- Ann Compton
Ann Compton (born
19 January 1947 ) is an American newsreporter forABC News .Career Highlights
Ms. Compton began her broadcasting career in Virginia, where an internship during her junior year at Hollins College (now
Hollins University ) led to a full-time job as the first woman reporting for WDBJ TV, a CBS affiliate in Roanoke. She established a State Capitol Bureau in Richmond for the station. In 1973 ABC News hired her, and she reported from New York until December 1974, when she was assigned to the White House. [ [http://www.divinecaroline.com/article/37963/29025-ann-compton-gives-journalism--president Ann Compton Gives to Journalism, One President at a Time ] ]Reporting for all ABC News broadcasts, Compton has traveled around the globe and through all 50 states with presidents, vice presidents, and first ladies through seven presidential campaigns. She is now covering a sixth president as the national correspondent for ABC News Radio, based Washington, DC.
Weeks after the Watergate scandal came to an end, Compton became the first woman assigned to cover the White House on a full-time basis by a network television news organization, and she was one of the youngest to receive the assignment.
Twice during campaigns she was invited to serve as a panelist for presidential debates (1988 and 1992), and she was assigned as a floor reporter at the 1976 Republican and Democratic National Conventions.
In 2000 Compton was the chief Washington correspondent for ABCNEWS.com, where she wrote and anchored a daily political column, "On Background."
On September 11, 2001, Compton was the only broadcast reporter allowed to remain onboard Air Force One during the dramatic hours when President Bush was unable to return to Washington.
Awards and Associations
Compton was the chairman of the governing board of the Radio Television Correspondents Association in 1987-88 and served on the advisory board of the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center in New York.
In June 2000, she was inducted into the Journalism Hall of Fame by the Society of Professional Journalists. On November 5, 2005, she was inducted into the
National Radio Hall of Fame .Compton was part of the team awarded the prestigious Silver Baton Alfred I. duPont Columbia University Award for the network's coverage of September 11, 2001. Her coverage of September 11 was also recognized in ABC News' Emmy and Peabody awards.
She has served as chair of the governing board of the
Radio and Television Correspondents Association and has served on the advisory board of the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center.Currently, Compton is president-elect of the
White House Correspondents' Association . [ [http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003574772 Greg Mitchell and Joe Strupp, Bush Doesn't Joke at WHCA Dinner Due to Virginia Tech Killings -- But Rich Little Says 'Nuts', Editor and Publisher, April 21, 2007] ]Despite her many achievements and commitments, Compton said that her most valued award is a golden statuette from the National Mothers' Day Committee naming her a Mother of the Year in 1988.
Personal life
Compton is married to Dr. William Hughes, a physician in Washington, DC, and they are the parents of three sons and a daughter.
References
External links
* [http://www.abcmedianet.com/shows05/news/correspondents/compton.shtml ABC News Profile]
* [http://www.radiohof.org/news/anncompton.html Radio Hall of Fame Profile]
* [http://www.washingtonspeakers.com/speakers/Speaker.cfm?SpeakerID=92 Washington Speakers Bureau Profile]
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