Koppel Joins New York Times As Columnist

Leaving ungrateful ABC was the best thing that ever happened to Ted Koppel. (And boy is "Nightline" a shell of its former self now.) First he was wooed by HBO et al before becoming editorial director of the Discovery Channel, where Koppel will produce a series of specials (including more Town Hall meetings). Now the New York Times has announced he'll pen a regular Op-Ed column for the newspaper, according to the Hollywood Reporter. It just says the column will appear "periodically" starting January 29 (a Sunday). There's also a hint that Koppel will take an active role in the TimesSelect online section by conducting Q&As.

Hey, anything that might take away space from the blander than bland David Brooks and John Tierney is fine by me. (I still miss William Safire.) Still, this is certainly new territory for Koppel -- typically, once you start working on an opinion column you stop working as a reporter. I can't think of anyone else who does both. Perhaps this was something Koppel always longed to do but felt wasn't appropriate while he had the platform of "Nightline."

NOTE: Koppel later announced he'd contribute to NPR as a news analyst. The NYT and NPR? It doesn't get more "liberal media" than that.