Posted on 04/28/2004 10:22:18 AM PDT by presidio9
Ted Koppel has been airing a segment for months on each edition of "Nightline" that lists U.S. military fatalities in Iraq. On Friday, Koppel and the "Nightline" team will turn the entire show over to naming those killed in combat in that conflict.
"We'd been doing something called 'In the Line of Duty,'" Koppel said. "We were all beginning to feel it as sort of humdrum - it wasn't having any impact."
The sense among the show's staff was that the deaths were seen as mere numbers - two here, three there.
"Nightline" executive producer Leroy Sievers approached Koppel with the concept of simply reading the names of the dead and showing their pictures.
"My first reaction was I didn't want it to be seen in any fashion as a political gesture," Koppel said. "We had to be careful that it could not be seen as political on our part.
"I think it can be seen just as powerfully by people who are totally supportive of the war, as those who aren't," he added.
Initially, staffers discussed airing the show on Memorial Day. However that concept was scrapped as being too similar to other holiday broadcasts.
Instead, they chose to go alone this week.
Tomorrow, Koppel will record the names - the tally is more than 530 as of yesterday - after which the editors will put the show together.
Given the limited airtime, somewhere around 20 minutes of actual program time during the 30-minute show, Koppel will have just a few seconds for each name. That's why the program is being limited to those identified as "killed in action" by the Pentagon.
And because the death toll rises nearly every day, Koppel will update the list on Friday if necessary.
ABC News will simulcast the show on its Jumbotron in Times Square, and ABC Radio will air excerpts.
The impact of the "Nightline" special will depend on the individual viewer, Koppel said.
"As far as I'm concerned," he said, "it's a blank slate. People will take away some reflection of what they bring to it."
GREAT idea!
Given the limited airtime, somewhere around 20 minutes of actual program time during the 30-minute show, Koppel will have just a few seconds for each name.
Nope, wouldn't want to lose a precious second of commercial time for so mundane a task as honoring our war heros. What a transparent jackass.
"Private John Smith, USA, KIA"
Vote for John Kerry on Nov. 2nd, because George W. Bush is a warmongering chickenhawk, who was AWOL from the National Guard, he know about 9/11 ahead of time, blah, blah, blah ...
"Corporal James Jones, USMC, KIA"
Vote for John Kerry on Nov. 2nd, because George W. Bush is a warmongering chickenhawk, who was AWOL from the National Guard, he know about 9/11 ahead of time, blah, blah, blah ...
... and so on
Will this be a weekly thing fo the new dead for that week.
Actually this is excellent! I have an idea for accomplishing the objective - an advertisement with the following elements:
And to turn the knife, finance this ad with soft money - if not with DoD money - and explain that it is a public service announcement.
- Open with a picture of a soldier or Marine casualty of the Iraqi Freedom war.
- Voice of a family member remembering the deceased's commitment to the mission (many different versions of this part of the ad could be made, to honor as many of our fallen heroes as possible).
- Picture of Saddam being inspected for lice.
- Voice explaining that Iraq is under martial law, and that there is only one legitimate authority in Iraq - the United States (and coalition) military under the authority of the president. And where the writ of the president of the United States runs, attacking Americans who are under the president's orders is attempted murder. Subject, under martial law, to summary execution.
- Picture of thousands of soldiers or Marines manifesting elan.
- voice of a wounded GI expressing continuing support for the mission of establishing a constitutional, democratic republic in Iraq.
- Announcement voice over appealing to youth to consider visiting their local military recruiter with a view to enlisting or joining the National Guard.
Tim Russert is volunteering to do the heavy lifting; Get Dom Rumsfeld to produce the rest of the ad and get it run on this program!!!
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