One of the primary goals of all journalists is to ensure that they report on the news without ever becoming the news. Unfortunately for ABC News honcho David Westin, he has now moved from covering the story to being the story, as numerous media outlets are reporting his imminent departure from ABC.

According to The New York Times, Westin, who has been president of ABC's news division for nearly 14 years, announced his resignation to staffers via an internal e-mail yesterday, stating that "there are some other things I want to do professionally - things that I cannot explore while fulfilling my responsibilities here."

The message went on to say that though Westin was proud of recent changes, which included putting "in place news anchors on all of our programs," the division also "went through a very difficult transformation made necessary by changes in our business and its economics."

Those economic concerns may have been the driving force behind Westin's resignation, as The New York Times is reporting that Westin was involved in a long-running dispute with parent company over the News division's profit margin; while the division was reportedly turning a five percent profit, Disney apparently was pushing for a figure closer to 15 percent.

Whether or not that disparity led to Westin's resignation is unclear; predictably, ABC/Disney President Anne Sweeney sidestepped the matter in her gracious official statement.

"For the past 13 years, David Westin has proved himself a tireless advocate for ABC News, effectively guiding the group through some of the most seismic industry, and divisional, changes imaginable," Sweeney's statement read. "During that time, he helped reinvent our news organization, and positioned us for great success going forward. I'm certain David will be as successful in whatever future endeavors he chooses to pursue. I will be announcing a new President of ABC News in the near future."

No word yet on how long the search for a replacement will take.