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| | Ted Koppel's embarrassing debut as a Times columnist. - By Jack Shafer - Slate Magazine |
 | | As Koppel writes in yesterday's (Jan. 29) debut column, "And Now, a Word for Our Demographic," the invitation came from an "editor friend of mine," so the fault belongs to whoever assigned, accepted, and edited or rewrote Koppel's self-indulgent, self-congratulatory, late-to-the-party, and punishingly obvious 1,500-word piece about the state of television news. |
 | | Koppel's dubious ascent reminds me of the syndicated columnist who, after Pope John Paul II launched his own syndicated column, announced he was going to start writing encyclicals on the side. |
 | | Koppel wants his readers to believe—as he does—that a golden age of broadcasting existed "30 or 40 years ago," before the cable Mongols invaded, before the deregulation of broadcasting, before the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine. |
| www.slate.com /id/2135100 (1891 words) |
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