So much controversy about Katie Couric taking over The CBS Evening News. And now here it is a year later (she started on September 5, 2006), so I have to ask: how do you think she's doing?I'll admit I had my doubts and might have even expressed them here, but in reality, I think she's doing fine. She can't do anything about the ratings, and the show was in third place long before Couric took over. As Bill Maher said when he was asked at the time how Couric was going to do, "I think she'll read the teleprompter fine." And she's done a fine job. Sure, there were some odd growing pains, like addressing the audience by saying "Hi everyone," the "Picture of the Week" and "First Person" segments that were dropped, and it looked a while there like they were going to end each episode by showing her legs, but the show has gotten a lot better.
Case in point: Katie is in Iraq this week. Now, it's probably not a coincidence that she's there during the first anniversary of her taking over the show, but her reports have been first rate. And last night they took the entire first 15 minutes of the show and devoted it to her reports from Iraq, went back to Harry Smith for other news (great to have pros like Smith and Russ Mitchell at the desk when Couric's away), then went back to her in Iraq to close the show. You don't see that too often on network news, where there's only 22 minutes or so each night.
How do you think Couric is doing? And don't answer my mentioning her gender. As if having testicles and a deeper voice makes a person deliver the news any better (see also Sanchez, Rick). I have no idea how long Couric is going to stay in the anchor chair, but if she leaves or is taken off it will be for reasons other than because she can't deliever the news.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-05-2007 @ 8:51AM
stephanie foy said...
katie used 2B cool, now?, nothing but another hollywood head giver
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9-05-2007 @ 9:13AM
Mischelle said...
I like Katie and I think she's doing great. I also like that my daughter can see a woman as an anchor on the evening news. Congratulations, Katie! Keep up the good work.
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9-05-2007 @ 9:17AM
CaliberSRT4 said...
Eh, bring back Dan or Bob Schiefer.
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9-05-2007 @ 9:43AM
Jim said...
Katie's been on for a year, but you're still using that same photo from her first night on the job!
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9-05-2007 @ 11:18AM
chris said...
You can't brush away ratings; yes the network was in third place before she started (thanks Dan!) but the gap widened with her role.
Network TV news is a dying affair anyway, so it's almost a moot point who's in first place....we generally have so many options for obtaining news and opinion that we don't need it pre-packaged in a glossy 22 minute format every night before dinner. That's a bigger problem for the networks than whether or not to show Katie's legs.
Chris
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9-05-2007 @ 9:55AM
O said...
i think we can all agree on having andy rooney as the lead anchor of the news.
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9-05-2007 @ 11:02AM
Dave said...
I've never seen even a second of Katie on the news. Is network news even relevant anymore?
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9-05-2007 @ 2:51PM
r.r.r. said...
the beginning was a little awkward at first, but now she's rocks it. i hope she sticks around. :)
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9-05-2007 @ 8:04PM
nickmagoo said...
uwatching her in iraq toe the party line of the generals and bush made me cringe. c'mon folks, there's no actual reporting going on here, just regurgitation of other people's ideas and so called "facts." that said, she seems like a decent person, not like that has anything to do with "news." of course, none of the networks really do any actual reporting, especially when it comes to this war. they all lost any shred of credibility quite a while ago.
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