Lets just get this out of the way first; Newt Gingrich wouldn’t have had a good example of a successful open marriage even if Marianne said yes. A successful open marriage would require that he ask that question before he starts cheating on his significant other and before, y’know, the entire marriage to begin with. No, Newt Gingrich is just a cheater.

However, the disdain that people have had in the coverage hasn’t been about Gingrich’s past, but about the question itself. You can hear it in the way media figures say the term “open marriage,” they’re disgusted by the very concept. And that just blows my mind.

Every single year, we have, it seems like, a dozen or so stories about public figures getting caught cheating. And that’s just the politicians! Then we have someone like Gingrich talking about how he’s made mistakes and he’s learned and people believe attempt to believe it at face value. Well, you know what? When men (or women) have spent their entire life cheating on partners, nine times out of ten they don’t stop. They just get better at it.

Wouldn’t it be better if, instead of electing a guy who’s good at hiding his tracks, we elected someone who was good at being honest about themselves? Would it be such a bad thing to have a candidate who just readily admitted to himself that he or she was bad at monogamy and had gotten a working and amicable arrangement with his or her spouse?

Now, this wouldn’t be a candidate like Gingrich. This wouldn’t be someone who hypocritically impeached a president for cheating when he himself was screwing around. This would be someone who had just found something that worked for their marriage.

Part of me thinks it’s silly to even consider this. In our modern era, we haven’t even had a single president, let alone one who’s dating while married. However, on the other hand, we have elected tons of presidents who sucked at monogamy. We can all assume that some or most of their wives knew about it. So, is it too hard to imagine that they consented as well? I mean, there were always rumors that the Clintons had an “arrangement.” What if those rumors had actually turned out to be true and what if they had admitted it? Would it make us think less of them? I know it wouldn’t for me because it would confirm that Bill isn’t just a liar in his personal life.

Now, I should point out that I’m not and never have been married. And I have thought about how I would react if a woman I was seeing asked to open the relationship. And, you know what, I’m really not sure I could. However, that doesn’t make me think less of people that do. In fact, it causes me to respect them for accomplishing something I probably couldn’t.

Here’s something I can do though; cheat. We all can. Because it’s way easier to lie than to be honest. So why are we considering that a virtue?

If Newt Gingrich wasn’t a hypocritical serial cheater but, instead, an honest spouse in a pre-arranged open marriage, why should we see that as a character flaw? Why on earth do we in America prefer to listen to a known liar say they’ve changed just so we can nod our heads and look the other way?

RELATED: Drudge Throws Political World Into Chaos With Exclusive On Newt Gingrich Ex Interview

Sadly no! Despite heightened expectations for some Lewinsky-esque exclusive information, as it turns out, Nightline aired no real smoking gun. The centerpiece of the report — the “open marriage” money quote — was leaked many hours earlier. It should be pointed out that Ross earlier tried to play down anticipation on The View, saying “I don’t really think it’s as much of a bombshell as some think it’s going to be,” adding that Marianne Gingrich had spoken in “measured tones.”

Even still, politicos were sorely disappointed. “I kinda feel ripped off by that Nightline interview, Al Capone’s Vault now has competition for biggest “no ‘there’ there” TV moment. #Fail” tweeted Daily Caller‘s Derek Hunter.

“Doesn’t feel to me like there was enough new material in the Nightline interview to reverse Gingrich’s momentum,” added The New York Times‘s Nate Silver.

Watch the report via ABC News below:

Editor’s note: This post has been edited since its original posting – Jon Nicosia

In the brief clip, the former Mrs. Gingrich tells Brian Ross that the current White House hopeful tried to talk her into an open marriage, but she refused. Politically, the revelations from this interview threaten to nullify a day of devastating hits to frontrunner Mitt Romney.

RELATED: Drudge Gets Exclusive, But When Will ABC Air Interview With Marianne Gingrich?

The clip is creepily intimate, as Ms. Gingrich tells Ross that her then-husband told her “You want me all to yourself. Callista doesn’t care what I do.”

“What was he saying to you, do you think?” Ross asks.

“Oh, he was asking to have an open marriage,” she responds, “and I refused.”

“He wanted an open marriage?”

“Yeah, that I accept the fact that he has somebody else in his life,” Gingrich responds. She says she told him “No, no. That is not a marriage.”

RELATED: Newt Gingrich On Today: ‘I’m Not Going To Say Anything Negative About Marianne’

It’s unclear how much Newt Gingrich’s already known, patriotism-fueled adulterous past inoculates him against this, at least with primary voters, but should the former Speaker somehow win the Republican nomination for president, this kind of thing will surely damage him anew. The timing here is awful for him, as frontrunner Mitt Romney has been dealt a series of blows.

The announcement that Romney actually lost the Iowa Caucuses, the attacks on his record at Bain Capital, negative buzz surrounding his yet-to-be-revealed tax returns, Rick Perry‘s exit from the race, and anticipated endorsement of Newt Gingrich, and reporting on his Cayman Island investments all figured to weaken Romney going into this weekend, but Gingrich may now be unable to capitalize on all of that. Can Rick Santorum possibly close the gap in time to take advantage of all of this?

Here’s the clip, from ABC News:

RELATED: Mitt Romney Cops To Tax Rate ‘Closer To 15%’ And ‘Not Very Much’ From Speaking Fees

According to ABC News’ Brian Ross, Romney holds up to $8 million in investments in the Cayman Islands, and while Romney’s campaign says he derived no tax advantage from those investments (likely a true statement, since Romney’s tax returns will tell the tale soon enough), the funds he invests in help other investors avoid paying US taxes:

Romney campaign officials and those at Bain Capital tell ABC News that the purpose of setting up those accounts in the Cayman Islands is to help attract money from foreign investors, and that the accounts provide no tax advantage to American investors like Romney. Romney, the campaign said, has paid all U.S. taxes on income derived from those investments.

“The tax consequences to the Romneys are the very same whether the fund is domiciled here or another country,” a campaign official said in response to questions. “Gov. and Mrs. Romney have money invested in funds that the trustee has determined to be attractive investment opportunities, and those funds are domiciled wherever the fund sponsors happen to organize the funds.”

…Tax experts agree that Romney remains subject to American taxes. But they say the offshore accounts have provided him — and Bain — with other potential financial benefits, such as higher management fees and greater foreign interest, all at the expense of the U.S. Treasury. Rebecca J. Wilkins, a tax policy expert with Citizens for Tax Justice, said the federal government loses an estimated $100 billion a year because of tax havens.

This revelation plays right into the anti-Romney narrative that he’s an out-of-touch zillionaire who cares less about American jobs than he does about adding to his own wealth, and unless this is just the tip of some much larger iceberg, he would be well-served to get those tax returns out now. The trickling out of stories like this will be the death of a thousand cuts for Romney’s candidacy.

RELATED: Chris Christie Says Mitt Romney Should Release Tax Returns Now

The Cayman story is just part of a wave of terrible news for the Romney campaign today. The announcement that Romney actually lost the Iowa Caucuses is probably too late to help Rick Santorum all that much, but it drastically undercuts Romney’s electability/inevitability argument. Rick Perry‘s exit from the race, and anticipated endorsement of Newt Gingrich, is also a major blow to Romney’s lead in South Carolina.

The only hopeful sign for Romney is the promise of that bombshell Marianne Gingrich interview, which could damage Romney’s chief rival going into the primary. You can bet his campaign will be tuned in, fingers crossed.

Here’s Nightline’s report on Romney’s Cayman investments, from ABC:

Four years ago, 14 year-old Angie Varona snapped some sexy, semi-nude pictures of herself and posted them online for her then-boyfriend. The password she used to protect the gallery was hacked, the photos spilled out onto the rest of the Internet, and predictably creepy things happened from there.

On Thursday, Nightline profiled Varona, now 18. And, in between shots of her sobbing over the torment of the pictures being leaked and schoolmates calling her names, the show managed to proudly display — to a national television audience — at least 20 of the photos that have ruined her young adulthood.

The voiceover narration by co-anchor Terry Moran began with a normal introduction to the teenager:

What happened to Angie Varona is every parent’s nightmare in the digital age; a cautionary tale for our time. Angie was 14, she had a boyfriend, her first. And like so many teens and young people today, she took some racy pictures of herself.

…and then it veered into territory that would usually end up with Chris Hansen walking out from curtains in the kitchen:

“So here they are, a few photographs of a 14 year-old girl in bra and panties, taken for her first boyfriend.”

The planning for this episode likely played out like this:

“We’re doing a segment about a teenage girl who has been traumatized because semi-nude pictures of her that she took when she was 14 have been passed around and viewed by millions of people against her wishes.”

“Perfect! What can go wrong?”

Lots of people may have never heard of Angie Varona before last night. Which is fine — it was a cautionary tale for parents and she agreed to be on the program. But if they felt the need to show photos, they could have at least kept the panning high and tight to her face. The flickering screen and skewed angles would have given away that it was from a computer. Instead, Nightline created, at best, a bit of unintentional comedy, and at worst, another traumatic episode for a teenage girl who made a massive mistake four years ago.

Watch the Nightline clip below, courtesy of ABC, and judge for yourself if the show went over the line:

In Fast and Furious, conservatives see a scandal that could take down the entire Obama administration, while liberals see a botched law enforcement operation that Congressional Republicans are overselling with a legislative hearing fishing trip. The mainstream media, meanwhile, has been covering the story, and following it to see where it goes, and in some cases, leading the charge.

It is in that context that you should evaluate conservative criticism of ABC News’ decision not to include the President’s response to Tapper’s Fast and Furious question in its broadcasts. Here’s a transcript of the exchange, from ABC News’ Nightline:

Tapper: “Just to change the subject from the economy, the ‘Fast and Furious’ controversy. Aside from some of the more wild charges out there, this is a big scandal. The Justice Department, the ATF was moving guns and some of them were tied to crime scenes. what was your response when you first heard about it?”

Obama: “Well I heard about it from the news reports. This is not something we were aware of in the White House and the Attorney General it turns out wasn’t aware of either. Obviously Eric Holder has launched a full investigation of this, it is not acceptable for us to allow guns to go into Mexico. Our whole goal has been to interdict aggressively in the flow of weapons and cash flowing south into Mexico because the Mexican president, President Calderon, has done a heroic job of trying to take on these transnational drug cartels. So this investigation will be complete, people who have screwed up will be held accountable but our overarching goal consistently has been to say we’ve got a responsibility not only to stop drugs from flowing north, we’ve also got a responsibility to make sure we are not helping to either arm or finance these drug cartels in Mexico. So it’s very upsetting to me to think that somebody showed such bad judgment that they would allow something like that to happen and we will find out who and what happened in this situation and make sure it gets corrected.”

Newsbusters‘ Scott Whitlock took exception to the omission (in the headline, NB says ABC “spiked” the question), especially in light of Nightline‘s inclusion of another segment:

ABC’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday pressed Barack Obama on the Fast and Furious gun scandal, but his network didn’t allow the question to appear on Nightline, World News or Good Morning America. (All played clips of the interview.) Instead, ABC found time to air Tapper and the President playfully discussing children’s books and the greatness of Dr. Seuss.

During the two-segment long Nightline interview, Tapper hyped, “At the school where we spoke, the President showed off his personal knowledge of children’s books.” The journalist informed Obama, “I’m a big Dr. Seuss guy.”

Here’s the clip that Whitlock was referring to:

Now, to an audience thirsty for any and all things Fast and Furious, that choice does seem absurd, but from a media standpoint, is it really so cut-and-dried? The Dr. Seuss clip is unusual and entertaining, a humanizing, unguarded moment for reporter and subject alike. Its news value rests largely in its behind-the-curtain vibe. The real question isn’t why they included the Seuss clip, but why the Fast and Furious question was omitted.

I reached out to ABC News for comment, but it’s rare for a network to comment on editorial decisions like this, and the reasoning is pretty obvious to me. When I got the transcript of the interview, I actually searched it to see if there was an F&F question, knowing the keen interest that many of our readers have in the story. The President’s response, however, was nothing new, and in the absence of any other context in the interview, wasn’t all that newsworthy. While the exchange was short, editing in enough information to properly contextualize it would have proved time consuming, with little return.

On the other hand, since it was such a short exchange, you could argue that cutting some b-roll and other filler would have made it possible to include it. That’s a judgment call, one that news editors get to make. As Whitlock points out, the transcript is readily available, and easily publicized by websites like Newsbusters and Mediaite. You can decide for yourself if this was a case of “spiking,” but to all appearances, it’s just an example of sound editorial judgment.

“I understand the frustrations that are being expressed in those protests. In some ways, they’re not that different from some of the protests that we saw coming from the Tea Party, both on the left and the right. I think people feel separated from their government, that the institutions aren’t looking out for them and that the most important thing we can do right now is those of us in leadership, letting people know that we understand their struggles, we are on their side and that we want to set up a system in which hard work, responsibility, doing what you’re supposed to do, is rewarded, and that people who are irresponsible, who are reckless, who don’t feel a sense of obligation to their communities and to their companies and to their workers, that those folks aren’t rewarded.”

Obama also said that he’s “not spending a lot of time” worrying about who the Republican candidate is going to be, but guaranteed that the 2012 election is going to be a close one. He feels that even though his choices may have been correct, there are still difficult economic circumstances from which the country has not yet emerged. “That means people who may be sympathetic to my point of view,” Obama explained, “still kind of feel like, ‘Yeah, but it still hasn’t gotten done yet.’”

Watch the video of Obama comparing OWS to the Tea Party below, courtesy of ABC:

Tapper, who interviewed the President during the Jamestown, NC leg of his current American Jobs Act bus tour, asked the President what he thought of the current Republican field’s economic proposals.

The President took the opportunity to take a broader swipe, telling Tapper, “I’ve got to say, what I haven’t heard is anything new, across the board, whether it’s coming from Congress or from the Republican candidates so far.”

“9-9-9 is new,” Tapper interjected, referencing Herman Cain’s bumper sticker-simple economic plan, which took quite a beating at last night’s debate.

The President said, of the 9-9-9 plan “essentially what it says is that we’re going to make sure that the wealthiest among us pay less and we replace any revenues with a sales tax that would be a huge burden on middle class families and working families.”

“That’s not new,” he continued. “I remember a candidate who ran against me, Alan Keyes who was running against me in the Senate, had a similar kind of proposal.”

The President also ridiculed the concurrent themes of all the candidates’ proposals. “The overall thrust seems to be if we roll back regulations, and we lower taxes on those who are doing best, oftentimes by imposing more taxes on middle class and working class families, that somehow the economy is going to get better,” he said.

Tapper also asked about the President’s reelection campaign’s laserlike focus on Mitt Romney. Noting the amount of attention being given to Romney, he asked the President if he thought Romney would be the toughest challenger to beat.

“I genuinely am not spending a lot of time worrying about who their candidate is going to be,” said the President.

“I’m not asking if you’re worried about it,” Tapper interjected. “I’m asking if you’re thinking about it.”

The President pointed out the capricious nature of the race so far, saying, “We’ve already seen people who get enormous attention suddenly go by the wayside. Somebody else will be lifted up. They’ll go through the process and sometime next year they’ll have a nominee.”

“What I am certain of,” the President said, “is that there’s going to be a very clear contrast between whoever they nominate and their vision of where we should take the country and where I believe we should take the country.”

Tapper pointed out that “The math is tough for you: 47 percent of the country voted against you with everything going your way, pretty much. It’s not difficult to think that there are four million Americans who thought well, I gave him a shot. It didn’t work. Unemployment is still high. Let’s give this other guy another chance.”

President Obama responded with a canny description of how electoral politics and governing politics intersect for him, at this point. By getting Republicans to set politics aside and pass the components of the American Jobs Act, “there will be an awful lot of people out here doing better and are in a stronger position to dig themselves out of this very difficult economic circumstance we’ve been in.”

Tapper and the President also covered a wide variety of other topics, including the Fast and Furious gunrunning debacle. You can watch the full interview here. Here’s the clip, from ABC News:

“I thought the court was adopting procedures and rules that would confine the imposition of the death penalty into a very narrow set of cases. And they took special pains to have fair procedures. And over the years, the– I was disappointed to find they expanded the category of cases, rather dramatically later on,” Stevens explained.

Stevens, who was appointed by Republican President Gerald Ford in 1975, says that he was “rather disappointed” to hear GOP debate crowd cheer Rick Perry‘s execution record. “Maybe one believes, as certainly a lot of people sincerely do, that it is an effective deterrent to crime and will in the long run will do more harm than good,” he offers, admitting that he is not, in fact, one of those people. Rather, he suggests that capital punishment’s main function might be otherwise. “Being hard on crime has been– always– is politically popular, let’s put it that way,” he says.

And as for whether or not he would uphold President Obama‘s healthcare legislation if it passes through the Courts, he remained mum, offering only advice to current members. “If you’ve got a case to decide, just decide it on the merits,” he said, urging them to work within the realm of constitutional law and not politics. “I think that’s part of the job of a judge,” he counseled. “If a case is there, the judge, the court has a duty to decide it. I think they just have to decide it and not think about that particular consequence.”

Read the full transcript of their conversation here, or watch the video segment below:

Bono refused to let the controversy over his participation get in his head. “I’m really good at tuning that stuff out.” When McFadden asked Bono whether he had anything to say to the people who didn’t think he should be on the show, “I don’t have anything to say. I’m here, so what are you going to do?”

Dance partner Lacey Schwimmer said that Bono kicked some “serious butt” and he picked up on the moves really fast, the only trick was getting his body to handle all the pressure.

Bono said he hoped to be on the show as long as he can. Schwimmer said, “It’s in America’s hands at this point.”

It was evident from the interview that it wasn’t the controversy getting to Bono but having to dance last. “It’s tough,” Bono exclaimed. “You’re in a state of nervousness all night!”

Watch the segment below via ABC News:

In her first television interview, the hotel maid who accused former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of trying to sexually assault her has spoken to Good Morning America‘s Robin Roberts. In the exclusive, Nafissatou Diallo recounts what she says happened in the hotel room at the center of the scandal, and tells Roberts she wants justice. “I want him to go to jail.” The interview, which aired first on GMA this morning and will continue on ABC World News and Nightline, was one of two interviews Diallo agreed to–the other was with Newsweek, in a cover story that hits newsstands today. “I want him to know that there is some places you cannot use your money, you cannot use your power when you do something like this,” she said on ABC.

ABC says there were no restrictions–nor compensation given–for the interview, which was an attempt by Diallo to put a face on her story:

Diallo acknowledged “mistakes” but also said they should not preclude Vance’s office from going forward.

“God is my witness I’m telling the truth. From my heart. God Knows that. And he knows that,” she said.

The woman whose accusations upended the politics of France and the workings of one of the world’s most prominent banking institutions was unequivocal in her assertion that Strauss-Kahn attacked her inside room 2806 at the Sofitel Hotel. She reenacted moments of the alleged assault, at one point kneeling on the floor to describe how she says Strauss-Kahn tried to force her to commit a sex act.

“I never want to be in public but I have no choice,” Diallo told ABC News, adding “Now, I have to be in public. I have to, for myself. I have to tell the truth.”

Lawyers for Strauss-Kahn insist the sex was consensual, and point to significant credibility questions regarding Diallo–questions that have pushed District Attorney Cyrus Vance to consider dropping criminal charges in the case. DSK laywers call the Diallo interviews a “circus” with a clear motive. “Its obvious purpose is to inflame public opinion against a defendant in a pending criminal case,” William Taylor and Benjamin Brafman wrote in a statement.

Watch it here, from ABC News:

In an investigation first aired tonight on ABC World News–and to be continued on Nightline–ABC News chief investigative correspondent Brian Ross talks to a former patient who sought help from a Christian counseling clinic owned by Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann and her husband, Marcus. The patient tells ABC News he was advised prayer could help free him of homosexual urges and that he could become “re-oriented.”

“[One counselor's] path for my therapy would be to read the Bible, pray to God that I would no longer be gay,” said Andrew Ramirez, who was 17-years-old at the time he sought help from Bachmann & Associates in suburban Minneapolis in 2004. “And God would forgive me if I were straight.”

The patient’s account conflicts with statements made by Marcus Bachmann, who ABC reports has disputed the clinic attempts to treat homosexuality. Claims to the contrary have been reported in The Nation and elsewhere, but ABC airs undercover video shot by a gay rights advocacy group last month, showing a counselor telling a patient that “with prayer and effort” he could learn to be attracted to women.

“We’re very proud of our business and all job creators in the U.S.,” Michele Bachmann told a reporter when asked about the clinic Monday.

Watch it here, from ABC News:

“This is definitely not about looking backward and telling her story, which has been well told and retold,” said ABC spokesperson Julie Townsend. Instead Smart will be providing a perspective that only she and very few others can offer: “helping viewers understand missing-persons stories from the perspective of knowing what a family experiences when a loved one goes missing”

The Daily Beast makes an interesting point about how ex-athletes and ex-politicians often become successful pundits, using their experiences to add depth to news reports. But this is a little different. Smart talking about people who are kidnapped isn’t quite the same as John Mcenroe reporting on tennis. Smart has always been outspoken about her kidnapping and it’s safe to say that her disappearance, escape and trial brought about a very high level of publicity, but she’s always been a tragic figure. To put her on a stage and have her, in a way, milk her tragedy for viewers is an interesting move by ABC.

That being said it is nice to see something good coming out of Smart’s ordeal: there are definitely worse career moves and if the Casey Anthony trial is any indication, Americans will always be interested in the sensationalist crimes on which Smart will be reporting.

(h/t Daily Beast)

In an interview certain to fuel another day’s debate over the not guilty verdict that stunned people watching the Casey Anthony murder trial, ABC’s Terry Moran talked to Jennifer Ford, previously known to reporters covering the Anthony trial as “juror number three.” In the interview, which aired last night on Nightline, Ford was firm that after three weeks of trial testimony, she was left with “no idea” if Casey Anthony killed her daughter, and believes she had no choice but to acquit Anthony on all felony counts in the case. “I did not say she was innocent. I just said there was not enough evidence.”

Questioned by Moran about the defense claim that Caylee Anthony died accidentally in the family swimming pool, Ford said that theory was easier for her to understand than the prosecutors’ case. “If there was a dead child in that trunk, does that prove how she died? No idea, still no idea.” Ford told Moran. “If you’re going to charge someone with murder, don’t you have to know how they killed someone or why they might have killed someone, or have something where, when, why, how? Those are important questions. They were not answered.”

Watch it here, from ABC News:

In an exclusive interview set to air on ABC World News and Nightline, Casey Anthony juror Jennifer Ford said she and the other jurors cried and were “sick to our stomachs” after voting to acquit Anthony of charges that she killed her 2-year-old daughter Caylee.

“I did not say she was innocent,” said Ford, who had previously only been identified as juror number 3. “I just said there was not enough evidence. If you cannot prove what the crime was, you cannot determine what the punishment should be.”

Ford described the jury as emotional and upset at their own vote, feelings that led the jurors to decide not to speak with reporters immediately after the verdict was read in court. “Everyone wonders why we didn’t speak to the media right away,” Ford said. “It was because we were sick to our stomach to get that verdict. We were crying and not just the women. It was emotional and we weren’t ready. We wanted to do it with integrity and not contribute to the sensationalism of the trial.”

Can’t stay up for ABC’s late-night news franchise, Nightline? The network’s bringing Nightline to you, with a 13-week summer series airing at 10 p.m. Primetime Nightline debuts June 22 with a five-part investigation into “the realm of the extra-sensory, the spiritual, and the experiences many call beyond belief.” The summer series is being overseen by recently promoted Nightline executive producer Jeanmarie Condon, who told Mediaite earlier this year Nightline was setting the bar for unique, go-anywhere and dig journalism. The summer show will continue that work, she says. “Stories that defy proof and perception are the ultimate adventure–and perfect for summer,” she said.

The first five installments feature reporting by Juju Chang, Bill Weir–who traveled to Nazareth, Rwanda, Spain and Bosnia–Terry Moran and Bob Woodruff.

Nightline’s summer series follows a four-part exploration of the mystery and science of the brain that aired in primetime last year.

As one morning show was announcing a major departure, another was enjoying a homecoming. ABC’s Good Morning America welcomed Lara Spencer back with a clip that featured Spencer trying to find her way to Times Square, including cameos from Desperate Housewives‘ Vanessa Williams, cast members of Grey’s Anatomy, the hosts of The View and Nightline. The clip also includes a hug from World News anchor Diane Sawyer.

“We have a family member who’s coming back home,” said co-host Robin Roberts as she introduced Spencer in front of a lively crowd outside GMA’s Times Square studios. (Spencer arriving in a cab thanks to money bummed from Sawyer)

Watch it here, from ABC:

New shows can take time to develop a following, of course, and it’s still early. In an interview with NBC’s in-house NBCUniversal Direct, Bashir described the intensity of preparing the program each day, especially his end-of-show commentary, “Clear the Air:” “At the end of the show, I’ve been writing an op-ed piece every day, this is the fourth week, so it’s been murderous to try and do that.”

Bashir may get a boost by taking his show to London for the Royal Wedding, and he hopes to try and find “ways to deliver stories that resonate with Americans–from London.”

Watch it here, from NBC:

The massive quake hit at 2:46 p.m. Japan time, which was 12:46 a.m. ET in the U.S. Nightline, the resurgent late night news program that finished the February sweeps with some of its best ratings ever, was over, but set for re-broadcast on the West Coast, where it was still just 9:46 p.m.

In Los Angeles, Fox-owned KTTV-TV, seeing the initial reports from Japan, decided to throw out the late news rundown and swarm the story, the hourlong ten o’clock late newscast ultimately stretching until 2 a.m. PT. “To me it was just a huge story,” KTTV news director Jose Rios told Michael Schneider at Franklin Avenue. “It was a big quake for one, and for us in earthquake country, that resonates broadly for us,” Rios said. “And while people think that the cable channels will be covering, the fact is, not everyone has cable. We thought it was a public service that everybody would be interested in.”

It’s exactly the kind of big, important story that Nightline viewers have come to count on their show for smart, live coverage. Had the quake happened at 9:45 p.m. ET, it’s beyond question the show would’ve been all over the story. But viewers on the West Coast didn’t get quake coverage Thursday night. As Broadcasting and Cable‘s Ben Grossman writes, the effect for Nightline viewers (like himself) was jarring:

While the show often has segments that are much breezier on any given night, it has shown again recently with huge events domestically and abroad the ability to dive into important topics when they break.
But when I flipped to KABC here in Los Angeles, I saw a taped piece about some Justin Bieber-looking kid from You Tube. When I flipped back a bit later to see if they had broken in, there was a taped interview with comedian Kathy Griffin.

At ABC News, a spokesman tells Mediaite there are no excuses. It was, simply, a bad call. “We should have gone live.”

And tonight, of course, Nightline will be a key part of the network’s intensive coverage plans for the quake and the tsunami, with ABC’s Christiane Amanpour and David Muir already en route to Japan, and a special hour of 20/20 set to complement a Nightline that will be devoted–as you’d expect–to the big story of the day.

The hard work at Nightline paid off. A brand that had been identified with Ted Koppel and the 70s and 80s found a new, fiercely dedicated core of viewers, who’ve recently launched the show to ratings success in late night, at the expense of David Letterman and Jay Leno. Nightline was helped by NBC’s chaotic decision to move Leno to primetime–and then back, and, Goldston believes, by doing something timeless: giving viewers content that’s actually interesting and important. “I think it’s true. More true than ever. People have limited time, they want to see things that are meaningful to them and are worth their time.”

Goldston’s mission now is to take his experience in late night and bring it to the hypercompetitive world in the morning, where GMA has trailed TODAY for years. Goldston says viewers won’t notice a change when he begins work Monday. They may soon see GMA’s hosts doing a lot more social media, a tool that the revamped Nightline uses effectively. “We look at the changes in the media landscape and the tools available to us and we’re not scaread by that,” Condon told Mediaite. “We embrace that and we’re excited by that. That’s vital.”

“Classic great storytelling with a modern twist,” Goldston said, noting that Nightline‘s decision to embrace social media energized its reporting, and its connection to viewers. “We have millions of people we can reach out to on social media. If you can tell them, Christiane’s got an interview with Mubarak, they watch. They respond to that.”

“Clearly this is an exciting moment for me,” said Goldston, who told us making the shift from late night to early morning in a weekend won’t be that difficult. “I don’t get much sleep anyway.”

Koppel, who joked about how he’s changed in three decades (the “ravages of time,” he said) and pointed out that he’s currently in a sling for a torn rotator cuff, said Iran, by comparison, has only grown in power and influence.

BBC WNA anchor Katty Kay asked about the significance of the release of the American hostages: “it was the day that ended that particular crisis, but it didn’t end the longer term crisis of America’s relationship with Iran”.

Koppel argued that Iran’s never been more powerful:

“On the contrary. I think with the benefit of hindsight, Katty, we can say that the crisis which appeared to be ending on that day was really just beginning and when that one speaker at the parade said ‘never again will we have an American taken hostage’ unfortunately he was all too wrong…”

“The great irony Katty is that here we are 30 years after the release of those hostages, after that moment of such great jubilation, and here we are now having put the Iranians in a position they never could have achieved for themselves: the overthrow of Sadam Hussein, Iran in a much stronger position in the Persian Gulf than they have been in generations.”

ABC’s Nightline, which Koppel led for years after the release of the hostages, marked the anniversary with an extended lease on life. ABC announcing the landmark late night newscast would remain in its traditional 11:35 p.m. timeslot, though it would be cut by five minutes, allowing an earlier midnight start time for ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel.

First and foremost, today ABC has definitively answered one of the recurring questions about Nightline and ABC News: The company firmly believes Nightline is a vital part of its successful late night strategy and Nightline will anchor the schedule at 11:35 PM. Period.

Last year, ABC told Jimmy Kimmel that he would get a new start time – moving to midnight effective February 4, 2011. Obviously, this fact will move up Nightline’s out-time. Both Nightline and Kimmel are valuable franchises for ABC for different reasons, and in discussing the shift, Anne Sweeney told me: “This is a strategic move that better leverages the strength and value of both Nightline and Jimmy Kimmel Live for our network. The midnight start for Kimmel keeps Nightline where it is, anchoring our late night lineup –where it regularly beats the competition— and gives Jimmy the chance to leverage that strong lead-in more effectively with a quicker connection to late night viewers, which will help him build on the great momentum his show has experienced over the past year.”

James Goldston and I have discussed this change and he is developing a new format to maximize the amount of Nightline’s editorial content and minimize the disruption to our program. I’ve seen initial plans and can assure you that our audience shouldn’t notice any change to this powerful, proven and successful show.

Sherwood says Nightline will be given thirteen hours of primetime programming for specials and expanded coverage through 2011.

The former governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty, says he will decide in the next few months on a 2012 presidential campaign. In the meantime, he’s talking about how that run–and facing former Alaska governor Sarah Palin–might shape up. Pawlenty insists nobody’s pulling any punches for fear of alienating Palin’s legion of die-hard supporters: “I don’t think it’s fair to say people are afraid of her,” Pawlenty tells ABC’s Terry Moran in an exclusive interview set to air Friday night on Nightline.

What Pawlenty will say is that Palin is “a force of nature” who has tremendous influence. He believes she can use that influence “for good, if she chooses to.”

Pawlenty admits that Palin got the job he’d been hoping for, in the form of John McCain‘s running mate.

“I started helping John McCain, not with the expectation of being his running mate, and then as that kinda grew, of course you get more interested,” he said. “Things happen in life for a reason.”

Watch the interview here, from ABC News:

ABC’s Nightline–once considered past its prime and on the verge of cancellation–has thundered to a ratings win for the fourth quarter 2010, beating both David Letterman‘s Late Show and Jay Leno‘s Tonight Show among total viewers.

In the just-completed fourth quarter ratings compiled by Nielsen, Nightline ranked No. 1 among total viewers (3.93 million) and adults 25-54 (1.61 million).

This represents the first-time that Nightline outperformed its late-night rivals in total viewers during a fourth quarter and the first time Nightline has beaten the comics among adults 25-54 over the course of a quarter–ever.

Here are the numbers:

(4th Quarter, 2010)

These ratings, it should be pointed out, represent only 30 minutes, and both Letterman and Leno run a full hour.

The short exchange, in full, goes as follows:

Palin: I’m looking at the lay of the land now, and … trying to figure that out, if it’s a good thing for the country, for the discourse, for my family, if it’s a good thing.

Walters: If you ran for president, could you beat Barack Obama?

Palin: I believe so.

As ABC points out, the clip comes on the heels of this week’s New York Times Magazine cover story, in which Palin tells writer Robert Draper that she is contemplating running for president. Maybe Palin gives more information about that possible run in the Walters interview, which will air December 9 at 10 p.m. Until then, we suppose, we’ll just keep reporting on Palin’s apparent indecision.

Good Morning America Weekend anchor Bill Weir steps in as the third Nightline anchor. Internal memo from Bashir and more below:

The MSNBC job will be a “daily afternoon program,” but there are no further details in the release. “I’ve followed Martin’s career for many years and have always admired his work,” said MSNBC President Phil Griffin. “He fits in with what MSNBC wants to be: he’s smart, original, and thoughtful. I couldn’t be happier to bring someone of his caliber to the network.”

Bashir writes, “It has been my privilege to partner with you at ABC and I shall forever be grateful for your professionalism, kindness and support,” while ABC News President David Westin writes in a note to staff: “Martin has been an important part of the successful Nightline effort. All of us owe him a debt of gratitude for his many contributions to ABC News during his six years here, and I know that all of us wish him well.”

Bashir joined ABC in 2004. There is no word yet on who takes Weir’s job at GMA.

All the details below…

Westin’s memo:

I’m pleased to announce that Bill Weir will be joining Terry Moran and Cynthia McFadden as a Nightline anchor. Since joining us in 2004, Bill has done some of our most innovative reporting from every conceivable venue, both as co-anchor of weekend GMA and for all of our other programs and platforms. He has traveled the globe covering breaking news and uncovering global trends, including his coverage of Afghanistan last January where he came under fire with American troops, his in-depth reports on the economic rise of China and India, and the primetime hours he’s done on topics ranging from the rise and fall of General Motors to the pursuit of happiness around the world. Bill has been at the forefront of our adoption of all that new technology makes possible, often shooting his own material in the field and embracing new forms of reporting now possible in the digital world.

Under the leadership of James Goldston, Nightline has done what few imagined possible five years ago: It has combined groundbreaking and important journalism with an appeal to the audience that has led it to grow while others in its time period have declined. I’m confident that the addition of Bill to James’ extraordinary team will ensure Nightline’s success in the years to come, while at the same time the entire division continues to benefit from Bill’s contributions.

As Martin Bashir just announced to the Nightline staff, he will be leaving ABC News next month for a position at NBC News. Martin has been an important part of the successful Nightline effort. All of us owe him a debt of gratitude for his many contributions to ABC News during his six years here, and I know that all of us wish him well.

Please join me in congratulating Bill on his new job and thanking Martin for his service to ABC News.

Bashir’s note:

My Dear Friends,

I wanted to let you know, as my close working colleagues for a considerable period of time, that I will be joining MSNBC/NBC – to work in both daily and long-form journalism.

Before I say anything more – I must acknowledge my debt of gratitude to each of you. It has been my privilege to partner with you at ABC and I shall forever be grateful for your professionalism, kindness and support. I do believe that we have always sought to reach for the very best in all our journalistic ventures.

In the process, we have become more than colleagues – and so, even as I prepare to leave, I know that our friendship (which began six years ago) will continue into the future.

I do trust that the show will continue to enjoy success and that you will be as welcoming of Bill Weir as you have been of me.

With all good wishes,

Martin

MSNBC’s announcement:

MARTIN BASHIR NAMED MSNBC ANCHOR AND ‘DATELINE NBC’ CONTRIBUTOR

NEW YORK – July 22, 2010 –Martin Bashir has been named MSNBC anchor and contributor to “Dateline NBC.” Bashir will anchor a daily afternoon program on MSNBC in addition to his new role with “Dateline NBC.” The announcement was made today by Phil Griffin, President of MSNBC. Bashir will begin at MSNBC and NBC News in September.

“I’ve followed Martin’s career for many years and have always admired his work,” said Griffin. “He fits in with what MSNBC wants to be: he’s smart, original, and thoughtful. I couldn’t be happier to bring someone of his caliber to the network.”

“I am absolutely delighted to be joining MSNBC and NBC,” said Bashir. “This is a rare and special opportunity – to host a daily news and current affairs show and also work on long-form journalism both at MSNBC and with ‘Dateline.’ This is an enormous privilege and I cannot wait to get started.”

Bashir is best known for making landmark documentaries including “Living With Michael Jackson,” which 27 million American viewers tuned in to watch in 2003 and prompted an extensive police investigation of the singer. He also conducted an exclusive interview with the Princess Diana, which remains the only television interview with her.

Most recently, Martin Bashir co-anchored ABC News’ “Nightline” since October 2005. He joined ABC’s newsmagazine “20/20″ in September 2004. His first work for ABC was a memorable investigation into the BALCO steroids scandal that accused former US track star Marion Jones of cheating. In May 2008, Bashir anchored a documentary on the Sistine Chapel for “20/20,” which marked the 500th year since Michelangelo began painting the ceiling frescoes.

Additionally, his contributions to “Nightline” include an exclusive interview with a soldier in a prison cell in Kuwait. The soldier has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the premeditated murder of Iraqi civilians.

The late-night news program also had its most second quarter viewers in six years.

Versus the competition, Letterman and NBC’s Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Nightline was the only show to increase since the same time last year. In the A25-54 demographic, Nightline‘s viewership increased by 6 percent, while Leno‘s and Letterman‘s fell by 27 percent and 3 percent, respectively.

Among total viewers, the ABC program’s viewership grew 2 percent. In another blow to the late-night comedian, Leno’s A25-54 and total viewers for the second quarter were the lowest in at least 18 years. Letterman’s total viewers are the lowest since 1993.

Although anchor Cynthia McFadden “doesn’t get it,” she’s not a bro, and the bros in the report love this thing.

“And now we turn to a marketing story – or is it?” introduced McFadden at the beginning of the segment, describing the phenomenon as “bros challenge each other with sweet Smirnoff cocktails. It is not responsible drinking, but it is a party prank that has gone viral.” (That was the last reference to the potential dangers of the activity, unlike the focus on Fox News last week.)

Then it was time for Jeremy Hubbard‘s report – who recently left the early morning anchor slot on World News Now, and was embedded in the underworld of icing bros. He profiled Jay Belin, creator of the “You Got Iced” tumblr and general that-guy. “The reason the game is so funny is because the product you’re chugging is gross,” explains Belin. Also: “It certainly has a very feminine quality to it and, you know, dropping to your knees has its own connotations.” (Wait, what…oh really.)

At the end of the report, you’ll see Belin gets a surprise icing from his bro, who says, “You know not to come out unarmed.” Even if it was just for the cameras, please know you live in a world where these people exist.

Not in the Nightline report is the fact that BrosIcingBros.com is currently down – either having been sold and awaiting relaunch or as part of some Smirnoff “measures.”

ABC gets iced below – enjoy the inevitable “Ice, Ice, Baby” song and introduction of the word “fratboyishness”:

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The show’s 6,817,000 total viewers was the most since the relaunch of the program in 2005.

The program nearly doubled the late night competition, as Jay Leno came in with 3,692,000 viewers and David Letterman had 3,454,000. In the A25-54 demographic it was more of the same, with ABC’s 2,290,000, NBC with 1,430,000 and CBS with 1,210,000.

Here’s a look at last week’s average for the late night shows. Nightline averaged just 3,640,000 total viewers.

The program was helped by a huge lead-in – the finale of Dancing With The Stars, which was a big winner during the 9pm and 10pm hour. The crossover between DWTS viewers and those who may be interested to hear what the guy who cheated on America’s Sweetheart has to say would likely be huge.

These overnight numbers are not official, but are not likely to be far off.

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