Dax Tejera, executive producer of the ABC News Sunday public affairs show “This week,” is dead.
Tejera died suddenly of a heart attack on Friday, December 23, according to a memo sent to staff by ABC News President Kim Godwin on Saturday. He was only a few weeks away from his 38th birthday.
Tejera was named executive producer of “This Week” at age 35, a few weeks before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. newscast quickly climbed to No. 1 among adults 25-54. He joined ABC News in 2017 as a senior producer in the Washington bureau and produced remote-anchored broadcasts from around the country, including specials from the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore and the Trump-Putin summit in Helsinki.
Prior to heading The Sunday Show as executive producer, Tejera managed newsmaking interviews and covered major breaking news, including the COVID pandemic, the 2020 presidential election, and the January 6 riot at the Capitol.
Tejera worked on several broadcast and streaming specials for ABC News. In September 2021, he co-executive produced Corazón de América – Celebrating Hispanic Culture, a primetime special for ABC that honored the contributions and achievements of the more than 60 million people who claim Latino and Hispanic heritage in the United States. Huh. He also served as executive producer for primetime streaming election specials until the 2018 midterms and launched shows designed to expand ABC News’ streaming programming, including “The Briefing”, an analyst show focused on the White House press briefing room. Room” is also included.
Prior to joining ABC News, Tejera was the executive producer of “America with George Ramos” and co-produced “Hate Rising,” a documentary film in collaboration with HBO that focused on the rise of white nationalists and the alt-right.
Prior was a producer at MSNBC, where he worked on shows anchored by Chris Jansing and Alex Wagner (who now occupy the 9 p.m. time slot).
Tereja was known for her competitive spirit and led her “The Week” team to become the top Sunday morning public affairs show. He led the forces of Raddatz and Stephanopoulos. Raddatz anchored the program from Ukraine during Russia’s invasion.
Tejera is survived by his wife, Veronica, and two young daughters.
Here’s a note from the president of ABC News Kim Godwin For network staff.
abc news family,
It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that we share that our friend and colleague Dax Tejera passed away last night suddenly of a heart attack.
Dax’s energy, passion and love for that show, ABC News and you shines through every Sunday morning, as does the EP of “This Week with George Stephanopoulos”. The same love was extended to his precious daughters.
Our thoughts are with his wife Veronica, the couple’s two young daughters, and the entire Tejera family.
If you need immediate assistance, please call our 24/7 EAP support line.
We will share more details in the coming days.
Hug your loved ones a little tighter this Christmas Eve. And please support each other.
#oneabcnews
Kim
