Mimi Gurbst

Mimi Gurbst served as the head of news coverage and vice president of the network for ABC News. As a top producer, she had enormous influence within the network.[1] In 2010, she resigned from ABC after almost 30 years of employment to become a high school guidance counselor.[2][3]

About

Gurbst joined ABC news in the early 1980s where she served as head of news coverage for more than two decades.[1][4] In 2008, ABC promoted Gurbst to the post of Senior Producer for Diane Sawyer and World News with Charles Gibson, with responsibility for futures, features, and domestic news stories.[5]

She left the network in 2010 to enroll in the Harvard School of Education, in the master's degree program for "Risk and Prevention," with the hopes of turning her counseling skills into a new career as a high school guidance counselor.[2][4] After Mimi left the network, Felix Gillette of the New York Observer called Gurbst a "cherished" career counselor inside the news division.[2]

Gurbst graduated from the Harvard in 2011 and served as a Teaching Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 2012.[2][4]

Controversy

In May 2010 Gurbst became the focus of an online controversy. After ABC News announced that Gurbst was leaving the network to attend Harvard University's Graduate School for Education and pursue a career as a guidance counselor, Felix Gillette of the New York Observer wrote an article which Vanity Fair later called "somewhat fluffy." [4][6][7]

A large number people spoke out about Gurbst's behavior and its impact on ABC News, claiming that Gurbst had been responsible for creating a toxic work culture at ABC News.[8] Some identified themselves by name, but many posted anonymously.[7][9][10]

Defense letter

In May 2010, Jessica Stedman Guff wrote a letter to the editor of The New York Observer in defense of Gurbst, speaking out against the negative commentary[8]

References
  1. Dan Doray (7 May 2010). "The Deck Was Stacked Against Her". The New York Observer. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  2. Top ABC News Producer Leaving Network To Become High School Guidance Counselor | Observer Archived 2010-05-14 at the Wayback Machine
  3. Jay Mathews (18 May 2010). "World News Tonight Producer Gets an Eyeful". The New York Post. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  4. Jay Mathews (2010-05-19). "Does journalism's decline help education?". Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  5. Dan Doray (7 May 2010). "ABC News Promotions". TVWeek. Archived from the original on 4 February 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
  6. Mimi Gurbst: Career Counselor or Cruella Deville? - FishbowlDC Archived 2010-05-17 at the Wayback Machine
  7. Co-Workers Bid Outgoing ABC News Producer Adieu With Barrage of Hateful Anonymous Comments | Vanity Fair
  8. "Former ABC News EP Defends Mimi Gurbst - SocialTimes". Archived from the original on 2010-05-22. Retrieved 2010-05-19.
  9. For Departing ABC News Exec, Where the Story Ends, Commentary Begins - TVNewser Archived 2010-05-18 at the Wayback Machine
  10. Alex Wexprin (13 May 2010). "When Online Commenters Attack". Social Times. Retrieved 12 October 2012.
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