Photo: ABC/Michael Le Brecht II
A familiar face on ABC, New Rochelle’s Linsey Davis has spearheaded the network’s streaming platform while releasing a fleet of bestselling children’s books.
New Rochelle’s Linsey Davis would put even the busiest of bees to shame. A marathon runner, children’s-book author, and so-called quadruple threat at ABC for nearly two decades, Davis has worked in print, TV, streaming news, and radio, cutting her teeth as a correspondent for Good Morning America, Nightline, and 20/20 before ascending to the anchor’s chair on the network’s World News Tonight Sunday. However, the two-time Emmy Award winner might be best known for launching and anchoring ABC’s flagship evening streaming newscast, ABC News Live Prime with Linsey Davis. We caught up with the multitalented journalist, who revealed her take on streaming news, her upcoming kids’ books, as well as her family’s favorite local spots.
Tell us about the genesis of your streaming platform.
In my early days in local news, we would be assigned [stories] during morning meetings … and we would always think: What if we could just decide what the stories were, and we weren’t restricted to that day’s news or cranking out a story in a matter of hours? What if we could really tell some great stories and dedicate some time and resources to doing that? That was always in the back of my mind and was kind of why I got into the business.
So when ABC News Live Prime came, the marching orders from the then-president of our news division were that we really wanted to tell great stories no one else was telling, and we wanted to win awards. So I felt like, here is this opportunity that I’ve wanted for years. We are telling stories that matter, stories that I really do not see on other platforms. We are going beyond the headlines, and I could not be more proud of what we are doing. I hope that anyone who has not given us a chance and watched ABC News Live Prime will do so. I think you will find we are unlike any other newscast that’s out there.
You recently released your fifth children’s book. Please tell us about it.
The book that came out earlier this year is called The Smallest Spot of a Dot. I have always been fascinated by the findings of the Human Genome Project, which found our DNA is 99.9% alike, and it’s just a tenth of a percentage that makes us different. It was really important for me to try to explain that in a way kids would be able to understand, and I think I was successful in the book explaining that concept to the youngest among us.
I do have another book that’s coming out next year, titled Girls of the World. It’s about all the different ways girls are expressing themselves, achieving, finding success, and harnessing and embracing that for the next generation, because I think that quite often there are still so many negative associations with girls. For instance, “You throw like a girl” means you don’t throw very well, but so many girls are taking that and turning that on its head in a number of ways. So, it is really just to celebrate and encourage them.
What are some of your family’s favorite local spots?
We love ice cream; that is part of the reason I run. My husband and I both have a bad sweet tooth; my son does as well. So, we love Longford’s Ice Cream, and we love Walter’s Hot Dogs. My son is a big fan of The LEGO Store in The Westchester. We probably eat out way too much and often go to Lusardi’s in Larchmont.
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