18 Months at “Nightline”: Israel in the Dock
An in-depth study refutes ABC's claim that the program's "coverage over time" is "even on the whole"
Ted Koppel
Measuring Balance at “Nightline”: Divergent Views Need Not Apply
"Nightline and ABC News devote a significant amount of time to both Israeli and Palestinian issues and we consider our record even on the whole," wrote Kerry Smith Marash, ABC's VP for editorial quality, in her Nov. 13 letter to CAMERA. If the Dec. 2 "Nightline" focusing on "Israeli issues"–the 27 pilots objecting to Israel's targeted killings followed by a piece on the "demographic bomb"–was meant to balance the tendentious Oct. 9 broadcast featuring the suicide bomber as victim and criticizing Israel's security barrier, then it was a dismal failure.
“Nightline”: Suicide Bombers As Victims
ABC humanizes the Palestinian side, including suicide bombers, but ignores Israeli victims.
Nightline’s Moral Equivalence
Journalists covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are often accused of drawing a false moral equivalence between Palestinian terrorist attacks and Israeli military anti-terrorist actions – what they frequently refer to as “the cycle of violence” or “tit-for-tat violence.” ABC Nightline’s Ted Koppel tried to deflect such criticism in advance by introducing an August 21, 2003 segment by Mike Lee about Israeli and Palestinian mothers who lost children.
“Nightline” Over the Line
ABC has once again stonewalled, refusing to correct a clear cut factual error from its June 11 "Nightline" report with Jim Wooten about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which lacked any semblance of objectivity and impartiality. The theme of Wooten's one-sided broadcast is that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is solely responsible for the ongoing violence, and that Palestinian President Yasir Arafat is a hapless victim bullied by Palestinian "militants."