TED KOPPEL, former host of ABC News Nightline

Koppel asked for a show of hands in answer to his question: How many of you think you should consider the consequences of what you do as a journalist? Most people voted yes, of course. And, of course, it was a trick question. His point was that since it’s impossible to predict what the consequences will be, you should focus on accuracy and objectivity. You can’t be responsible for the consequences 99.5% of the time. He gave Rwanda and Somalia as examples of “blowback” from media attention when, in fact, one would think that media attention would have been helpful. Impossible to know.

He also gave his interpretation of television news history. Until 1968 when “60 Minutes” first aired, he said, television news was a “loss leader.” However, when “60 Minutes” started making money, television news became just another “cost center.” He sees the future of citizen journalism as both good and bad – we can all be journalists, but there’s no quality control. He cites NPR radio as a success story. Morning Edition now has more than 14 million listeners, which is more than the three TV networks combined. However, their funding keeps getting cut.

He also had something to say about the war in Iraq. It’s similar to Vietnam in that there were misperceptions by our government about the situation: in Vietnam it was the now discredited “domino theory” and in Iraq it was the WMD theory. The difference, he said, is that we absolutely can’t let the Middle East descend into chaos. But, he added, it’s a mistake to look at all these crises in the world as separate issues. There are “threads” all over the world that tie together.

“No matter how cynical I get, I can’t keep up.”
Ted Koppel quoting Lily Tomlin as Ernestine