ABC News Nightline on WCHS-TV8

		Monday, Dec 01, 2008 04:30:21 PM

	NIGHTLINE

	TED KOPPEL

	CHRIS BURY

	JOHN DONVAN

	DAVE MARASH

	MICHEL MARTIN

	PROGRAM CONTACTS & FAQ

Nightline
Weeknights at 11:35 p.m. on WCHS-TV8

ABC News' "Nightline" is television's most esteemed Late-Night news program. Since its debut on March 24, 1980, The half-hour program, which has provided viewers with in-depth reporting on one or more of the major stories in the news, airs weeknights from 11:35 p.m.--12:05 a.m., ET, on WCHS-TV8.

"Nightline" evolved from the ABC News special broadcasts, "The Iran Crisis: America Held Hostage," which began November 8, 1979, four days after the American hostages were seized at the U.S. Embassy in Teheran, Iran.

Considered one of the most innovative programs in broadcast news, "Nightline" is known for its probing interviews, its coverage of global news events and many broadcast innovations such as live town meetings.

"Nightline's" many notable interviews have included Nelson Mandela, Boris Yeltsin, former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos in his first one-on-one interview after his exile, an exclusive interview with Libyan Colonel Muammar Qaddafi, former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Warren E. Burger's first live television interview, former President of South Africa P.W. Botha and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Desmond Tutu in their first appearance together, President Clinton and former Presidents Bush, Reagan, Carter, Ford and Nixon, among many others.

"Nightline's" correspondents are Chris Bury, John Donvan, Dave Marash and Michel Martin.

For 21 years "Nightline" has been committed to providing extensive coverage of events around the globe. Ted Koppel will report five programs from eastern Africa in September, 2001, examining the catastrophic war in the Congo. The series, "Heart of Darkness," looks at the conflict that has taken more than 2.5 million lives over the past three years, a conflict that is being called "the first African World War."

The first time "Nightline" originated abroad was in March, 1985, from Johannesburg, South Africa. It was a critically acclaimed and highly provocative week-long series which won the first Gold Baton ever presented in the history of the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award, and was cited as "the most extraordinary television of the year."

"Nightline" originated from Manila in February 1986, the week Philippine President Marcos was driven into exile. "Nightline in the Holy Land," which originated live from Israel, April 25-29, 1988, examined the Arab-Israeli conflict and prospects for peace in the Middle East. The series won a duPont-Columbia Award, the National Press Club's Hood Award, the Sigma Delta Chi Award, a National Headliner Award, the Overseas Press Club's Edward R. Murrow Award and two Emmys, among other honors.

In May and June of 1989 "Nightline" provided extensive coverage of the Chinese student demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, the subsequent mass killings and the Chinese government's ensuing repression and punishment of its citizens. Ted Koppel anchored from Beijing, June 14-16.

From February 7-15, 1990, "Nightline" returned to South Africa after five years to examine that nation, following Nelson Mandela's release from prison.

In August, 1990, Mr. Koppel was the first Western journalist to report from Baghdad following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, filing the first live reports, hostage interviews and video from Iraq, as well as conducting an exclusive interview with Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz. "Nightline" broadcast extensive nightly coverage of the Gulf War in 1991, while Mr. Koppel anchored the program from Cairo, Amman, Baghdad, Geneva, Dhahran and Kuwait City.

Mr. Koppel reported from Moscow in October, 1993, in a program entitled "Moment of Crisis: Anatomy of a Revolution." This broadcast, which has been honored with citations from the Overseas Press Club and the National Headliner Awards, examined the coup attempt in Russia from behind the scenes.

Additionally "Nightline" has covered the war-torn areas of Bosnia, Rwanda and Haiti, with reports focusing on the U.S. role in Bosnia, world reaction to the massacre in Rwanda -- with an examination of possible solutions -- and the American exodus from Haiti and the effects of the trade embargo there.

In 1998 Koppel reported a series of four programs from Honduras on the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch. Koppel reported two special series from the Balkan region, an examination of the crisis in Kosovo and a look at the challenges facing NATO peacekeepers.

In addition to using satellite technology to bring guests together from around the world, "Nightline" also created the live "town meeting." The concept was first introduced on June 5, 1987, when Mr. Koppel moderated a four-hour-long town meeting on AIDS.

Over the years the town meeting has become a feature of the broadcast. Other town meetings have included: The November 6, 1987, three-hour "Nightline: A National Town Meeting on Wall Street and the Economy"; the highly regarded "Nightline in the Holy Land," which aired April 26, 1988; and two town meetings in 1990 -- one on February 14, featuring live interaction with panelists and an audience representing the spectrum of political opinion in South Africa -- and a second on June 21, marking Nelson Mandela's first in-depth interview on his first trip to the United States.

Following the Oklahoma City bombing in 1996, "Nightline" produced an extraordinary town meeting with the people of Decker, Michigan, on what the Oklahoma bombing and the arrest of suspects from their community meant to them. The day after the school shootings in Littleton, Colorado, "Nightline" traveled to Jonesboro, Arkansas, another site of school shootings, for a town meeting on school violence.

Also in 1996, "Nightline" inaugurated a new feature on the program to regularly report on race in America. "America in Black and White" premiered as a five-part series in May, 1996, and has continued on a periodic basis. The programs have received a number of awards, including News and Documentary Emmy Awards.

Ted Koppel and former "Nightline" producer Kyle Gibson are the authors of "Nightline: History in the Making and the Making of Television." Published by Times Books, it tells the inside story of a news program unique to broadcast television.

Mr. Koppel is a veteran broadcast journalist who has been with ABC News for 36 years. Prior to joining "Nightline," he served for nine years as ABC's chief diplomatic correspondent. Previously he was ABC News' bureau chief in both the Hong Kong and Miami bureaus. Mr. Koppel is based in Washington, D.C.

Mr. Koppel and "Nightline's" correspondents, producers and editors have won every major award in broadcast journalism more than once, including six Peabody Awards, ten duPont-Columbia Awards, ten Overseas Press Club Awards, scores of Emmys and many others.

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