dedicated to Oklahoma.

Also: Muir, Ginger Zee and Mike Boettcher will reportfrom Oklahoma this afternoon on “Katie.”

President Obama is scheduled to comment on the disaster in Oklahoma at 10 AM and it is likely that all of the broadcast networks will break into regular programming to cover it.  ”CBS This Morning” went into the 9 AM hour to cover the fallout. We hear that “CTM” will stay live until 12 PM on the east coast covering the damage, and 10 AM pacific.

Update: “Our prayers are with the people of Oklahoma today,” Obama said. “Oklahoma needs to get everything that it needs right away.”

“If there is hope to hold onto, not just in Oklahoma but around the country, it is the knowledge that the good people there in Oklahoma are more prepared than most, and what they can be certain about is that Americans around the country will be right there with them,” he added.

Meanwhile, the news channels are sending their A-teams to Oklahoma to cover the fallout from the tornado.

As we noted yesterday, NBC has Brian Williams,  Lester Holt, Ann Curry, Harry Smith, Kate Snow, Anne Thompson and Dr. Nancy Snyderman in Oklahoma, as well as the Weather Channel team of Jim Cantore, Mike Bettes, and Mike Seidel.

ABC News has Sam Champion, Ginger Zee, David Muir and Alex Perez in Oklahoma. Byron Pitts, Mike Boettcher, and Cecilia Vega are also either in Moore or en route.

CBS has Norah O’Donnell anchoring from Moore, and Anna Werner on the ground, and Scott Pelley will anchor the “CBS Evening News” there this evening.
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ABC’s David Muir is the subject of an AdWeek Q+A. The “World News” weekend anchor talks to Sam Thielman about reporting from Iran, transitioning to the “20/20″ anchor desk and the reason why he looks forward to trips to faraway places:

How does the new agenda compare to what you started off with?
It is sort of an insane schedule, I’ll admit it. Last year I worked every day; there was Tahrir Square and Fukushima, and then the famine in Africa. I thought, “At least this year will be easier,” and then they asked me to take on 20/20.

It does sound like an incredibly packed schedule.
When I hear “13-hour flight,” I get excited, because it’s 13 hours no one can get ahold of you on your BlackBerry.

Do you worry that moving to a more prominent position will keep you chained to the desk?
I think the best anchors out there are the ones who globe trot and who are hungry every day to explore another corner of the world. Once I’m done with one project, I’m already thinking, “What’s the next thing I want to investigate?”

Photo: David Muir/ABC News

ABC News lost one of its own on Sunday, as veteran audio engineer Trevor Barker passed away at age 59. Barker, based in South Africa, worked with Peter Jennings, Diane Sawyer, David Wright, Terry Moran and David Muir, among many others over his career at ABC.

Barker traveled the world for the network, covering genocide and revolution in Africa, to the election of the new Pope just earlier this year.

“I first met him in Jabul Saraj, Afghanistan, in 2001 when he joined me in the long wait for Kabul to fall,” said Wright, who worked with Barker last March in Rome for the election of Pope Francis, in a statement. “Even then, he was like Crocodile Dundee with a sound kit, a grizzled veteran who with good humor and steady nerves made tough experiences easier on novice war correspondents like me.”

You can see an ABC News video tribute to Barker here.

If you begin interning in TV news at age 13, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll be working in the business some day. “ABC World News” weekend anchor David Muir talks with TVGuide’s Stephan Battaglio about his very early start in the business:

Muir: I was a 12-year-old kid who wrote to the local news guy. And he wrote back to me: “competition in television news is keen, but there is always room for the right person.” Ten years later I was sharing the anchor desk with him in my hometown, Syracuse. I was 21. I don’t know whom I thought I was fooling, but they gave me the job. I started interning at 13 years old. They used to have a growth chart on the wall of the station — they made fun of me over how much I’d grown and how much my voice had dropped from summer to summer.

Hugh Downs, John Miller, John Stossell, Chris Cuomo and now add David Muir‘s name to the list of anchors of ABC’s “20/20.” With Cuomo’s departure to CNN, ABC wasted no time in pairing Muir, who anchors “ABC World News” on the weekends, with Elizabeth Vargas on the ABC News magazine.

“David has been an authoritative presence at the anchor desk, most recently anchoring nearly five hours straight as we learned of the horrible events unfolding in Newtown,” writes ABC News president Ben Sherwood in a note to staff. “I’m delighted he’s bringing his ample storytelling skills to Friday nights in primetime, where Elizabeth and the team are delivering the biggest audience in years.”

Sherwood also made mention of Cuomo’s departure. “Chris has been a unique voice at the anchor desk and a valued colleague and friend. We’ll miss his energy, commitment and humor and we wish him the very best in this new venture.”

• After the jump, David Muir gives MediabistroTV‘s Cubes a tour of ABC News HQ.

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With Barbara Walters still recovering from a fall during Inauguration weekend fall, ABC’s David Muir guest hosted on “The View” Friday.

“This is so new for me. We don’t have anyone else in the studio,” the weekend “World News” anchor said. “I talk to a robotic camera. It’s nice having human beings.”

Muir talked about his “Made in America” reports, weighed in on good questions to ask on first dates and considered whether people really change from who they are in high school.

“You can change from high school. Beause I never sat at a table with the cool girls,” Muir joked.

Watch the video after the jump. Read more

The Tyndall Report has released its analysis of the network evening newscasts in 2012. As usual, it provides insight into the differences between the newscasts on ABC, CBS and NBC, as well as who the “most valuable players” are, so to speak.

The top story of 2012 on both “NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams” and “ABC World News with Diane Sawyer” was coverage of Mitt Romney‘s Presidential bid. On the “CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley,” the top story last year was the rebellion in Syria. CBS spent more time on Syria than NBC and ABC combined.

ABC spent more time than NBC or CBS on soft news stories, like holiday shopping and the British Royals, with NBC dedicating more time to natural disasters than its competitors. CBS spent far more time covering news stories abroad.

The most-utilized correspondent of 2012 was ABC’s David Muir, who spent 426 minutes on-air last year.

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