abc news

The news is coming to Disney +.

Starting July 21, the streaming service will offer its first original program from ABC News with senior political correspondent Rachel Scott and international correspondent James Longman as co-anchors.

The short-form program, called “What You Need To Know,” will be taped each morning and made available to Disney + users on demand starting at 6 a.m. Eastern, ABC News announced Monday.

ABC News international correspondent James Longman.

(Heidi Gutman / ABC)

The title was originally used for the ABC television network’s afternoon edition of “Good Morning America,” now known as “GMA 3.”

The new program is another opportunity for ABC News to reach younger consumers who have abandoned traditional TV for streaming. The news division has its own 24-hour free streaming service, ABC News Live.

“This new effort expands ABC News’ significant footprint on Disney+, allowing us to reach and connect with new and diverse audiences,” ABC News President Almin Karamehmedovic said in a statement.

The program will be a quick-paced compendium with short segments that range from “breaking headlines and the day’s biggest stories to entertainment buzz and viral videos.”

“What You Need to Know” will be the first network anchor role for Scott, a Los Angeles native and rising star within ABC News. Scott, 32, raised her profile during the 2024 presidential campaign when she delivered tough questioning to President Trump at the National Assn. of Black Journalists’ convention in Chicago.

The appearance led to death threats against Scott, who needed security in the days that followed.

Scott was also honored by the White House Correspondents Assn. for her coverage of the assassination attempt on Trump in Butler, Pa.

Longman, 38, has been a foreign correspondent for ABC News since 2017. He will co-anchor “What You Need to Know” from London, where he is based.

Longman, who is gay, has reported on the challenges facing LGBTQ+ people in oppressive regimes around the world.

He recently wrote a memoir, “The Inherited Mind,” which traces the history of mental illness in his family.

Veteran ABC News correspondent Terry Moran is leaving the network, following his suspension over social media posts that were harshly critical of the Trump White House.

Moran, 65, was suspended Sunday after statements on X that described President Trump and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller as “world class” haters. He also called Miller “vile.”

Moran, a senior national correspondent for the news division who interviewed Trump in the Oval Office in April, is not a commentator. An ABC News representative said his actions violated editorial standards and his contract was not renewed. He had been with the network since 1997.

“We are at the end of our agreement with Terry Moran and based on his recent post — which was a clear violation of ABC News policies — we have made the decision to not renew,” the representative said in a statement. “At ABC News, we hold all of our reporters to the highest standards of objectivity, fairness and professionalism, and we remain committed to delivering straightforward, trusted journalism.”

Moran’s expulsion from the network is a sign that news organizations are concerned about journalists incurring the wrath of Trump, who has shown a willingness to fight back against his critics in the press. Moran is the first high profile journalist to lose his job over publicly lambasting the president and his aides.

Moran wrote on a now deleted X post that “Miller is a man who is richly endowed with the capacity for hatred. He’s a world-class hater…You can see this just by looking at him because you can see that his hatreds are his spiritual nourishment. He eats his hate.”

Other outlets are getting pummeled by the White House as well, such as PBS and NPR. Trump wants their federal funding ended, calling their programming “left wing propaganda.”

Trump is suing CBS News over a “60 Minutes” interview in October that he claims was deceptively edited to help his 2024 election opponent, then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The suit — an obstacle to CBS parent Paramount Global’s deal to merge with Skydance Media — has gone to a mediator.

ABC News paid $16 million to settle a lawsuit Trump filed over statements by “Good Morning America” co-host George Stephanopoulos, who incorrectly said on air that the president had been liable of rape, when it was sexual abuse. Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger has asked that ABC’s “The View” spend less time talking about Trump, who typically leads the daytime talk show’s hot topics segment.

Former CNN anchor Jim Acosta — who battled Trump in the White House briefing room during the president’s first term — left the network rather than take a midnight time slot that would have lowered his profile considerably. Acosta has since launched his own program on Substack.

Walt Disney Co. launched another deep round of layoffs on Monday, notifying several hundred Disney employees in the U.S. and abroad that their jobs were being eliminated amid an increasingly difficult economic environment for traditional television.

People close to the Burbank entertainment giant confirmed the cuts, which are hitting film and television marketing teams, television publicity, casting and development as well as corporate financial operations.

The move comes just three months after the company cut 200 workers, including at ABC News in New York and Disney-owned entertainment networks. At the time, the division said it was cutting its staff by 6% amid shrinking TV ratings and revenue for traditional television.

Disney declined to specify how many workers were losing their jobs. The cutbacks come after Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger acknowledged to Wall Street that Disney had been pumping out too many shows and movies to compete against Netflix. The programming build-up accelerated as the company prepared to launch Disney+ in late 2019, and it bulked up its staff to handle the more robust pipeline.

But the company since has retrenched, recognizing the need to focus on creating high-quality originals that meet Disney’s once lofty standards.

ABC News shed about 40 employees last October. The company’s TV stations also lost staff members.

The ABC television network and Disney-owned entertainment channels have seen dramatic audience defections as consumers switch to streaming services, including Netflix, Paramount+ and Disney+.

Hollywood trade site Deadline first reported the news.