Ted Koppel

Edward James "Ted" Koppel (born February 8, 1940) is an American journalist, best known as the former anchor for the American Broadcasting Company's "Nightline".

Biography

Personal life

Koppel, an only child, was born in Lancashire, England, after his German-Jewish parents fled Germany due to the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazism. His family came to the United States in 1953. He graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Science Degree and from Stanford University with a Master of Arts Degree in Mass Communications Research and Political Science. He is a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.

In 1963, he became a naturalized U.S. citizen , and married Grace Anne Dorney, on May 17.

Koppel is multilingual, speaking German, Russian, and French, in addition to his native English.

Koppel is an old friend of Henry Kissinger. Both Kissinger and Koppel come from European Jewish families; both moved to the United States as children. As Secretary of State, Kissinger once offered Koppel a job as his spokesman, but Koppel declined. Along with former Secretary of State Alexander Haig, Kissinger was the most frequent guest on "Nightline". In an interview, Koppel commented, "Henry Kissinger is, plain and simply, the best secretary of state we have had in 20, maybe 30 years -- certainly one of the two or three great secretaries of state of our century," and added, "I’m proud to be a friend of Henry Kissinger. He is an extraordinary man. This country has lost a lot by not having him in a position of influence and authority". [Columbia Journalism Review, March/April 1989.]

Ted and Grace Anne have four children: Andrea Koppel (political and Chinese topical journalist),Deirdre, Andrew, and Tara.

In 1993 Ted and Grace Anne paid $2.7 million for 16 acres overlooking the Potomac River in Potomac, Maryland.Mosk, Matthew. - "Koppel Tries to Cut Neighbors Down to Size". - "Washington Post". - December 26, 2002. - Retrieved: 2008-07-10] The couple filed a law suit to hold their neighbors to an agreement to limit the size of the houses in the neighborhood to ft2 to m2|10000.

Career

Koppel began his broadcasting career at WMCA Radio in New York. In June 1963, he joined ABC Radio News as a correspondent for its daily Flair Reports program. He moved to ABC Television in 1966 when reporting on the Vietnam War. In time, he distinguished himself as a foreign correspondent for ABC. Eventually, he became more widely known as the long-time lead anchorman for "Nightline", a position he held when the program began on March 24, 1980. Koppel gave up that position on November 22, 2005.

Following "Nightline" Koppel has taken on a number of roles which span various formats of news media:
* He was named managing editor of the Discovery Channel, where he will host and produce news programs covering major global topics and events.
* He signed up as an opposite editorial-contributing columnist, effective January 29, 2006, for "New York Times". [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/13/business/media/13times.html "13 Times"] . - New York Times. - January 13, 2006]
* Starting in June 2006, he has provided commentary to "Morning Edition", "All Things Considered", and "Day to Day" on National Public Radio, joining NPR's other two Senior News Analysts, Cokie Roberts and Daniel Schorr. [ [http://www.npr.org/about/press/060112.koppel.html Koppel] . - NPR. - January 12, 2006] As such, he participated in the annual NPR Fourth of July reading of the Declaration of Independence in 2007.
* Koppel guest appears from time to time on "The Daily Show" appearing in extreme close-up and disembodied, usually acting as Jon Stewart's journalistic conscience, sometimes as the replacement for the so-called "Giant Head of Brian Williams" projected on the screen behind Stewart (although, unlike Williams, Koppel has insisted that "this is the actual size of [his] head").
* Koppel has worked for BBC News as a "contributing analyst" covering the 2008 Democratic National Convention.

Koppel has received the George Polk Award for Television Reporting twice: in 1981 and in 1985 with Richard N. Kaplan. He has also been criticized for being a conduit for the government's point of view. In the late 1980s, the media watchdog group FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) conducted a 40-month study of 865 editions of "Nightline" and concluded, "On shows about international affairs, U.S. government policymakers and ex-officials dominated the "Nightline" guest list. American critics of foreign policy were almost invisible." In 1987, "Newsweek" opined, "The anchor who makes viewers feel that he is challenging the powers that be on their behalf is in fact the quintessential establishment journalist". Koppel responded to criticism saying, "We are governed by the president and his cabinet and their people. And they are the ones who are responsible for our foreign policy, and they are the ones I want to talk to".Solomon, Norman. - [http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2801 "Ted Koppel: 'Natural Fit' at NPR News and Longtime Booster of Henry Kissinger"] . - Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). - January 16, 2006]

Departure from "Nightline"

On November 22, 2005, Koppel stepped down from "Nightline" after 25 years with the program and left ABC after 42 years with the network. His final "Nightline" broadcast did not feature clips highlighting memorable interviews and famous moments from his tenure as host, as is typical when an anchor retires. Instead, the show recalled Koppel's 1995 interviews with retired Brandeis University sociology professor Morrie Schwartz, who was dying of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease). For this broadcast, Koppel interviewed sports journalist Mitch Albom, who had been a student of Schwartz. Albom talked about how the "Nightline" interviews led to him contacting Schwartz personally, visiting him weekly and eventually publishing the book "Tuesdays with Morrie", chronicling lessons about life learned from Schwartz.

After the show's last commercial break, Koppel made his final remarks prior to signing off:

Influence

References in Pop Culture

*Koppel is referenced in "Gilmore Girls" in episode 5 of season 4 entitled "Ted Koppel's Big Night Out"

* Koppel is referenced in "Rent" ("Smile for Ted Koppel, Officer Martin").

* Koppel is referenced in "The Simpsons" in Episode 1F14 ("Homer Loves Flanders"), when, after Ned Flanders is shown waking up in the middle of the night with the stunning realization that he hates Homer Simpson, Homer similarly wakes up suddenly and says, "Marge, I think I hate Ted Koppel. No, wait. I find him informative and witty."

* Koppel is referenced in the song "Redefine" by Incubus, from their album "S.C.I.E.N.C.E.": “It's in your nature, you can paint whatever picture you like. No matter what Ted Koppel says on channel 4 tonight.”

* Koppel is also spoofed in an episode of "Mad TV" and it is said that he resembles MAD Magazine's Mascot, Alfred E. Neuman

* Koppel is in the book"Tuesdays With Morrie" by Mitch Albom.

* In season one of Reba , Reba says "Hi I'm Ted Koppel".

See also

* (2006)
* (2006)
* Koppel Is mentioned in rapper Ghostface Killah's song, Mighty Healthy, 2000

References

External links

* [http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/News/story?id=128629 Biography] from ABC
* [http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001842946 Ted Koppel to Join 'NY Times' Editorial Page, Contribute to NPR] , a January 2006 article from "Editor & Publisher"
* [http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/newmanblog.html?post=1942 "Global National" anchor Kevin Newman recalls Ted Koppel on his blog]
* [http://abcnews.go.com/search?searchtext=time%20tunnel&from=0&to=9&type=video ABC News' "Time Tunnel" page containing clips of numerous newscasts (including "Nightline") on which Koppel appeared]

sequence
prev=Frank Reynolds
next=Terry Moran, Cynthia McFadden, and Martin Bashir
list=Nightline anchor
March 24,1980 – November 22, 2005