Ted Koppel Departs the “Nightline” Set

Ted Koppel has been a feature on American TV filling in the American viewing public on the day's events in-depth and intelligently for a quarter of a century. He said “good-bye” to his audience on Tuesday night, with a warning that the new team of three anchors who will take over need to be given every chance to succeed by the viewers. If not, he said the network would put on another comedy – which is not what America needs.

“Nightline” grew out of the American hostage crisis, during which American diplomats were held in violation of international law for 444 days by the criminal regime of Ayatollah Khomeini, may he rot where it’s hot. Since there was not a 24-hour cable news service in very many homes in those days, the American Broadcasting Corporation decided to devote some time after the local late news to the events of the day, with Mr. Koppel as the host.

When the hostages were finally freed, the day Ronald Reagan become president, the program had carved out a space for serious news analysis opposite reruns of “M*A*S*H*” and against Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show.” As the news business moved to the business of presenting the news, the broadcasts got dumber, the foreign correspondents fewer, and the knowledge of the American public dropped. Now, Yanks only learn geography in preparation for bombing runs. But Mr. Koppel and a handful of other journalists on the box kept the fire of reportage burning.

There have been bad programs on “Nightline.” Mr. Koppel recalled a particularly awful one on herpes done in the early 1980s; before AIDS become the real worry, herpes simplex B was an issue in the post-disco culture. The show was so bad, they did a second run the next night, and Dr. Brian Johnson’s career as a medical journalist bloomed.

There is less need now for “Nightline” for the political junkies. They now have CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and other 24-hour news channels. But there remains a genuine need for a program that can reach millions upon millions with more than just the headlines. Mr. Koppel has given his career over to providing such a program, and now it is up to the viewers to keep it on the air – if they can.


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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