Koppel on Discovery Associate Producer Dies at 26

Former ABC News staffer John Alexander, 26, died suddenly Wednesday while on assignment in China with Ted Koppel's Discovery Channel program,Koppel on Discovery.

"John was a vibrant, intelligent, energetic young man just short of his 27th birthday. He had accomplished much but had far more yet to contribute to television journalism," ABC News president David Westin wrote in an e-mail to staffers. "We are all poorer for his loss."

Alexander left ABC News, along with Koppel's longtime producer, Tom Bettag, for an associate-producer post at Discovery working with Koppel and Bettag.