City College of NY John Johnson (born June 20, 1938) is an American television anchorman, senior correspondent, documentary filmmaker, and visual artist.

[2] Johnson joined ABC News in 1968, ultimately becoming the first African American documentary producer, director and writer at a broadcast network.

[3] State officials falsely claimed that the prisoners had cut the throats of the hostages, and many news outlets repeated the erroneous accounts.

Decades later, the New York Times quoted Johnson's description of the multiculturalism of those early years: "We really did something different, we had a personality, and a news team that was a microcosm of America .

"[5] In the late 1980s, he served as a rotating anchor of the 6 p.m. newscast in the aftermath of Roger Grimsby's firing with Kaity Tong and Bill Beutel.

During his years as senior correspondent, Johnson covered the release of Nelson Mandela from a South African prison and his presidential election.

The firings came abruptly, as Johnson and co-anchor Michele Marsh previewed the upcoming 11pm newscast at the end of the 6 pm news, with their dismissals occurring in the interim four and a half hours.

[7] Johnson was not out of work for long, as he and his WCBS co-anchor Michele Marsh were hired by WNBC to anchor the station's new noon newscast.

During his 30-year television news career, Johnson won nine Emmys and numerous other awards as a reporter, producer, writer and director.