“Koppel’s Gone, No More Bullshit”

Eric Deggans‘s goodbye: “Koppel’s incisive interviews have become a trademark of the show, which started in 1980 as an outgrowth of ABC’s coverage of the Iranian hostage crisis. The list of those who have felt the lash of his pointed questioning is long – from former Federal Emergency Management Agency head Michael Brown during Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath, to a Serbian man in 1999 who heard the anchor denounce his response to a question about atrocities in Kosovo as B.S.

“Actually, I don’t know if if you can use it in a family newspaper, but I never said B.S., I said b—s—,” Koppel corrected with pride. “And twice in one interview, as I recall. And we put it on air without bleeping it. “Koppel’s gone, no more b—s—‘; there’s your headline.”