I'm just amazed that people would view CNN, or Peter Jennings, or Matt Lauer, or Katie Couric, which they openly state as despising and detest, but scoff at Nightline for some reason.
The shows changed immensely since Koppel left. Frankly, my opionion is that all news shows should look to Nightline as a model on how to do a news show. Nightline reports facts. There are no talking heads sitting at a desk, opinionating, or editorializing. There are three anchors that host three different segments (sometimes one or two are working on a story, so one hosts all three). They anchor the story, with footage shot of them (or special correspondant) interviewing the people of interest in the field.
One of the Faith Matters specials they did, with Martin Bashir doing the interview, was interview Ray Comfort & Kirk Cameron. I was so impressed with that segment, that I went online to lookup the website. I mentioned that I'm evengelical fundamental Christian and can spot doctrinal error a mile away. These guys are spot on. I know exactly what they're doing because I've done some of it myself personally (open air evanglism).
Terry Moran did a weeklong special on Gitmo last week. He came to the party loaded with all the questions of human rights abuses. But what the veiwer came away with, if they were intellectually honest with themselves, there is no evidence whatsoever of human rights abuses. In fact, Terry Moran summarized it pretty succinctly one night: Gitmo raises some pretty serious issues with respect to personal freedom and due process and what not, but given the times we live in perhaps theres a need for what goes on here.
In fact, it was made pretty clear, and the footage shown showed it explicitely that the incarcerating personell were bending over backwards for the prisoners well-being. In fact it was pointed out that a great deal of the prisoners live better in Gitmo than they would in their home countries. They said that there were a lot of prisoners that they had no idea what to do with. Even if the U.S. wanted to let them go (in that they couldn't be charged with anything), its was already made expressly clear their home countries wouldn't take them back. And the rest are known absolutely to be bad guys (and very bad guys indeed). And it was made expressly clear that in war intel is of utmost importance. They said they'd never let these guys go because the intel they provide is just too valuable, and furthermore their buddies in the field have no clue with respect to how their pals in Gitmo may be singing.
You could see on many occassions that Terry Moran was absolutely floored at what he was being shown. It was clear that Terry's attitude was he expected a gulag, when instead he encountered a Hilton of sorts. They showed the food the prisoners ate, they showed their cells, they showed their personal effects that were provided. It was clear that quite often Terry was dumbfounded. It was also made clear that not all the prisoners live like that at all times. It was expressed by those in authority that there were other accomodations that were quite a bit more austere that was reserved for "troublemakers". It was made expresslly clear that the prisoners were NOT being coddled by no stretch. Frankly, what was shown is really not all that different from any prison in the U.S., except prisoners at Gitmo are interogated. They even delved into the interogation techniques, and the use of psychologists in the process. It was stressed that they were not there to heighten pain/discomfort, but to facilitate and optimize the interogation process so as to make it most efficient.
All in all it was a quite fascinating window into that world (given all the negativity I've heard about it). Frankly, after that weeks segment, I fail to see how anybody could come away from it with negativity (if they were intellectually honest with themselves). If but for we are at war, I truly wish we wouldn't have to resort to those measure, but alas such is not the case.
But I digress...