The former president of CBS News and Fox News, Van Sauter has spent more than 30 years working in print and broadcast journalism. As a print journalist, Sauter covered a wide range of stories including the civil rights movement, urban riots and the Vietnam War. During that time, he co-authored two books, Nightmare in Detroit, a profile of the Detroit riots, and Fabled Land, Timeless River, a photo-test book about the Mississippi River.

In 1968, Sauter joined CBS and throughout the next 18 years he held a variety of positions before resigning in 1986 as executive vice president of the Broadcast Group. Sauter later joined Fox News, and then served as general manager of KVIE Public Television in Sacramento, where he rehabilitated the programming and financial structure of the station.