Koppel: Nets “Have Almost Surrendered Even The Pretense Of Civic Responsibility”

The nation’s major news outlets “have almost surrendered even the pretense of civic responsibility. That is not just a shame, but a travesty,” Ted Koppel said at the Overseas Press Club awards dinner in New York last night. He received the President’s Award last night.

E&P reports: “Acknowledging that when he began at ABC News staffing and coverage was even smaller than today, Koppel declared that at least then the mission of coverage was clear. ‘We knew who we were back then,’ he said. ‘The central mission in those days was still to do the hard news. Focus the attention of the American people on the news of the time.'”