Former ABC Correspondent Elizabeth Nissen Has Died

Veteran ABC News correspondent Elizabeth Nissen has died. Nissen, who provided coverage for Nightline and World News Tonight, passed away at her home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on Tuesday, Jan. 7, just three days after her 71st birthday, according to her online obituary and ABC News. Her cause of death was not disclosed.

Nissen enjoyed a long and storied career in broadcast journalism as a correspondent covering news, war, sports, science and art. She is best recognized for her work at ABC News, where she provided coverage on Nightline and World News Tonight. Notably, she is remembered for her World News Tonight coverage of the evening of Princess Diana’s death in 1997.

Outside of ABC News, Nissen also worked at CNN, providing coverage online for CNN.com and on cable news for NewsNight. She also worked for the public television network WGBH, in print media with The Wall Street Journal and Newsweek, and was a co-founder and Senior Producer of NBC Learn, the educational division of NBC News.

Her obituary said that as “a lifelong reader, learner and teacher, Beth was passionate about communicating information in a relatable way. She prepared her students to be critical thinkers, and helped teachers improve methods and techniques for more effective instruction.”

“She was a caregiver, a true oldest—most responsible—sibling,” it continued. “She was also an active member of her local Rotary Club, and The Adelphies group at 1st Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor at the time of her passing.”

Her family remembered her for her “wit, her knowledge, her compassion, and her nurturing of friendships through extensive personal correspondence,” the obit concludes. “She was an avid Wolverine—and Lions—fan.”

Amid news of her passing, tributes and condolences poured in online, with journalist Paulina Guzik writing on X, “Noone has taught me more in journalism than Beth did at CNN. She took this Polish kid under her wings, asking for a ton of tapes and research to teach accuracy, storytelling, fact-checking and everything that today is compromised too quickly in the news. An Iron Lady, trully, RIP”

Nissen is survived by five of her six siblings, as well as nine nieces and nephews, “ll of whom admired and cherished her.” At Nissen’s request, no memorial service has been planned, though her family said she asked “her friends or associates gather in the individual groups in which they associated with her to remember her and share their stories of her.”