Call him old school, but Ted Koppel says he's not a fan of this cable news opinion-based television journalism nonsense. Appearing Monday night at the National Press Club for a taping of the Kalb Report with Marvin Kalb, the program, which was supposed to focus on the "Twilight of Network News," turned often into a conversation bemoaning cable news.
Koppel used MSNBC's Rachel Maddow as an example. "Rachel Maddow is a very smart woman, very smart and could very easily in the old days and should today -- I'd love to see Rachel Maddow as the anchor of one of the evening news programs on network television, but the price of that would be she would have to keep her opinions to herself," Koppel explained. "Now, she's a very bright woman, as I said, but I don't want to know what she thinks about these issues. I really don't. I want to hear her informed reporting. I want to hear her interview people with that sharp mind of hers. I don't want to know where she comes down on a particular issue, but that is seen as hopelessly old-fashioned."
The host, Marvin Kalb, shared Koppel's sentiment. "I feel quite often if you eliminated MSNBC, Fox -- for which I do occasional commentary -- and CNN it would probably improve American democracy overnight," Kalb remarked.
