Sinclair, owner of some ABC affiliates around the country, has decided not to air Ted Koppel’s grandstanding reading of Iraq’s dead soldiers. In a statement to the press, Sinclair said the following:
The ABC Television Network announced on Tuesday that the Friday, April 30 edition of “Nightline” will consist entirely of Ted Koppel reading aloud the names of U.S. servicemen and women killed in action in Iraq. Despite the denials by a spokeswoman for the show, the action appears to be motivated by a political agenda designed to undermine the efforts of the United States in Iraq.
There is no organization that holds the members of our military and those soldiers who have sacrificed their lives in service of our country in higher regard than Sinclair Broadcast Group. While Sinclair would support an honest effort to honor the memory of these brave soldiers, we do not believe that is what “Nightline” is doing. Rather, Mr. Koppel and “Nightline” are hiding behind this so-called tribute in an effort to highlight only one aspect of the war effort and in doing so to influence public opinion against the military action in Iraq. Based on published reports, we are aware of the spouse of one soldier who died in Iraq who opposes the reading of her husband’s name to oppose our military action. We suspect she is not alone in this viewpoint. As a result, we have decided to preempt the broadcast of “Nightline’ this Friday on each of our stations which air ABC programming.
We understand that our decision in this matter may be questioned by some. Before you judge our decision, however, we would ask that you first question Mr. Koppel as to why he chose to read the names of 523 troops killed in combat in Iraq, rather than the names of the thousands of private citizens killed in terrorist attacks since and including the events of September 11, 2001. In his answer, we believe you will find the real motivation behind his action scheduled for this Friday. Unfortunately, we may never know for sure because Mr. Koppel has refused repeated requests from Sinclair’s News Central news organization to comment on this Friday’s program.
Now, you know this would immediately draw condemnation by those who want the names paraded around and faces shown so that every single person could feel the power of the moment. Hell, that would be noble, I think. I don’t think we should be hiding war dead from people. People need to understand that there are those in Iraq dying in our names. They need to understand that soldiers are not just numbers and vague stories; they are people. So what’s the problem?
Well, it turns out that besides being sweeps week, Ted Koppel all but admitted (registration required) he was more interested in “shocking” people than paying respects:
ABC News’s “Nightline” will devote its entire broadcast on Friday to reading the names of the more than 500 U.S. servicemen and servicewomen who have been killed in action in Iraq.
As anchor Ted Koppel reads the names for the entire half-hour, viewers will see photographs of those killed since March 19, 2003, as certified by the Defense Department.
In its announcement yesterday, ABC News said the program was its way of paying tribute to the dead. And “Nightline” executive producer Leroy Sievers called it the program’s way to “remind our viewers — whether they agree with the war or not — that beyond the casualty numbers, these men and women are serving in Iraq in our names, and that those who have been killed have names and faces.”
That is good to know because otherwise we might be left thinking that Friday’s broadcast, which ABC will simulcast on its Jumbotron in New York’s Times Square, is a cheap, content-free stunt designed to tug at our heartstrings and bag a big number on the second night of the May ratings race.
Koppel, also in the announcement, acknowledged that Memorial Day might have been “the most logical occasion” to do the program. Ya think?
“But we felt that the impact would actually be greater on a day when the entire nation is not focused on war dead,” he said.
Ah yes, and, of course, Memorial Day falls outside the May sweeps, when viewer levels are used by the networks to set advertising rates. Memorial Day is also traditionally a day of very low television viewing. He forgot to mention that stuff.
Sievers and others we spoke with at ABC News insisted they did not realize that the May sweeps start tomorrow.
They had no idea when sweeps were? Networks run season premieres, finales, specials, and such for the entire time, and the network execs that the Washington Post found had no idea that this piece was going to run during sweeps? The idea that Koppel would say that he didn’t want to run the piece on a national day of mourning, but instead wanted to run it when it would “have the most impact,” is pretty disgusting, and completely justifies Sinclair’s decision in my opinion.
Before you go out and scream about how “wrong” this is, think about Ted Koppel standing there, reading names, smug in the knowledge that he’s projecting his anti-war agenda on the names and faces of those who died. Then think about how it was done during sweeps.
Then, and only then, can you really gauge what a miserable and insane idea this really is, and Kudos to Sinclair for not partaking in this grandstanding abuse of the anchor desk.
(Thanks to Spoons for the heads up on the WaPo piece)