Peter Demchuk was planning a career in law until he opted to pursue a growing interest in print journalism. His initial foray into the business began with an internship at the Washington Monthly, which claims to provide "the inside scoop on what's really happening in Washington, D.C." Despite earning what he calls "poverty wages," Demchuk notes that the influential political magazine is known for providing starts for now reputed journalists like Michael Kinsley and Jason DeParle.
For Demchuk, it was a good place from which to make a jump to production assistant/researcher at the Washington bureau of ABC News and to learn the real ins and outs of broadcast journalism. Always interested in politics and policy though, Demchuk briefly left ABC to work on the Dukakis presidential campaign "to see how a national campaign worked up close."
After this diverse start to his career, Demchuk set down roots in 1988, when he began an association with Ted Koppel that has lasted for 18 years. Although initially working for Koppel's independent production company, Koppel Communications, Inc., Demchuk transitioned to ABC's Nightline in 1991.
The great thing about working for Nightline, says Demchuk, is that there was no typical day. "I could be working on different subjects and doing domestic coverage, foreign coverage or features," he adds. While remaining interested in politics — and developing an increasing affinity for science stories — Demchuk says that some of his "most gratifying work came from feature stories I did about arts and culture and how artists approach their work."
Working his way up to a producer position at Nightline, Demchuk says he especially valued the collaborative nature of the work taking place between some 60 producers, writers, editors and technicians. He remembers the big productions most fondly, like a Nightline series done on race and prisons, which examined some difficult social issues. He hopes to bring these same transcendent issues to Koppel on Discovery, where he aims for productions that are both broad and deep.
As a self-professed Air Force brat whose early childhood was spent on tours of duty in England and Germany, Demchuk seemingly still has wanderlust in his blood and loves to travel, cook and entertain with his wife. He also claims to be a voracious reader.
