“ABC World News Tonight” anchor David Muir is said to be frustrated he didn’t get the first sit-down interview with officer Darren Wilson last week, which went to colleague George Stephanopoulos.
“GMA” co-anchor Stephanopoulos scored the first “get” with Wilson after a Ferguson, Mo., grand jury decided not to indict the cop after he fatally shot unarmed teen Michael Brown in August.
Sources told Page Six that Muir expressed frustration to ABC executives that he didn’t land the interview. “David has made it very clear to the suits that he doesn’t want to be just behind the desk reporting the news, he also wants to be in the field, doing his own reports on breaking news stories,” one insider told us.
The source added, “While it is George’s job to do the big news interviews and stories for ABC, David is making the case to ABC News bosses that the ‘World News’ anchor has always been involved in the big, breaking stories.
“David was frustrated that the Ferguson interview went to George — and he made that frustration known.”
The source said a feud could be brewing, because “David is highly regarded at ABC, because of the success of ‘World News’ against its rivals and his popularity in the key demo. But he is also very ambitious, he wants to be on the big stories, and he’s prepared to fight George for them.”
But other sources insisted that it wasn’t ABC’s decision to have Stephanopoulos do the interview — Wilson chose him after he also met with CNN’s Don Lemon and Anderson Cooper, NBC’s Matt Lauer and CBS’s Scott Pelley.
An insider added that when Stephanopoulos’ interview was turned in, Muir was “extremely complimentary to George” for his efforts.
A statement from ABC News dismissed the idea there was any behind-the-scenes drama: “This is totally ridiculous. David and George are a great team. And David remains focused on the viewers, giving ‘World News Tonight’ its most competitive fall in 18 years.”