ABC is first on Zarqawi’s death

ABC News beat its competitors Thursday when it was the first on the air to report the death of Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Al Qaeda leader in Iraq.

ABC broke into regular programming at 2:38 a.m. EDT, with a report by Martha Raddatz via phone to the network’s overnight anchors. NBC’s report came at 3:16 a.m. and CBS News checked in at 3:40 a.m. It was a timely dose of good news for ABC, which has suffered in the last year with the death of Peter Jennings and the injury to anchor Bob Woodruff in a roadside bombing in Iraq. ABC News President David Westin sent an e-mail of congratulations to his staff, saying Raddatz had “proved once again the profound difference that outstanding reporting can make.”

ABC also beat the full-time news networks on the story: MSNBC broke in with the news at 3:07 a.m., CNN at 3:22 a.m. and Fox News Channel at 3:28 a.m.