Ted Koppel Says Good Bye

[serryjw]

I Know ! I know! In the recent years we have not been happy with him or Nightline. For many years it was the greatest. The demise is ABC's fault, not Ted's . He is signing off on Tuesday Night. It should be a great show
quote......
As Koppel closes in on his final Nightline broadcast Nov. 22, its future is in doubt.

end quote....
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/life/20051115/d_cover15.art.htm

I think we should all mourn what was, not what is. We lost Bill Moyers and now Ted. It is getting harder and harder to get the truth out

[tx_dem41]

1. Might want to edit that subject title and correct his name. n/t

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

2. by ted, you mean henry kissinger's personal ass-wiper?

ted's a rw hack. always has been. always will be.
comparing him to the great moyers is a bit of a stretch.

nightline has been a forum for the fringe-right to gain a foothold. ted was one of the first people to promote rush limbaugh. FAIR did a great study on just how slanted the show was:
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=121

[serryjw]

6. The first 15 years Nightline

was great. It has been horrible since 2000. I never thought Ted personally had a bias one way or the other. If you do,Id love to read

[karynnj]

7. The whole beginning was a get Carter thing

With a tally on the number of days in captivity. It magnified a dangerous situation way out of proportion and it took over the ast years of the Carter Presidency.

Once beyond that I did like that he covered things in a depth rare on TV. I do think he had both sides. Compared to the Hardball, Blitzer, Scarborough Etc panels in the last 2 years, Koppel's balance was great and the topics were serious issues.

[Faygo Kid]

3. Ted Koopel? An early Christmas punch? Salute!

Your point is so very well taken, and I totally agree. So forgive me, but I too had to laugh with you, not at you.

[Deja Q]

4. The day JFK was shot...

[NanceGreggs]

5. I already said my 'good-byes' to Mr. Koppel ...

... last winter, when he did his little puff piece on the vote fraud that had taken place in Ohio last November. He interviewed Ken Blackwell, who said, "Nothing to see here, folks, go back to your homes," and a pollster who said the allegations were just an internet rumour gone out of control.

That was it; end of discussion, end of piece. He then went on to do fifteen minutes on another topic to fill the half hour.

We used to watch Nightline every night -- haven't watched it since.

So long, Ted; don't let real journalism hit you in the ass on your way out the door!

[marions ghost]

11. that was it for me too

...that show did a lot of damage to the idea that there was anything wrong with the election and they even touted e-voting.

[pretzel4gore]

8. why's he leaving? he fears the repercussions maybe?

how could brocawcaw and koppel and sam donaldson and dan rawther and peter jennings etc just quit their careers when true exciting times are coming: who knows, maybe bushinc blow up statue of liberty, or something? any true professional would be stocking up on wakeup and coke.....he'd be working out codes with like minded pros, just in case the busheviks decide it better to put all politics under rubric of nat security(?)....koppel's very wealthy, in the top bracket, but how could he have spent his life in journalism if he leave when the most exciting times are bound to happen, and news/info vital to the country that made him fabulously rich?

[serryjw]

10. Dan Rather & Peter Jennings

did not retire..and either is Ted..He's just leaving Nightline

[pretzel4gore]

12. the stage is pretty small

even in this hyper world, the stage for national exposure and impact is quite small; i recall ralph nader saying he took every opportunity to appear on the big shows like this week or crossfire etc because, he said that working full time, to crowded halls all year, giving speeches and answering questions, never even approached the exposure to the numbers who saw you on just one of the big shows....the point being there is very real power in being a name journo like ted koppel, and while koppel can work in other venues, had he stayed and fought the fight at nightline, or even if he made abc force him out, it would have made alot of difference....times aren't normal because the bush administration is an outlaw regime that revels in getting away with murder....same goes for dan rather and peter jennings: dan let cbs shoo him away from his job, and jennings...does anyone think of peter in the same vein as edward murrow, or even walter cronkite?

[serryjw]

13. I don't watch ratings

but how do the cable news shows compare with audience of Nightline?

[pretzel4gore]

14. not sure either, but Nightline is much bigger

nader said that, working all year, he might reach a 1/2 million people, and that was full bore all out speechifying, interviewing travelling etc, for the entire 12 months....while even a small cable news political talkshow can reach a million at one swipe....nightline routinely delivers multiples of millions, which is why koppel should have fought there rather then elsewhere, if he was going to fight at all....
the difference between nightline and the cables must be in the 10 times range, at least...the difference between nightline and this week etc again, would be in the many times magnitude range(?) the figures are fairly easily found...btw, the numbers is what makes money thee only factor in the tv news biz, and why the repukes must be taken out asap, because mutating intelligence is what modern television does- there are university educated professionals who truly believe saddam funded the wtc attack, for example....

[Uncle Joe]

9. Don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out Ted. n/t

[Raine]

15. I for one am sad

to see him go. :-( Anyone who thinks Koppel let them down haven't seen anything yet with 3 lightweights taking his place. x(

[PurityOfEssence]

16. a cynical opportunist from the beginning, he should be accorded no remorse

Hey oldsters, remember when Nightline started? It was an opportunistic nightly update on the hostage crisis in 1979. From that point on, Koppel has skewed his show to whitewash Israel, trumpet the conservative line, and feign rectitude.

Good bye. You're a running dog for the power elite, and always have been. Smirking twinkly as you've pretended to present both sides, you've stoked the fires of the powerful. Go away. Go far away. Any tears shed at your departure are ones of the ignorant or stupid, and your self aggrandizement has failed.

[grasswire]

17. how many of those bashing Koppel have...

...consistently watched Nightline?

For the most part, Nightline has been less biased than other big-time news magazines. Koppel has given Bush hell. And, please note, Koppel has caught hell from Rove for reading all the names of the dead GIs in Iraq.

I was hoping that his daughter Andrea would eventually get his slot. She works for CNN.

[SoCalDem]

18. It's fairly useless most of the time.. In its "youth"

it was a hard-hitting show that was perfectly timed to hold on to the people who had just watched the late night news. they were in a mood for an in depth look at a current story.

Nightline has morphed into Ted's version of "The Larry King Show"..Most nights I tune to it, find out whist's on, and immediately click to something else..