MGP2006 attendee and Huffington Post columnist Steven Brant (trimtrab@sprynet.com) writes that former ABC Nightline host Ted Koppel's July 17, 2006, debut on The Discovery Channel is a chance for Koppel to showcase a group of Nobel Prize winners whose issues are not getting attention. "I couldn't help but be moved by their decency, their sincerity," Koppel is quoted as saying. "In the final analysis, what's going to change human behavior if not some people setting an extraordinary example?" Important news needs to be covered, says Brant, and it doesn't. As a result, he says, "the public
never learns what it needs to know to (a) have hope and (b) potentially take constructive action!" Adds Brant: "I am thrilled that Ted Koppel sees this problem, too."
ORIGINAL URLS:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-koppel12jul12,1,3336894.story
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060712/LIVING/307130005/1004
Here's an excerpt of Associated Press writer David Bauder's July 12 dispatch, headlined on the wire: "Koppel's latest quest: bringing thinkers to fore: The ex-ABC newsman gathers a panel of Nobel laureates for his first Discovery Times Channel cable special."
[Koppel's] . . . Discovery Times special, "Petra: A Quest for Hope," is an outgrowth of Koppel's participation in last month's conference in Jordan that drew together Nobel laureates to talk about world problems. Koppel said he had been invited by one of the organizers, Elie Wiesel, to moderate a seminar. Upset about the lack of attention the conference received -- Koppel dryly notes in his introduction how many more people cared about the "American Idol" finale -- he said he asked Discovery executives whether he could put together some sort of show. Most of the program is a discussion between Koppel, the Dalai Lama, Irish peace activist Betty Williams, literature award winner Wole Solinka and Columbia University medical researcher Eric Kandel."I couldn't help but be moved by their decency, their sincerity," Koppel said. "In the final analysis, what's going to change human behavior if not some people setting an extraordinary example?"