The television news program Nightline developed out of the widespread need to see in-depth news coverage of the Iranian Hostage Crisis on a nightly basis. In a strange twist, the event that caused so much frustration and anger on the part of Americans created a television show that routinely gave guests, sitting in different parts of the globe, the opportunity to talk to one another. Often, these were discussions among people who otherwise would never have met. In addition to exploiting new satellite technologies, the show expanded network news coverage into the late night time slot. This allowed the show to dispense with conventional news techniques, like edited interviews and prepared questions. In retrospect, the appearance of Nightline was improbable. The show that emerged from the 1979 hostage crisis began with future-anchor Ted Koppel thinking: "This story's gonna die." Needless to say, neither the story nor Nightline died.

Ted...