Editorial: A beacon of broadcast journalism

Thursday, Nov. 24, 2005 | 7:22 a.m.

We would be remiss if we didn't pause to note that Tuesday was Ted Koppel's last appearance on ABC News' "Nightline," a program he anchored for more than 25 years. Until "Nightline" came along, late-night television mostly was the province of late-night talk show hosts, such as Johnny Carson, and rebroadcasts of old movies and other television shows.

But "Nightline" broke through the clutter and left its mark, offering viewers a solid, thought-provoking half-hour program -- typically on a single issue -- that went far beyond what the networks were offering on their nightly newscasts at the dinner hour. Through the use of satellite technology, Koppel could bring the major players together for live interviews -- something that, while commonplace today, was quite extraordinary a quarter of a century ago.

The success of "Nightline" showed that the public did have an appetite for such serious news shows, and it helped pave the way for the all-news cable networks we have today, such as CNN, Fox and MSNBC. Unfortunately, what we find all too often today on cable news channels isn't an intelligent, civil discussion of issues. Instead we get shoutfests where the hosts are more intent on promoting themselves than engaging in a thoughtful dialogue of the critical issues facing the nation.

"Nightline" will continue on minus Koppel, who might work on documentaries for HBO. "Nightline" now will have three co-hosts and will address a number of topics each night. As he closed his broadcast on Tuesday, he asked those watching to give the new co-hosts a fair shake. "If you don't," Koppel said, "I promise you the network will just put another comedy show in this time slot. Then you'll be sorry."

In a way, however, we already are sorry, as too much of network journalism continues its slide to something that more resembles entertainment than news.