It has been close to 20 years since Matt Gutman has been part of the ABC News family. The veteran reporter, 47, joined the network in 2008, first working for ABC News Radio, before becoming a mainstay on the network for appearances on World News Tonight with David Muir, 20/20, Good Morning America and Nightline, as well as for his coverage from over 40 countries across the globe. He is now based in Los Angeles, California, working as the network's Chief National Correspondent. Learn more about Matt below.
His professional life
Before joining ABC News, Matt, a graduate of Williams College, was based in Israel from 2001 to 2005, working for the Jerusalem Post during the Second Intifada; he lived in the Middle East for nearly eight years, covering conflicts from Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, and the like.
In 2008, he moved to Miami, and began his work with ABC News. From 2013 to 2018, he hosted the network's Saturday morning show Sea Rescue, about the work done by the SeaWorld Rescue Team, which in 2016 won an Emmy for Outstanding Children's Series.
He has been open about his panic attacks
In January 2020, Matt was suspended from ABC News after, when reporting on Kobe Bryant's death in a Calabasas helicopter crash, he incorrectly reported that all four of his daughters had passed with him, when only his 13-year-old daughter Gianna was on board and died. He later attributed the mistake to his lifelong struggle with panic attacks, which escalated during high-stakes reporting moments.
He further opened up about his struggle with panic attacks in his 2023 book No Time to Panic: How I Curbed My Anxiety and Conquered a Lifetime of Panic Attacks. In an essay for TIME, he also wrote: "Panic in our society is encased in an almost impenetrable block of shame and stigma, and over two decades, I had become so ashamed by my bouts of panic that I'd assiduously hidden them, even from myself: When I documented them in my journals, I wrote in a kind of shorthand, a cuneiform indecipherable even to me."
Matt's personal life
Matt keeps his family life largely out of the spotlight. Since 2007, he has been married to Daphna Venyige, who describes herself on LinkedIn as a "passionate song leader, prayer leader, and music educator" as well as a Cantorial Soloist specifically working within Jewish religious and musical traditions. The couple shares two kids, Libby and Benjamin.