Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
What would Edward R. Murrow do?
That was the underlying question Sept. 23 at WSU when the Murrow School of Journalism honored Ted Koppel with a lifetime achievement award.
In an acceptance speech at Beasley Coliseum and press conference beforehand, Koppel talked about the current state of news broadcasting, along with commenting on context in reporting and changes in how news, ratings and profit go together.
At the press conference, he pointed out the decrease in foreign correspondents, begun in the ‘90s, due to costs. During his acceptance speech he inferred that today’s network and cable news broadcasts are “just giving the people what they want,” whether that’s more Charlie Sheen, Amanda Knox or Casey Anthony.
He told a story of William S. Paley, CBS founder.
When it was suggested to Paley in the ‘60s that his news division make a profit, Paley said, ‘A profit? From the news? I’ve got Jack Benny for that.’
Incidentally, earlier, in the press conference Koppel said that profit in network news divisions was first born due to the success of “60 Minutes.” From its start, and into its stride in the ‘70s, “60 Minutes” made money.
Under the lights at Beasley, Koppel also touched on another aspect of foreign reporting. He told of a time in the early nights and weeks of “Nightline,” which began as a regular feature during the Iran hostage crisis of 1980.
Koppel was on the job as anchor and there just wasn’t much news one day. The White House wasn’t talking, the State Department wasn’t talking, the Iranians weren’t talking. So Koppel called ABC president Roone Arledge and told him just that.
Arledge said to go on the air, ‘tell the viewers how the Ayotolla Khomeni got into power, tell them the difference between the Shia and the Sunni.’
Koppel said he took from that phone call the notion that news is not just the event of the moment, but also the context of what came before.
The Shia and Sunni names came up again during the height of the Iraq war. Americans once again wondered what the difference was.
Koppel’s late colleague, Peter Jennings, said in 2005 that “curiosity is not dead.”
Who is right? Perhaps the answer lies in the Edward R. Murrow School of Journalism.
Neilsen ratings are led today by NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, with an average of 7.9 million viewers a night (2,348,000 in age 25-54) followed by ABC’s World News with Diane Sawyer with 7.2 million. Fox News’ Fox Report with Shepherd Smith rates 1.7 million viewers (373,000 in age 25-54). In primetime, Fox News has an average of 1.7 million viewers per night (524,000 24-54). CNN and MSNBC combined have less viewers than Fox News.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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