David Wright (journalist)

Wright was born in Buffalo, New York. His father, Dr. John Wright, is a former professor and dean at the University at Buffalo School of Medicine.[1] His mother, Deanna Wright, is deceased.[2][3] Wright graduated from Williamsville East High School. He earned his bachelor's degree magna cum laude from Harvard University and a master's degree from Merton College, Oxford.[4][5]

Wright began his career in public radio as a reporter at WBFO-FM Buffalo, WBUR-FM Boston, and KQED-FM San Francisco, where he hosted the award-winning statewide broadcast The California Report and was also a frequent contributor to NPR nationally.[6][7][8] His first job in TV news was as a reporter at KRON-TV, then the NBC affiliate in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Wright has filled in as host of "The Madeleine Brand Show" on Southern California Public Radio, On Point on NPR, and the weekend edition of All Things Considered.[9][10][11]

As a correspondent for ABC News, Wright has reported from six continents, interviewed six U.S. presidents, and covered two papal transitions.[12] He joined ABC News in November 2000 and has been posted to bureaus in London, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, and New York City.[13][14][15]

As a foreign correspondent, Wright has reported from conflict zones,[16][17] including Gaza,[18] Lebanon,[19] Iraq,[20] Afghanistan,[21][22] Congo[23] and Sudan[24][25] His work in Afghanistan in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks shared a Peabody Award as part of ABC's overall coverage of 9/11.[26] He has made more than a dozen trips to Iraq,[27][28] starting with the UN weapons inspections in 2002 before the US invasion,[29] and his stories from Baghdad and Fallujah in 2003 [30][31] shared a News & Documentary Emmy Award[32] His reporting from the Darfur region of Sudan won an Emmy[33] and the David Kaplan Award from the Overseas Press Club.[34]

Wright has covered the Holy See and the Catholic Church for ABC News since the final years of Pope John Paul II. He reported from Rome during Pope John Paul's final days and the conclave that followed,[35] part of the ABC News team that shared a 2006 Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award.[36] When Pope Benedict XVI resigned in 2013, he covered the conclave that ended with the election of Pope Francis.[37] Wright has traveled on multiple trips with Popes Benedict and Francis in Europe, the Middle East, Africa,[38][39][40] and the Americas.[41][42] He covered Pope Francis' historic trip to Ireland, as he sought to atone for the clerical sexual abuse crisis.[43] He also covered the testimony of Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò that led to calls for Pope Francis to resign.[44] Wright conducted the only national TV interview with the embattled Bishop of Buffalo, his hometown, over his mishandling of sexual abuse claims.[45][46] The Catholic Herald reported the Nightline interview "piqued Rome's interest"[47] and was likely a factor in Malone's eventual ouster.

In 2008, he covered then Senator Barack Obama's historic bid for the Democratic nomination.[48][49] During the general election that year, was assigned to cover Republican John McCain.[50]

Wright was Nightline's lead political reporter during the 2016 United States presidential election from the New Hampshire primaries to the Presidential transition of Donald Trump.[51][52][53][54] He led ABC's weekend coverage of the Trump Administration for most of his term in office.[55]

Wright's Nightline reports on sexual assault allegations against yoga guru Bikram Choudhury were nominated for a 2015 Emmy Award.[56][57][58]

Wright has also reported on wildlife and conservation efforts around the world. He has traveled to see Giant Pandas in China, Spirit bears in British Columbia, polar bears in Hudson's Bay, and mountain gorillas in Congo.[59][60][61]

Wright met his wife, former Sky News producer Victoria Brannigan, in Rome when they were both covering the funeral of Pope John Paul II. They were married in a Roman Catholic ceremony at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere in 2005.[3] They have three daughters and live in New York.[70]