New Nightline: Bashir’s The Odd Man Out

Tom Shales waited two weeks to review Nightline:

“ABC’s ‘Nightline’ might as well be retitled ‘Night Light,’ but not because it’s illuminating. No. The late-night news program now is simply more about style than content, and the style isn’t all that special.”

Shales’ harshest assessment is reserved for Martin Bashir. He “might as well be from south Pluto,” he says. “He is jarringly incompatible with his colleagues, and he slows the program with the old-fashioned formality of his questioning. He also manages to combine solemn pretentiousness with a hefty trace of the tabloid.”

Shales also believes the three-anchor format “is mainly just irritating. You never know who’ll pop up from where after a commercial break. It would be nice to see the anchors side by side in the same room once in a while; otherwise, it appears they aren’t on speaking terms.” Here’s the full critique…