ABC names new deputy political director, weekend White House correspondent

ABC News on Thursday named Averi Harper as the new deputy political director in its Washington bureau.

The former deputy political director, MaryAlice Parks, is now ABC’s weekend White House correspondent.

Harper was hired in 2019 and worked as a campaign reporter covering presidential candidates like Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio) during the Democratic primaries, according to the ABC News announcement. She later covered the Biden-Harris campaign, focusing on Vice President Harris.

The post-Trump era has seen numerous changes in the lineups of major media outlets, particularly on the political beats in Washington. Early in the year, Jim Acosta was moved off the White House beat to become CNN’s chief domestic correspondent. And in mid-February, the cable outlet revamped its afternoon and morning lineups.

Toward the end of last month, The New York Times also shifted its White House team, including the move of reporter Maggie Haberman, known for her coverage of former President Trump, to the newspaper’s investigative/enterprise team in the Washington bureau.

ABC has seen some ratings success lately. “ABC World News Tonight,” anchored by David Muir, had an average of more than 9.45 million total viewers, with 1.8 million adults aged 25-54 in the week of Feb. 22, according to TVNewser, make it 48 straight weeks that ABC’s evening news show beat out NBC and CBS.