Koppel is a journalist, whose show quite often looks like a talk show, because it has guests, it has a host, questions are asked, answers are provided. It looks like a talk show, similar to what Oprah Winfrey provides on a daily basis. As a matter of fact, in a recent poll of talk show hosts, Koppel came in among the top five, even though he is not, technically speaking, a talk show host. He is a journalist, asking people serious questions, generally about serious subjects. So even with the best will in the world, if someone wanted to impose or recommend the same standards of conduct for a talk show host and for a journalist, it would be impossible, from a practical point of view, to accomplish that end.
Talk shows come in many shapes and sizes.
Rush Limbaugh, for example, does a great deal of talking on his own, and actually provides not that much time for people to call in and express their own views. Other programs, run by other hosts, provide more time for questions and answers. A network like C-SPAN is under pressure to provide more time for questions, and less time for answers. And so we find that to be the case on C-SPAN as well as chat rooms, because we have to maintain, or try to maintain, a quick pace in the modern world of telecommunications. I do believe that seven debates, scheduled well in advance, predictable, serious, constitute a wonderful way of providing information about the candidates and their views to the prospective voter.