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Diane Sawyer is ALIVE! Internet calls out horrible mixup as journalist trends after Barbara Walters death

While Barbara Walters became a trailblazer in 1960s when she joined 'Today' show, Sawyer made history as the first woman anchor at '60 Minutes'

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: Iconic broadcast journalist and television personality, Barbara Walters died on Friday, December 30, at the age of 93. Walters, who won a dozen Emmys, died in the evening at her home in New York, according to Robert Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, which owns ABC, the network where Walters spent most of her career. 

"Barbara was a true legend, a pioneer not just for women in journalism but for journalism itself. She was a one-of-a-kind reporter who landed many of the most important interviews of our time, from heads of state and leaders of regimes to the biggest celebrities and sports icons," Iger said in a statement. However many people mistook Walters for Diane Sawyer, another famous ABC journalist and one of the fiercest competitors that the Today show host came across in her professional career. 

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Sawyer, 77 is alive and well but many people made a horrible mixup as she trended on social media immediately after the news of Walters' demise broke out. 

Who is Diane Sawyer?

Both Sawyer and Walters are considered to be the pioneers in television journalism. While Walters became a trailblazer in the 1960s when she joined the Today show, Sawyer made history as the first woman anchor at 60 Minutes but eventually, they ended up working for the same network. 

In the late 1980s, Sawyer worked as a news correspondent for CBS and shifted to their morning show. She made her mark in 1984 when she landed the co-anchor position on 60 Minutes. She stayed with the network until 1989 before she switched over to ABC. Her new role included working alongside Sam Donaldson on Primetime Live in the evenings. Walters already had 20/20 on lock at ABC at that time and they would often compete for story ideas which led to unspoken tension in the office. She was a member of US President Richard Nixon's White House staff prior to her journalism career. 

Fortunately, it did not take long for the Twitter users to figure out that Sawyers is alive. One user tweeted, "The amount of people that think Barbara Walters is Diane Sawyer is concerning me." Another tweeted, "Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters are TWO DIFFERENT PEOPLE just so you know……." One wrote, "Y’all dumbasses got Diane Sawyer trending thinking she’s Barbara Walters? Damn."  "People getting Diane Sawyer and Barbara Walters mixed up be like....."But, all white people look the same", tweeted another one. One user wrote, "I just saw them say RIP Barbara with a picture of Diane Sawyer."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.