Broadcast news

latimes.com | CNN, ABC Stir Rumors, No Bulletin

Looks like the news merger is still on, but not complete. One rumor had Ted Turner announcing it on Aaron Brown's Newsnight as soon as tonight, but Newsnight staff say no guests are scheduled. Ted Koppel joked on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart that he was "going to stop the merger of CNN and ABC."

Koppel's main beef with the 24-hour networks is that they can't disengage when a big story is in progress, so you get a stream of undigested information, instead of a considered perspective on events. Asked if any of the news networks had succeeded in offering something like Nightline, Kopple pointed to National Public Radio, which received a near standing-ovation response from the Daily Show crowd.