NIGHTLINE Will Again Name Those Who Died In Service

(From The Philadelphia Inquirer -- By Gail Shister)

More than one year and 900 deaths later, all's quiet on the NIGHTLINE front.

TED KOPPEL's first tribute honoring Americans killed in Iraq triggered a backlash before it aired on ABC on April 30th, 2004.

Thus far, not a peep about Monday's Memorial Day edition of THE FALLEN, announced Tuesday, says NIGHTLINE chief TOM BETTAG.

"I'm happy to say we haven't heard anything from the affiliates or the SINCLAIR GROUP. It was a major issue last time, which concerned us. We don't expect to draw much fire. The show was deeply misunderstood last year."

SINCLAIR BROADCAST GROUP, a Maryland-based media company, pre-empted THE FALLEN on its eight ABC affiliates last year.

SINCLAIR labeled the broadcast a political statement "disguised as news content," and accused NIGHTLINE of having an agenda to undermine the war effort. Koppel called the statements "beneath contempt."

The expanded NIGHTLINE featured Koppel reading aloud the names of 721 troops killed in Iraq since the start of the war. Corresponding photos, with name, military branch, age and rank, appeared on-screen.

Memorial Day's THE FALLEN (11:35 pm EDT/PDT) will include the names and faces of the 900-plus service members who have died in Iraq, as well as Afghanistan, since May 1st last year.

The expanded program is expected to run until about 12:20 am.

The fallen Americans "deserve to be recognized, and to have people know they're more than just a number," Bettag says. "It saddens me that something done in good faith was misunderstood."

Because last year's FALLEN ran during the May sweeps, some accused NIGHTLINE of looking for ratings. (In fact, Bettag says, they expected low numbers, until the dispute erupted.) This year, the May sweeps will end tomorrow.

Still, Bettag is bracing for complaints. "In a country as divided as ours, I'm sure there will be people who question our motives. But we were comfortable with that last year, and we're comfortable with it this year."