Was there too much press coverage of the recent TWA hijacking? Were reporters and anchormen too involved in the day-to-day coverage? Did the networks allow the terrorists to use TV as a platform for their beliefs?
These and other questions will be explored when Ted Koppel hosts a 90-minute ”Viewpoint” special at 10:30 p.m. on ABC-Ch. 7. The show, which is shown four times a year and analyzes and criticizes broadcast journalism, will pre-empt ”Nightline.” It will air live from George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Analysts will include Roone Arledge, president of ABC News and Sports;
Lawrence Grossman, president of NBC News; and Benjamin Bradlee, executive editor of the Washington Post. Edward Joyce, president of CBS News, and a Reagan administration official also have been invited.
In the audience will be four ”witnesses” who were part of the crisis
–hostages, family members and reporters.
A portion of the show will originate in Algonquin, Ill., where former hostages and their families will be interviewed.
