‘Nightline’ Mines for Nuggets From an Infomercial

You won’t find Ted Koppel at this year’s Democratic National Convention, just as he was an on-site no-show for the Republican gathering in Philadelphia.

Koppel, the esteemed anchor of ABC’s “Nightline,” pointedly left the Republican convention after its second night in 1996, declaring the proceedings “more of an infomercial than a news event.” This year, with Koppel again staying home, “Nightline’s” mandate at both major party conventions has been to take that infomercial and use it as a jumping-off point for more penetrating analysis of campaign issues.

Far from defensive about the diminished time provided by the broadcast networks, Koppel said Monday that cable channels are being excessively generous with their wall-to-wall convention coverage.

“They do it because they can,” Koppel suggested. “I’m not sure that’s what journalism requires of us.”

With Koppel keeping his distance, the task of reporting from the convention has largely fallen to ABC News correspondent Chris Bury and a team of producers in Los Angeles, who, in typical “Nightline” fashion, continue to nip, tuck and tinker with the program until its live broadcast to the East Coast.

Indeed, last week, two Reform Party candidates were actually in the studio waiting to go on when the producers decided to change directions, delaying that story to another night.

On Monday, Bury and company were furiously working on a quartet of taped pieces to open the program each night of the convention, typically running 6 to 7 minutes apiece.

By leaving in ‘96, Bury said, Koppel was sending a signal “that conventions are no longer so [newsworthy] that an anchor has to be there to signify their importance.”

“If there is real news, if there is more than an infomercial, we’ll go with it,” added “Nightline” executive producer Tom Bettag, who has remained in Washington, D.C. The challenge, he noted, is how to provide a service to the viewer “if there’s no ‘there’ there.”

By the time the “Nightline” staff’s day began at 8 a.m. Monday in the form of a conference call with producers in Washington, the week’s lineup of stories had already been blocked out: Monday’s show dealt with, as Bury put it, “How does Al Gore deal with a [Bill Clinton] legacy that he wants to embrace and escape simultaneously?”

The tentative premise for Tuesday hinged on whether the political left has been left out of the convention.

Tonight’s broadcast looks into the Hollywood-Washington connection and, despite presumptive vice presidential nominee Joseph I. Lieberman’s broadsides at Hollywood, several top TV producers declined invitations to appear. (Bury missed the conference call to interview William Bennett, an outspoken critic of Hollywood and a Lieberman ally.)

Thursday’s will chronicle the evolution of Al Gore as a candidate.

The planning, however, plays out against its own mini-drama: Bury’s report will almost certainly lead Monday’s program, but Koppel’s daughter is due to give birth any moment, and there’s some question whether he will be available to host the show.

Uncertainty also lingers about what guests will be booked during the week. There was still a chance Monday morning, for example, that Hillary Rodham Clinton would appear that evening, but “nobody should hold their breath at this point,” said senior producer Richard Harris.

The Los Angeles staff huddles in the small conference room, sparsely furnished except for a dozen TV monitors tracking what’s on ABC and elsewhere. Rick Rockwell, the would-be groom from Fox’s “Who Wants to Be a Multi-Millionaire?,” can be seen on ABC’s “The View” in the background.

Among potential breaking developments that could derail convention plans is news that a Russian nuclear submarine has sunk, with talk of a rescue mission. Producer Leroy Sievers, in Washington, admits the scenario “sounds like a bad movie” and could merit coverage later in the week depending on how it plays out.

‘We Know About the Clinton Speeches’

Correspondents like Bury take as a given that all their work crafting a taped piece can be scuttled at a moment’s notice as “Nightline” keeps a close eye on other developments, including protests outside Staples Center.

“Were something huge to happen, we would ditch this program in a second and cover that,” Bury said. “The same goes for any other night. But if there isn’t, if you don’t have a target set, you’re going to be in trouble.”

With President Clinton as the main attraction Monday, the consensus is that the evening may run late. His address is scheduled to start around 7:30 p.m. and last 30 minutes. “But we know about the Clinton speeches,” Harris said.

The meeting concludes, and producer Madhulika Sikka segues to a small edit bay to assemble Monday’s report. A different producer supervises each day’s package, while Bury continues polishing his scripts and conducting interviews.

Even before the convention opened, the volume of coverage itself has become politicized. Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson wrote to major network news divisions stressing that they should devote “not a minute more” to the Democrats than they did the GOP in Philadelphia.

“I’ll leave it to the politicians to keep score, and we’ll report the news,” Koppel responded.

According to Bettag, the audience will accept variations in the time afforded to each convention as long as such deviations are explained. “If you give them a good reason, they’ll buy it,” he said.

As expected, Hillary Clinton does not appear. Beyond Bury’s report, which incorporates passages of Clinton’s speech, ABC relies on political analysts David Gergen and George Stephanopoulos to characterize “what are they really trying to sell here,” Bettag said. Within ABC, the pair have been dubbed “Gergenopoulos,” the same sort of melded monster Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein became (in their case “Woodstein”) while covering the Watergate scandal in the early 1970s.

Producers assume that most viewers have seen at least part of the prime-time festivities. “By the time 11:35 rolls around, what we can offer people is perspective and context,” Harris said. “We’re purposely trying not to do just a highlights program.”

Later in the day, Koppel’s daughter goes into labor, meaning Bury may have to anchor the show. Just in case, Bury puts his other work on hold and begins pounding out an introduction.

After 6 p.m., however, the call comes: Koppel has his second grandson and he will anchor the broadcast, but from New York instead of Washington.

On a second front, “Monday Night Football”--a preseason rematch of Super Bowl combatants St. Louis and Tennessee--is running long, threatening to cut into Hillary Clinton’s speech. The game finally ends about 7:10 p.m. Pacific time, which doesn’t pose a logistical problem as it turns out--despite some tense moments--because the convention is running late as well.

President Clinton, not surprisingly, goes past his allotted time. His speech lasts until 8:40 p.m., meaning that “Nightline” won’t get on the air in most of the country until well after midnight on the East Coast. The crew shrugs it off. Being flexible, after all, comes with the territory.