ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, June 15, 1996 TAG: 9606180009
SECTION: SPECTATOR PAGE: S-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: JANE HALL LOS ANGELES TIMES
Sixteen years after ABC started a nightly update on the hostage crisis in Iran, ``Nightline'' continues to confound skeptics who said nobody would watch a serious news program late at night.
``Nightline,'' one of the most honored programs in TV journalism, has averaged 5.4 million viewers per night since last fall, running second to a resurgent ``Tonight Show'' on NBC with 5.6 million and beating David Letterman's 4.6 million on CBS. Its weeklong series on race relations last month drew 5.6 million viewers a night.
The ``Nightline'' anchor from the outset has been Ted Koppel, 56, whose three-year contract with ABC comes up for renewal in September. Koppel and former ABC News producer and correspondent Kyle Gibson have written a book about the creation of the program, ``Nightline: History in the Making and the Making of Television.''
In an interview, Koppel discussed the show, his views on the media and his future.
Q: You recently did an interview with a black woman who's on welfare and moved into an all-white neighborhood in Philadelphia. You also talked to a group of her neighbors about why they oppose her moving into the neighborhood. You've talked to people in Michigan about the Michigan militia. ... Why is it so unusual to have ordinary people get extensive air time on network news?
A: It's not that we lack the imagination to go beyond the tried-and-true guests, it's that ordinary people who have no agenda and no particular media savvy are often very frightened about going on television and are usually not very good at it. So they don't get booked on shows.
It's been my experience that it helps if you can strike while the iron is hot [on a story]. Also, instead of my bringing a group of people in to see me in the studio, if I go to where they feel comfortable, and - even though I'm not alone - if I can be vulnerable enough for them to say, ``It's one of him and a group of us,'' it can work. And we have producers spending time with people beforehand to convince them to come on. We don't just go to Philadelphia and say let's talk to people.
Q: Why did you want to do a series on race?
A: I think even though we talk about race a lot, we're not listening. We wanted to make people think, challenge their predispositions. The point, swear to God, is not to make white people feel guilty. We'll have some programs on [in the future] that will make black people feel uncomfortable. There's more than enough guilt to go around in terms of why we don't understand each other.
Q: Do you think the media have contributed to racial division?
A: Yes. Poor communities are particularly vulnerable to the sort of intrusion [by TV cameras] that doesn't happen in wealthy communities. What did O.J. Simpson's neighbors do in Brentwood? They called the cops and said, ``Get these [TV crews] off my property.'' And the LAPD asked the crews to move.
Also, it's how we visualize crime. On Fox's ``Cops'' or another one of those shows, you don't see a whole lot of Wall Street bankers or TV anchor people being hustled off with their hands in handcuffs for white-collar crime. We have a shorthand. You want to talk about crime? Show some black kid in baggy pants with a bill of his cap off at some angle, and everybody understands.
The media have a hard time showing bank fraud or the savings-and-loan scandal - because it's hard to visualize. It requires more creativity to do.
Q: Do you have an agenda in what you cover?
A: You can't have an agenda. I think it's appropriate to say something is an important issue, and I'd like to stimulate dialogue on it. But it would be wrong to try to use ``Nightline'' to sell or kill [something]. And the influence you perceive me to have would disappear the minute I started to believe that I could do that. People would say, ``Who appointed you?''
Q: You were a well-regarded diplomatic correspondent when ``Nightline'' started. But I gather you weren't the first choice as anchor, that [then ABC News President] Roone Arledge wanted somebody famous like Dan Rather or Tom Brokaw.
A: That's right. I was up there among the candidates being seriously considered. But I wasn't a star. I didn't have the qualities of a star - a good-looking man or woman, with an imposing presence. And Roone was trying to build a news division that could compete in the ratings with CBS and NBC.
``Nightline'' airs weeknights at 11:35 on WSET-Channel 13.
LENGTH: Medium: 83 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Ted Koppel is the anchor of ``Nightline,'' airingby CNBweeknights at 11:35 on WSET-Channel 13.