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MIDSEASON TV PREVIEW; An Unlikely Offer to Koppel; Former Anchor Says He Told Al-Jazeera, No Thanks'

Posted on: Saturday, 14 January 2006, 15:00 CST

By JOANNE WEINTRAUB

Pasadena, Calif. The Al-Jazeera evening news brought to you by Ted Koppel?

Koppel confirmed to journalists here Friday that he had had a job discussion with the controversial Arab news network, but added that he hadn't even "entertained (the job proposal) for 38 seconds." The former "Nightline" anchor then vigorously defended Dave Marash, a former colleague who has signed on with the Middle Eastern network.

Koppel, who anchored the ABC news show from its 1980 inception until just seven weeks ago, spoke at a Discovery Channel event at the TV industry's winter preview marathon for critics. He appeared with longtime ABC news producer Tom Bettag, who will join Koppel later this year in producing news coverage and documentaries for Discovery.

Executives of Al-Jazeera, which is based in and financed by the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar, announced Thursday that they had hired Marash, a veteran ABC journalist and "Nightline" correspondent, to anchor their first English-language broadcast, which is due to air on a new all-English Al-Jazeera channel this spring.

Koppel, asked about published reports that he and Bettag had been approached by the Arab network, said: "It is true, the folks from Al- Jazeera called Tom and me. We met with one of their executives, had lunch with him, and it took us not very long to decide that this was not something we were going to do.

"I was fascinated to hear what their proposal might be. I don't think Tom and I entertained it for 38 seconds, but I make it a habit always to listen to people first before I say no."

The outspoken Koppel, 65, who has amassed more than 40 Emmys in more than four decades in TV news, called Al-Jazeera's launch of an English-language network which has signed not only former ABC reporter Marash but several CNN and BBC veterans as well "a brave experiment." Although the Arab-language Al-Jazeera has been slammed in the West for airing al-Qaida statements and virulent anti- American opinions, Koppel praised the relative fairness of its news reports, which he called "a huge step up from where the Arab world's journalism has been for the last 40 years."

"I'm not going to prejudge what the English-language Al-Jazeera is going to look like," he added. "Dave Marash is a superb reporter, he is as honest as the day is long, and I think that if he feels that he is in any way being used or misused by Al-Jazeera, I think he'll leave as quickly as he signed on."

In addition to producing and hosting news coverage for Discovery, which has not before had a journalist of Koppel's stature on its staff, Koppel also has signed on to do opinion pieces for The New York Times and news analysis and commentary for National Public Radio.

Koppel left ABC last year after publicly making it clear that he disagreed with the network's approach to news, which he described as too focused on trivial stories at the expense of weighty issues, especially in the international arena.

He noted at the Discovery session that ABC, like its rivals, has shrunk its staff of foreign correspondents from dozens in the 1970s and '80s to just a handful now, and praised one of his new employers, NPR, for its commitment to foreign stories.

Koppel remains an avid TV watcher, he said, but he declined to weigh in on the current state of his old ABC show.

"I think the greatest gift that Tom and I can give our friends at Nightline' is just to hang back and give them a chance to create their own new version of this broadcast," he said. "You make mistakes, you correct them, and I'm sure they will do that. There are a lot of bright and wonderful people working there."

Koppel added that, while he follows his old late-night show religiously, he often records it for viewing the next day: "I TiVo it as often as not. Who the hell stays up until 11:30 at night?"

TV TALK

"I do get offered a lot of Handi Wipes, I can tell you that. After 400 times, it's a little hard to laugh as if it's the first time, but people just think that is so funny."

Tony Shalhoub, who plays an obsessive-compulsive, germ-phobic detective in USA's "Monk"

------

"There are five stages of an (actor's life). The first one is: 'Who is Doris Roberts?' The second one is: 'Get me Doris Roberts.' The third is: 'Get me a young Doris Roberts.' The fourth is: 'Get me an old Doris Roberts.' And the fifth is: 'Who is Doris Roberts?"

Doris Roberts ("Everybody Loves Raymond"), who stars as a socialite who opens her mansion to the homeless in the Hallmark Channel's forthcoming "Our House"

E-mail: jweintraub@journalsentinel.com

Copyright 2006, Journal Sentinel Inc. All rights reserved. (Note: This notice does not apply to those news items already copyrighted and received through wire services or other media.)

Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

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