James Longman

About

James is the Chief International Correspondent for ABC News. Based in London, he travels around the world on breaking news assignments and on longer-form features, reporting for Good Morning America, World News Tonight and Nightline, as well as the network’s latest streaming services. It’s a varied brief, which has taken him to more than 60 countries: the war in Gaza, the Ukrainian frontline, anti-war protests in Moscow, the fight against ISIS in Syria; confronting Chechen authorities about abuses against LBGT people; terror attacks across Europe and further afield, and tagging humpback whales in the Antarctic. James is an integral part of ABC’s royal coverage, leading on the death and funeral of Queen Elizabeth, and the coronation of King Charles. He’s covered the Olympic Games in both Tokyo and Paris, the fire and subsequent restoration of Notre Dame, earthquakes in Indonesia and Turkey, and volcanoes in Iceland and Spain. He was the first US network reporter at the Thai cave where the soccer team went missing, and was the first to interview them after their rescue. In Syria, he was the first to gain a television interview with American ISIS bride Huda Mothana and during the Coronavirus crisis, travelled to more than 15 countries to document the unfolding pandemic while millions were on lockdown. James also fronted the National Geographic special Virus Hunters, in which he travelled around the world to meet frontline researchers working to stop the next pandemic. An adventure that took him from bat caves in Liberia to the pig farms of the American Midwest, Virus Hunters aired in 173 countries in over 40 languages. James co-anchored ABC News Live’s coverage of the October 7 Hamas attack, for which he won a News Emmy. His coverage of the war in Ukraine and the climate crisis in India have also been recognised with Emmys, and he won the David Bloom award and a Deadline Club award from the Society of Professional Journalists for his work in Chechnya.Before joining ABC News, he was at the BBC, where he spent time as the corporation’s Beirut correspondent. A fluent Arabic and French speaker, he started his career in Syria, where at 24 he reported for British newspapers on the protests that started the civil war.