The persons who complained about the episode cite the supposed trauma to family members caused by hearing the names and seeing the pictures. That makes no sense. Anyone who has lost a family member in Iraq is very much aware of it already. Grief will occur whether the loss is acknowledged on a television show or not. Furthermore, most survivors interviewed about the "The Fallen" do not object. They want their relatives' names and faces known.
Nor has Sinclair necessarily won the approval from people deprived of the broadcast it likely expected.
ASHEVILLE - A somber crowd of nearly 100 gathered on the lawn of WLOS-TV's property in Biltmore Park late Friday night to protest the station's parent company's decision to black out a Nightline broadcast in which the names of more than 700 war dead were read.
"If they were my children, I'd want you to know their names,'' read a sign carried by one older woman, signaling the anger generated by Sinclair Broadcast Group's decision to pre-empt the Nightline broadcast in Asheville and seven of its other markets.. . .Sinclair aired a special program in place of Nightline. The program discussed the merits of the war and Sinclair's decision to pre-empt Nightline.
Illuminated by the glow of candles flickering in a light breeze, the protesters spoke quietly among themselves before organizers began reading the names of the 700 men and women who have died during the war in Iraq.
So what is it that those harassing Nightline really object to? I think what they oppose is the dissemination of information. If the program had consisted of cheerleading for the war they would not be up in virtual arms. But, it didn't. Instead one came face to face with facts — the faces of the Americans who have died in an ill-conceived invasion and occupation. It is much more difficult to sell 'heroic' myths about the war when the populace is presented with information. It is that harm to continued myth making these people fear.
Ted Koppel should be commended for his contribution to truth telling about a war that continues to claim lives, both American and Iraqi, daily.
Article comments
1 - RJ Elliott
. . .Sinclair aired a special program in place of Nightline. The program discussed the merits of the war and Sinclair's decision to pre-empt "Nightline."
This sentence appears twice. You might wanna edit it... :-]
2 - Mac Diva
Fixed. Thing published before I could do a cleanup.
I would be interested in reading a transcript from Sinclair's 'replacement' for that Nightline episode.
3 - joni
Too bad we can't see their pictures to prove your theory that more people of colour are in the military (and dying) than white folk.
If this is your fuzzy attempt at making amends for trashing Tillman it doesn't cut it sista. Only a direct apology will do. Not that I'm holding my breath. Cheers babe.
4 - Mac Diva
Sistuh Simpleton, there is a difference between 'disproportionate' and 'more.' That is the kind of simple distinction you always fail to grasp. You are hereby invited to take your vast stupidity elsewhere. It is not welcome on my threads.
5 - RJ Elliott
Mac, that sounded like a personal attack...
Anyway, you are correct that the issue is not the total number of deaths, but the supposed disproportionality of deaths.
I agree that minorites make up a larger percentage of the US military than their overall numbers in the US civilian population. But they tend to make up a smaller percentage of the killed-in-combat deaths than their overall representation in the military.
I really don't understand what your beef is here...
If you dislike the over-representation of people of color in the US armed services, that's mooted by the fact that the US military is an all-volunteer force. They willingly signed up. How can you gripe about that?
And if you dislike the number of minority deaths in combat, this complaint is mooted by the fact that minorities, overall, are more likely to survive in a war than their white counterparts.
And if the "white, male power-elite" are so gleeful about sending "the other" off to die in their phony wars, then how do you explain the dearth of women and homosexuals who are KIA?
6 - RJ Elliott
Your economic arguement (that poor minorities are "forced" to join the military due to being unable to find any other job) is highly suspect.
Women, on average, earn less than men, and are less likely to be employed. (This also applies to minorities vs. whites.)
By your reasoning, the all-volunteer US military should be composed of vastly more women than it currently is.
7 - joni
Looks like I hit a chord here. So nasty. :(
Your momma always said "stupid" is as "stupid" does oxyMORON.
"Disproportionate" or "more" makes no difference sista. You get the point don't you?
The Tillman's are still waiting.
8 - Mac Diva
It is directed at damn fool commenter, which is within the so-called rules. (Though obviously, there are equally clueless persons who are not commenters.) When persons of that sort participate in a forum it degrades the discourse. There are all kinds of issues involved in the Nightline episode worthy of discussion, all of which are way beyond the comprehension of the 'Joni' ilk. Let her save herself from her limitations by going elsewhere.
If anyone wants to see real recent personal attacks on a Blogcritic, I direct them to the remarks of RJ Elliott on this thread. Though I believe the rules to be ridiculous, their application is even moreso.
9 - joni
Oh Mac Diva you are so predictable. Can't you find other words in your thesaurus besides "ilk" and so on. It is so tiresome. And besides, it is a prejudicial statement because you are labelling me. But you are just too ignorant to understand that aren't you?
Sigh, I think I like you better when you are writing overtly racist propaganda. This sort of fluff (besides being a stupid and pointless post) is so out of character for you. And BTW, I have as much right to be hear as you do dear.
Your turn...
10 - Mac Diva
The word is 'here,' Joni. Intelligent people already know why women and gays are not as well-represented in the military as they might be. Now, take your alphabet book and move along.
11 - RJ Elliott
Gays aren't "allowed" in the military because of rules against open homosexuality in the barracks. But, if the "white, male, Christian power-elite" was truly interested in seeing "The Other" die in their "phony wars", they would encourage gays to join up, and sacrifice their lives for Imperialism and Plunder.
As for women, I guess I'm "uneducated." Why don't more women sign up?
After all, joining the military is just about getting a decent job, right?
12 - joni
Oh dear, you never tire of putting your foot in it don't you?
Change the topic, fuddle duddle and bluff your way through. That's what you are - just a blowhard farting in the wind. Your room must be rancid with the hot air that blows out that hole of yours.
"Here" there and everywhere dear girl. No matter where you open your stupid mouth I will be waiting, watching.
13 - Al Barger
Diva, I'm with you on commending Koppel et al for their fine program.
However, you shoot yourself in the foot with the big conclusion as to the content of The Fallen as "the faces of the Americans who have died in an ill-conceived invasion and occupation. It is much more difficult to sell 'heroic' myths about the war when the populace is presented with information."
See, that's just what bozos like Brent Bozell are saying that the show was: left wing propaganda against the war.
It was not. It was a simple reading of names. That's as neutral a presentation of facts as you could get.
14 - Mac Diva
That's my position regarding the war. I don't know what Koppel thinks. I agree that Nightline's presentation was straightforward, without any explicitly political content. Anyone who thinks it was Leftist propaganda is reading his own bias into it.
Meanwhile, people in Asheville (see my entry on the controversy) are already considering a challenge to Sinclair's license.
15 - Al Barger
Not liking Sinclair Broadcasting's editorial decision to not broadcast this one program really sounds WEAK.
That public rebuke from John McCain seems like just about the right level of punishment.
I say we give them a good cussing and let that one go.
16 - Steve Rhodes
Koppel said at the end of the program he was not opposed to the war.
Saturday in San Francisco, religious groups read and displayed the names of both Iraqi civilians and US soldiers who had died. I took some photos.
17 - Hal Pawluk
Just out of curiosity, why was Mac Diva attacked for something that I couldn't find anywhere in her post?
I was hoping the new house rules would have stopped that crap ...
Three brownie points to Al for getting back on topic.