MUMBAI: ABC News has roped in Ben Sherwood, the former executive producer of "Good Morning America", as its new president.

Sherwood will replace David Westin, who announced his departure in September after spending 14 years with the organisation.

This will be Sherwood’s third tenure with ABC News. He had left the organisation in 2006 to concentrate on writing books.   
     
  Sherwood first joined ABC News in 1989 as a producer for "PrimeTime Live," then moved to NBC in 1997 as broadcast producer of the "NBC Nightly News," and then returned to ABC in April 2004 as EP of "GMA."

One of Sherwood’s prime tasks is to figure out how to make the news relevant to the young audience who has drifted away from the television news as they move closer to the Internet. Sherwood takes over a news division ravaged by staff cuts and is currently No. 2 behind NBC in the mornings and evenings.

Sherwood’s novel, "The Death of Charlie St. Cloud," was made into the big-screen movie, "Charlie St. Cloud," which premiered last summer.