LIBERTY BALANCE

Christian Science Monitor: Civil liberties and the war on terrorism still are in an uneasy coexistence a half year after Sept. 11. So far, the Bush administration seems sensitive to the idea that ensuring the nation's freedom from terror does not require a self-inflicted erosion of freedom, or basic rights and other foundations of democracy.
But critics have had to hound the administration on this point, especially with a president so determined to win the war on the battlefront and to capture terrorists in the U.S.
The latest case in point is the Pentagon's revised rules, announced last week, for the military tribunals that will try Al-Qaida or Taliban members seized abroad.
Reassuringly, the revisions were in response to criticism that the original proposals for the tribunals were so outside normal legal protections that they would hurt the cause for freedom globally.
Retaliation: The main purpose for the tribunals is to avoid putting judges and witnesses in jeopardy of retaliation, and to ensure secrecy for the methods of gathering intelligence in the ongoing war. Civilian courts can't always do that. But the revised rules also go a long way toward diminishing concerns about inquisitorial justice in closed settings. The rules include press coverage (though proceedings may be closed when classified material is being aired), provision of counsel for all defendants, and the requirement that guilt be established beyond a reasonable doubt.
There's still room for criticism. For example, appeals are limited to a review panel appointed by the secretary of Defense. Defendants won't have recourse to independent judges outside the military structure.
Beyond a doubt, however, the rules bring needed elements of fairness. And, as Mr. Bush has noted, the tribunals are "tools" to have available in extraordinary circumstances. There are as yet no accused persons, with cases built against them, ready to go before these courts.
The need for extraordinary tools in this new kind of war can also be used to justify the extraordinary interviews being conducted by the Justice Department. When the department first announced its plans last November to talk to 5,000 foreign nationals legally in the U.S., charges of racial profiling quickly followed. The prospective interviewees were all men from Muslim nations where the Al-Qaida network is suspected of having members.
Results: Now the department has completed that round of interviews, though it was able to locate only about 2,500 people. Many had left the country or simply couldn't be traced. Of those contacted, however, 90 percent were willing to be interviewed. Many were willing to stay in touch with authorities and pass along information. A number volunteered to serve as interpreters.
The high level of cooperation probably reflects three factors: The program was voluntary; no one was coerced to talk. And the interviewers were trained to be respectful.
IT'S 60 AND SO LONG
Scripps Howard: It's one thing if you're 60 or over to be dumped on by a commercial network, but when public television does it, that's got to hurt.
ABC's ill-fated effort to dump Ted Koppel's "Nightline" in favor of David Letterman was brute economics. Even though both shows drew nearly identical numbers of viewers, Letterman has a younger -- and, to advertisers, more desirable -- audience. The difference wasn't great -- an average age of 47 for Letterman vs. 52 for Koppel -- but Letterman did twice as well among the demographic most highly prized by advertisers, 18- to 34-year-old males. As they said in "The Godfather," it was business, not personal.
But now the 60-plussers are being dissed by kind, caring, compassionate public television.
Maryland Public Television has fired Louis Rukeyser, host of the long-running -- 32 years -- and phenomenally successful "Wall Street Week," far and away the most watched financial show on television, with 2.7 million viewers.
Dreaded 60s: The problem is that Rukeyser is 69 and the average age of his audience is 62 -- those dreaded 60s again. Rukeyser has never anointed a successor, so in addition to the silver-haired demographics, MPT faced the problem of what to do with a franchise show if Rukeyser and his audience retired simultaneously. MPT's decision was to dump Rukeyser when his contract expired in June. When Rukeyser retaliated Friday night -- inviting his audience to join wherever he might wind up next -- MPT decided to make that show his last.
In hopes of attracting a younger audience and pleasing sponsors, MPT is planning a livelier, faster-paced financial show in conjunction with Fortune magazine. The audience may be younger -- the average Fortune reader is 49 -- but probably not by much.
Here's the problem: "Wall Street Week" airs at 8:30 ET Fridays. No 18- to 34-year-old male -- at least no 18- to 34-year-old with money -- is going to be home at that hour Friday night. Tough business, public television.