It's times like this I miss Nightline.

[Poll_Blind]

  Nightline, when it was hosted by Ted Koppel, anyway, was the place I could go for in-depth coverage on the day's most important events. First a 5-10 minute piece giving a well fleshed-out background on the subject and then subjectmatter experts being adroitly interviewed by Koppel.

  At 11pm tonight on CNN, Fox, MSNBC, you are going to get some little blurb about it (likely) containing only the most spectacular images of the event and then on to how Britney's hairstyle is coming along.

  If Nightline was on tonight, by the end of it you'd probably know the history of major bridge collapses, why they collapsed, what type of structure this bridge was, how common that design is compared to other bridge designs, how construction techniques differ now from when the bridge was constructed, and so forth...

  You would have been educated and informed on a subject.

  There is so precious little of that nowdays on television.

PB

[LeftyMom]

1. I know. There's really nothing like that on broadcast TV now.

Also, Nightline would actually look at both sides on foreign policy issues. These says hardly anybody looks at foreign policy at all, since it's expensive to maintain foreign correspondents and staff.

[aquart]

2. I've been following the story on the CNN live feed.

Broadcast TV, which will interrupt for anything Paris Hilton does, is silent on this. Do they really believe the people of New York are uninterested or incapable of feeling for another city stricken by disaster?

[greyl]

3. It's on here tonight at 11:30. nt

[Poll_Blind]

6. How would you rate it, post Koppel? I hadn't heard good things...

...about his successors, but I haven't watched it since.

PB

[greyl]

10. I can't rate it. If the tv is on at that time, it's tuned to Letterman. :)

No cable available here.

[Guaranteed]

4. What, you don't like watching the same three video clips over and over

on the 24-hour news channels?

I'm starting to feel like that bald weightlifter-looking guy with the thing around his waist is part of the family, since I'm seeing him every 30 seconds being treated.

[Purveyor]

8. Funny you mention it. I thought to myself, being the big bruiser he appears to be

why is he being such a 'wuss'.

[JitterbugPerfume]

5. Nightline was wonderful, and i miss it too

TV is so dumbed down , it is a cryin' shame.

[Purveyor]

7. I too remember when Nightline was the show to watch for indepth coverage

of a current event.

Now, I flip over to the ABC channel to see what they are covering and just shake my head in disgust, flip off the set and head to bed to listen to some 'old time classic' radio shows I pickup out of Canada...

[NoAmericanTaliban]

9. Nightline was the real deal. One of the best ever on TV

I learned a lot from that show & it educated a lot of folks on a lot of issues that aren't normally that much discussed. Ted was the best - although it was fun guess if his hair was real or not:)

[Berry Cool]

11. Keith is back on MSNBC and doing a great job.

They are staying with it. No blurb, no back to Britney. Give him a try.

TVNewser says that NBC also put him on live tonight at 9:15, while Dan Abrams was anchoring the MSNBC coverage. So keep an eye on NBC, too.

Edit: It looks as if he's continuing on for the next hour. If you want intelligent coverage and you get MSNBC, try Keith.

[fortyfeetunder]

12. More dumbing down to come

when The USA has a populace that argues more over Paris, Brittney (sp?) Nicole, Anna Nicole, American Idol, Tom and Katie, Brangelina, etc. than the issues that affect them most, then substantive and educational programs like Nightline fall by the wayside. I don't expect this to change....