Brian.Indrelunas.com

Tonight's broadcast will be very simple. Ted will introduce the show, and then for the next 40 minutes, he will read the names, and we will show the photographs, of all those killed in Iraq. But of course, nothing is simple.
 
There is so much that I want to say about tonight's broadcast, about how it was conceived, what our thinking was, why we are doing it. It seems that Ted and I have been doing nothing but talking to reporters and radio and television stations for days now. But in the end, I don't think it matters what we think. I think what's important is what all of you think. As I have said many times, whether you are for the war or against it, these men and women, whose pictures you will see tonight, have paid the ultimate price in our names. We think it is only fitting that for one night, we present their names. All I would hope is that all of you who watch, like all of us who are working on it, will take a moment at least to think about that sacrifice.

–Leroy Sievers, Executive Producer
Nightline Daily Email: Today

We're going to do something different, something that we think is important. Friday night, we will show you the pictures, and Ted will read the names, of the men and women from the armed forces who have been killed in combat in Iraq. That's it. That will be the whole broadcast. Nightline has been reporting on the casualties under the heading of "Line of Duty." But we realized that we seemed to just be giving numbers. So many killed in this incident, so many more in that attack. Whether you agree with the war or not, these men and women are serving, are putting their lives on the line, in our names. We think it is important to remember that those who have paid the ultimate price all have faces, and names, and loved ones. We thought about doing this on Memorial Day, but that's a time when most media outlets do stories about the military, and they are generally lost in the holiday crush of picnics and all. We didn't want this broadcast to get lost. Honestly, I don't know if people will watch this for thirty seconds, or ten minutes, or at all. That's not the point. We think this is important. These men and women have earned nothing less. One point, we are not going to include those killed in non-hostile incidents. There's no disrespect meant here, we just don't have enough time in this one broadcast. But they are no less deserving of our thoughts. I hope that you will join us for at least part of "The Fallen" on Friday.

—Leroy Sievers, Executive Producer
Nightline Daily Email: Tuesday

I am swamped dealing with tomorrow night's broadcast. This has become far more controversial than I ever expected. But there is one important point. Because of time constraints, we had decided that we could only read the names of those killed in combat. This would have left out more than 200 other service members who were killed. None of us were happy with that. I received a phone call from the father of a soldier who was decorated for bravery, but was killed in a truck accident on his way back from the front. His father asked how could we possibly not include his son and the others? The answer is that we couldn't. We have been given extra time by ABC so that we can include all of those killed in Iraq. This means that Nightline will run 40 minutes tomorrow night. Whether it's for the entire broadcast, or just for twenty seconds, I hope that you will join us tomorrow night, and reflect in your own ways on the sacrifices made by these men and women.

—Leroy Sievers, Executive Producer
Nightline Daily Email: Thursday