Abc News

Jack Smith, 58, a retired ABC News correspondent widely remembered for a 1993 story retracing one of the bloodiest fights of the Vietnam War - a battle in which he was twice wounded as a 19-year-old infantryman - died of complications from pancreatic cancer Wednesday at a hospital in California. He joined ABC News in 1978 and later became well known as one of television's pioneers in covering the high-tech boom.

NEW YORK -- The world will soon get to evaluate actor Leonardo DiCaprio's journalistic skills: ABC News said it will air its Earth Day special -- complete with excerpts of DiCaprio's controversial interview with President Clinton -- at 8 p.m. on April 22. After screening a raw version of the program, the network decided Tuesday to include portions of the March 31 interview, which had sparked internal dissent among ABC News journalists who said the plum...

Michael Glover, 47, editor of the award-winning prison magazine the Angolite, died Monday after a heart attack at prison in Angola, La. He worked with ABC News on several documentaries, including the 20-minute report "In For Life" for ABC News' "Day One." He was serving a life sentence at Louisiana State Penitentiary for a murder committed during a holdup in Baton Rouge, La., in 1978.Rabbi Herbert C. Brichto, 71, a former dean of Hebrew Union College, died of cancer Monday in Cincinnati.

NEW YORK -- ABC news president Roone Arledge will begin an extended leave of absence tomorrow to undergo treatment for prostate cancer.An ABC news official said Mr. Arledge, 60, is expected to fully recover. The prostate cancer was caught early as doctors were examining Mr. Arledge for an unrelated matter.Mr. Arledge will have surgery tomorrow and is expected to remain hospitalized for eight to 10 days. He will then spend an unspecified recovery period at his Manhattan home.The absence of the top executive is expected to delay his latest project, a third prime-time weekly magazine show to complement "20/20" and "Prime Time Live."

NEW YORK -- ABC News president Roone Arledge will begin an extended leave of absence tomorrow to undergo treatment for prostate cancer.An ABC News official said Mr. Arledge, 60, is expected to fully recover. The prostate cancer was caught early as doctors were examining Mr. Arledge for an unrelated matter.Mr. Arledge will have surgery tomorrow and is expected to remain hospitalized for eight to 10 days. He will then spend an unspecified recovery period at his Manhattan home.The absence of the top executive is expected to delay his latest project, a third prime-time weekly magazine show to complement "20/20" and "Prime Time Live."

Grey's Anatomy, look out. The medical doctors of Johns Hopkins Hospital are headed back to prime time on ABC. In 2000, ABC News premiered Hopkins 24/7, a groundbreaking exploration of life and death stories at one of the world's great medical institutions. Attracting an audience of as many as 12 million viewers an episode and winning several major awards, the six-part, cinema-verite series proved that great documentary filmmaking could succeed in the highly commercialized climate of network television.

New York -- What would a contract negotiation with ABC News' Sam Donaldson be like if it were not hot and boisterous?Well, Mr. Donaldson's contract is up and -- guess what? -- the negotiations are hot and boisterous.Mr. Donaldson has vehemently refused to accept a cut -- any cut -- in his $1 million-plus salary according to widespread reports at ABC News. Because the network is trying to force strict cost-measures on the once-lush news division, Mr. Donaldson's demands have not been well received.

Paula Abdul's American Idol colleagues - and her attorney - are rallying around the judge as ABC News is planning what's described as a look into "explosive claims" of wrongdoing behind the scenes. Abdul's camp is so concerned about the report, set to air Wednesday at 10 p.m., that her attorney, Martin Singer, fired off a letter to ABC News warning them to back off unsubstantiated allegations against Abdul. The exact content of Singer's letter was unknown. Singer did not return a call Tuesday.

What would a contract negotiation with ABC News' Sam Donaldson be like if it were not hot and boisterous?Well, Mr. Donaldson's contract is up and -- guess what? -- the negotiations are hot and boisterous.How so? Mr. Donaldson has vehemently refused to accept a cut -- any cut -- in his $1 million-plus salary, according to widespread reports at ABC News. Because the network is trying to force strict cost-measures on the once-lush news division, Mr. Donaldson's demands have not been well received.

An article in yesterday's editions of The Sun about an appeals court ruling that negated a $315,000 verdict against ABC-TV in favor of the Food Lion supermarket chain said Food Lion "could not prove" that ABC News' report of unsanitary food practices at Food Lion was false. Food Lion says it does have evidence that the accusations were false but could not offer such evidence in the case because of constitutional limitations.