By Paul J. Gough
NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – It isn’t just ABC News that’s being enlisted in the battle against smoking and lung cancer in the Quit to Live series, which began airing this month on “World News Tonight.”
A public service campaign launched late last week features President Bush, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., former Secretary of State Colin Powell, actress Geena Davis, Microsoft mogul Bill Gates and sports stars Lance Armstrong and Tom Brady. ABC News employees including Ted Koppel, Charles Gibson, Diane Sawyer, Elizabeth Vargas, Bob Woodruff and Barbara Walters also are taking part, along with former ABC News correspondent (and Fox News star) Bill O’Reilly.
“World News Tonight” launched Quit to Live in part as a response to the death of longtime anchor Peter Jennings, who succumbed to lung cancer in August. That sparked an interest on the part of “World News Tonight” and ABC News to launch an anti-smoking public-service campaign that includes information on how to stop smoking and the treatment and prevention of lung cancer, as well as its toll on the public health system.
The Quit to Live campaign runs through November, Lung Cancer Awareness Month, on a number of ABC News platforms including “World News Tonight,” “Good Morning America,” ABCNews.com and ABC News Radio. It’s in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Cancer Institute and the North American Quitline Consortium.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
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