Cutting through the 'chaos of voices'

Newsman Ted Koppel discusses 'private thoughts' in new book

In his new book "Off Camera: Private Thoughts Made Public," Ted Koppel says he's disappointed by the current quality of journalism and unhappy with the "television show" aspect of the presidential race

In this story: Discouraged by presidential race Record of observations RELATED STORIES, SITES

(CNN) -- "Nightline" host Ted Koppel isn't afraid of taking potshots at his own profession. He does so in his new book, "Off Camera: Private Thoughts Made Public," and he continued the theme during an interview with Larry King.

In the book, the ABC broadcaster says "much of American journalism has become a sort of competitive screeching." He expanded on that statement on CNN's "Larry King Live." Wide access to the Internet, the availability of home video cameras, and inexpensive editing machines have resulted in a muddle of voices all vying to be heard, all "competing to be the first with the obvious," he said.

	REVIEW
Review: Revealing notes from Ted Koppel in 'Off Camera'

"Instead of sitting back and giving a little bit of thoughtful context to what we put on the air, much of the time we are so worried about what those 500 ... other outfits out there are putting on the air that I think the competitiveness has become very dangerous to all of us," he said.

One solution, he continued, would be to reward the journalist who says, "I'm not ready yet. Let me work on this story a little bit longer."

He said the First Amendment contributes to the competitive atmosphere by making "anybody who wants to be a journalist ... the license to be a journalist." That's a positive, he added, but noted that longtime journalists who have worked hard to "maintain some kind of standards" now have "more of an obligation to maintain those standards" than ever.

In the end, the 40-year news veteran said, viewers will be grateful to the more established journalists among the "chaos of voices" for providing a "certain level of reliability."

Discouraged by presidential race

Koppel isn't only disappointed by the current quality of much journalism; he's also unhappy with the prefabricated quality of much of the presidential race. Koppel famously left the 1996 Republican convention, dismissing it as a television show, and decided the 2000 conventions were similar non-newsmakers.

"Four years after the fact I think many of our colleagues were saying: Do you want to know something? These conventions simply are not what they used to be and it's a bit of waste of time to come here expecting that major news is going to break out," he said. "I'm not suggesting we don't cover it, and 'Nightline' covered it. ... But as you know, when an anchor goes off to cover a convention, there's a whole retinue of other people, technical and editorial, who have to go along. It costs a lot of money. And quite frankly, my executive producer and I really thought it was not worth the money to go."

And 2000's close campaign has put both candidates in straitjackets, he said. "I think it's kind of sad that we've come to a point now that presidential candidates when they get this close to the election have to be so careful about what they say," Koppel told King. "They have to weigh each syllable so carefully that the thought of delivering an unscripted line is anathema to them, they feel as though they're walking through a mine field and they cannot afford to tick anybody off between now and Election Day."

Record of observations

But "Off Camera" didn't begin as a way for Koppel to sound off. Rather, he said, it was a way to document his life, something he wishes his ancestors had done.

"My mother was born in the year 1899 and I was sitting there on New Year's Day in 1999 saying, 'God, I wish my grandfather had written a book about life in his time,' " Koppel said. "And then I thought, well, maybe I'll try and do it, and initially I sat down to do it more for the family than anything else."

Eventually, Koppel began broadening the topics so he wouldn't be "too embarrassed about putting it out in public." After shopping the project around, Koppel found a some publishers who were interested and his journal became a book.

The book's bluntness doesn't mean he can't be objective when doing his job, but simply that he has his own opinions. "To pretend that anyone of us on the air doesn't have opinions is silly," he said. "Of course we have opinions. What we are under some obligation to do is when we practice our profession, you've got to try and be as fair as you can."

Children's Express and the press
August 15, 1996

ABC News: 'Nightline'
Alfred A. Knopf (Random House)

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.