ABC News correspondent Matt Gutman heads to CBS

Matt Gutman, a longtime ABC News correspondent based in Los Angeles, is leaving the network for a high profile role at CBS News.

Gutman will be the first significant on-air hire by Bari Weiss, who was named editor in chief of CBS News in October, according to people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to comment publicly. Gutman did not respond to a request for comment.

While there has been speculation Gutman is being considered for the anchor job at “CBS Evening News,” he is said to be joining the network as a correspondent. CBS has yet to name a replacement for the evening news anchor desk following the planned departures of John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois later this month.

Gutman’s contract was up at ABC News, which did not counter the offer from CBS, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Gutman joined ABC News in 2008 as a radio correspondent. He has been chief national correspondent on the TV side since 2018. He began his career at the Jerusalem Post, covering the West Bank.

Gutman won journalism awards for his work on the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas and the 2018 rescue mission of 12 boys and their soccer coach from a flooded cave in Thailand. He also reported extensively from Israel for 18 months after Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7, 2023, and covered the devastating Los Angeles wildfires in January.

Gutman was suspended by ABC in early 2020 after he erroneously reported on-air that all four of Kobe Bryant’s daughters were on board the helicopter that crashed and killed the NBA icon and eight others. Bryant’s 13-year-old daughter, Gianna, died in the accident in Calabasas. The others were not aboard.

Gutman apologized for the error and later attributed the mistake to a panic attack that occurred while on air. He wrote a book in 2023 about getting over his long struggle with anxiety and panic attacks.

Gutman recently faced criticism for his coverage of the investigation into the shooting death of right wing activist Charlie Kirk. In an ABC News report, Gutman read the texts between the alleged shooter Tyler Robinson and his transgender roommate, describing the messages as “very touching in a way we did not expect.”

Harsh social media reaction to the comments prompted Gutman to apologize. “Yesterday I tried to underscore the jarring contrast between this cold blooded assassination of Charlie Kirk — a man who dedicated his life to public dialogue — and the personal, disturbing texts read aloud by the Utah County Attorney at the press conference. I deeply regret that my words did not make that clear.”