Editing Harry Reasoner (section)

===To ABC and back===
[[File:1976 ABC News Anchors Harry Reasoner, Barbara Walters, Howard K. Smith - Press Photo for the 1976 Presidental, Congressional and Gubernational elections.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Reasoner with fellow ABC News anchors [[Barbara Walters]] and [[Howard K. Smith]] in 1976]]
In November 1970, Reasoner was hired away from CBS by [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] to become an anchor on the network's evening newscast. Prior to his hire, the network's New York-based broadcast, ''[[ABC World News|ABC Evening News]]'', was anchored by [[Howard K. Smith]] and [[Frank Reynolds]], and in December 1970, Reasoner was moved into Reynolds's position (and Reynolds became the network's chief Washington correspondent).<ref name=nytimesobituary>{{cite web|last=Severo|first=Richard|title=Harry Reasoner, 68, Newscaster Known for His Wry Wit, Is Dead|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/07/obituaries/harry-reasoner-68-newscaster-known-for-his-wry-wit-is-dead.html|publisher=[[The New York Times]] ([[The New York Times Company]])|date=August 7, 1991|access-date=April 8, 2014}}</ref>

Reasoner anchored the news alongside Smith until 1975, when he took the sole anchor position while Smith moved into a commentary role. The next year, however, ABC paired Reasoner with a new co-anchor, former ''[[Today (American TV program)|Today Show]]'' co-host [[Barbara Walters]]; ABC had gone to great lengths to hire her away from NBC. Walters and Reasoner did not enjoy a close relationship; Reasoner did not like sharing the spotlight with a co-anchor and also was uncomfortable with Walters's celebrity status.<ref>{{cite news|last=Oppenheimer|first=Jerry|title=A look at TV's first lady|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19900514&id=XcYaAAAAIBAJ&pg=6394,6684838|newspaper=[[The Milwaukee Journal]] ([[Journal Communications]])|date=May 14, 1990}}{{Dead link|date=July 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Many also believed that Reasoner disliked the idea of a woman anchoring the network news; one woman at ABC told a reporter that he was a "male chauvinist pig."<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Walters|first=Barbara|date=June 2008|title=Ms. Walters Reflects|magazine=Vanity Fair|url=https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2008/6/ms-walters-reflects|access-date=August 16, 2020}}</ref> He had a history of antifeminist editorializing on air. For example, on the December 21, 1971 newscast, he compared the newly launched feminist ''Ms.'' magazine to tabloid journalism and pornography, claiming that although the "girls" composing it were prettier than other "shock" publishers, their work had no value.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Douglas|first=Susan J.|title=Where the Girls Are: Growing Up Female with the Mass Media|publisher=Times Books|year=1994|isbn=0812922069|location=New York|pages=194–95}}</ref>

Disclaiming gender bias against Barbara Walters, however, Reasoner said he was "trying to keep an open mind about it." In another interview, Reasoner said, "I've worked in journalism for women and with women for years. For two years I did a CBS morning news program with a woman. I feel they're no worse than men are."

After two years of co-anchoring ''ABC Evening News'' with Walters, Reasoner departed the network after nearly eight years in July 1978 and returned to CBS that fall, where he resumed his duties on ''60 Minutes''. Shortly after his departure ABC scrapped ''ABC Evening News'' altogether and reworked the newscast into ''[[ABC World News|World News Tonight]]''.

Reasoner stayed with ''60 Minutes'' until his retirement, on May 19, 1991.<ref name=nytimesobituary />