Rick Kaplan Biography Quotes 2 Report mistakes

Overview

Rick Kaplan is an American television news producer and executive whose career has spanned some of the most influential newsrooms in the United States. Best known for leadership roles at ABC News, CNN, CBS News, and MSNBC, he helped shape the tone and cadence of late 20th- and early 21st-century broadcast journalism. Across decades of live coverage, newsmagazine storytelling, and high-stakes political events, he worked closely with figures such as Ted Koppel, Peter Jennings, Diane Sawyer, Sam Donaldson, Katie Couric, George Stephanopoulos, and Christiane Amanpour, as well as network leaders including Tom Johnson at CNN and David Westin at ABC News.

Entry into Television News

Kaplan came of age professionally at ABC News, entering the newsroom when the organization was expanding its footprint in national and international coverage. He built a reputation as a demanding, hands-on producer with a knack for live television and complex field operations. In the control room he was known for precise preparation, relentless fact-checking, and an insistence on editorial clarity, an approach that would define his work in later executive roles.

Rise at ABC News

At ABC, Kaplan contributed to flagship broadcasts and special events that cemented the network's identity. Working alongside Peter Jennings, he helped execute fast-turn coverage that prioritized context as much as speed. He later became a central force behind programs associated with Ted Koppel and the team at Nightline, known for rigorous interviews and long-form segments that treated viewers as participants in a civic conversation rather than passive audiences. Kaplan also played key roles at Primetime Live, collaborating with Diane Sawyer and Sam Donaldson to blend investigative reporting with compelling narrative arcs. Those newsrooms were driven by argument and evidence, and Kaplan encouraged producers to test assumptions and rehearse contingencies so on-air journalism would hold up under public scrutiny.

Election Cycles, Town Halls, and Special Events

Kaplan's ABC years coincided with wider experimentation in televised political dialogue. He pushed for live formats that placed voters and newsmakers in the same frame, building on the capacities of crews and correspondents to deliver disciplined, unscripted journalism. Colleagues like Carole Simpson, who moderated a consequential town hall presidential debate, benefited from production teams that Kaplan helped professionalize for prime-time events, where logistical control and editorial judgment had to align in real time.

Leadership at CNN

By the late 1990s, Kaplan moved to CNN, where he served as president of CNN/US. Reporting to CNN chief Tom Johnson and working alongside senior editorial leaders such as Eason Jordan, he undertook a broad reorganization to strengthen breaking news coverage and competitive positioning. CNN under Kaplan leaned into the network's core identity as the place viewers turned during national and global inflection points. The newsroom covered the Clinton-Lewinsky investigation and impeachment proceedings, the Columbine High School shooting, and a cascade of legal and political storylines that demanded long hours of live, rolling coverage.

His CNN tenure also included one of the most difficult moments in modern cable news: the retraction of an investigative report tied to allegations about Vietnam-era operations. Kaplan participated in the network's public correction and internal reviews, reinforcing the principle that aggressive journalism must be backed by verifiable sourcing and transparent standards. The episode was painful for the journalists involved but became a teaching moment in editorial accountability and newsroom governance.

MSNBC and the Emerging Cable Landscape

As cable news matured and primetime formats evolved, Kaplan went on to hold senior roles at MSNBC. There he worked with hosts and producers to sharpen program identities, adjust rundowns to audience behavior, and elevate standards for live-breaking inserts. He emphasized disciplined booking, clearer segment architecture, and tighter handoffs between control room and field teams, lessons that emerged from decades of managing high-wire live television.

CBS News and the Evening Broadcast

Kaplan later became executive producer of the CBS Evening News, collaborating closely with anchor Katie Couric and CBS News president Sean McManus at a moment when the evening newscast was navigating digital disruption and changing viewer habits. He pushed for stronger enterprise reporting, more authoritative field packages, and a visually cleaner, story-first approach. The broadcast pursued exclusives, sharpened its investigative spine, and sought to balance a magazine sensibility with the urgency of daily news. Couric's prominence and the veteran bench at CBS provided the leverage to attempt a reset, with Kaplan working behind the scenes to align editorial priorities, standards, and production workflows.

Return to ABC News and Political Programming

Kaplan eventually returned to ABC News in senior executive producer roles that touched marquee broadcasts and political programming. He worked with George Stephanopoulos on political coverage and contributed to the stewardship of Sunday public-affairs conversations associated with This Week. As Diane Sawyer anchored World News, Kaplan's presence helped integrate field reporting with a crisp, top-of-show news agenda, while his collaboration with Christiane Amanpour reflected his long-standing respect for international reporting and tough, well-briefed interviews.

Editorial Philosophy and Management Style

A constant across Kaplan's career has been his belief that live television is a craft that can be taught, rehearsed, and stress-tested. He urged producers to build shows with a spine: a coherent hierarchy of stories, disciplined transitions, and backup plans for breaking developments. He is widely associated with high standards, an aversion to shortcuts, and a readiness to defend reporters and anchors who made good-faith decisions under pressure. His alliances with figures such as Ted Koppel, Peter Jennings, Diane Sawyer, Sam Donaldson, Katie Couric, George Stephanopoulos, and Christiane Amanpour were built on trust, preparation, and shared expectations of rigor.

Awards, Recognition, and Influence

Kaplan's work has been recognized with major industry awards, including multiple Emmys and Peabody Awards, reflecting both investigative achievement and excellence in live coverage. Just as consequential is his influence on newsroom culture: the expectation that a control room functions as a disciplined editorial engine; that producers must manage logistics as carefully as facts; and that course corrections, when necessary, are made publicly and completely. Many journalists who came up under him went on to lead programs and units across the industry, carrying forward practices shaped in the newsrooms he helped build.

Legacy

Rick Kaplan's career traces the evolution of American television news from the dominance of network nightly broadcasts to the always-on metabolism of cable and the cross-platform imperatives of digital. His partnerships with some of the most recognizable journalists of his era, and his stewardship of programs at ABC, CNN, CBS, and MSNBC, mark him as a consequential figure in the craft and business of news. In an industry defined by speed and skepticism, he stood for the idea that accuracy, preparation, and editorial courage are not negotiable, and that the most trusted voices on screen depend on the quiet rigor of the teams behind them.