"And that's the way it is."
In anticipation of Katie Couric's September 5 debut as anchor of the CBS Evening News, Howard Kurtz writes about how everyone is writing about all things Katie.
NEW YORK -- She is already the most heavily scrutinized, psychoanalyzed and gossiped-about anchor in network history, and she hasn't yet uttered a single "good evening" on a CBS newscast.
...When she takes the helm of the "CBS Evening News," Couric's challenge to NBC's Brian Williams and ABC's Charlie Gibson will mark the first such three-way showdown since Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings initially went at it in the early 1980s. But the media landscape has shifted dramatically since then, leaving this trio fighting for a shrinking slice of the audience and increasingly taking their battle online.
Because Couric is both the first woman to serve as a solo nightly news anchor and a big-time celebrity, some are casting her debut as the biggest event of the fall television season. After 15 years as a popular morning personality at NBC, she is armed with some new ideas -- including a regular soapbox segment for advocates and activists-- to jazz up an evening news format that sometimes seems set in concrete.
Will the "soapbox segment" include equal time for conservatives, or will Couric's personal politics rule?
One thing is certain: She's a perfect match for CBS, politically speaking.
After conducting town meetings in a half-dozen cities last month, Couric concluded that "people are hungry" for more positive stories. She is, for example, working on a piece about an Alexandria foundation that teaches juvenile delinquents how to build boats and helps them get high school equivalency degrees.
"Sometimes when you watch the evening news, it's all gloom and doom -- and some of it has to be, because the world is a complicated and pretty scary place right now," says Couric, 49. "But there has to be a place for more hopeful stories."
But, she adds, "it's not going to be smiley-face happy news."
Let's see... Hopeful but unflinching.
It sounds like Couric will base her news broadcast on the successful Oprah formula.
The world is a painful place, but we can love our lives.
We'll know that network news is toast if Couric brings in a studio audience to cheer and weep on cue.
What viewers want is a constant topic of discussion among the staffs of the evening newscasts, which still reach a combined 25 million viewers but have seen their share of the total audience gradually decline for nearly three decades. Whether Couric can revive interest in the genre is the focus of considerable debate.
...CBS has done its part to stoke the interest in Couric as she takes the reins from Bob Schieffer, who will return to his Washington job after having boosted the "Evening News" ratings during his 18 months as Rather's interim replacement. The network has launched a promotional campaign and tapped Academy Award-winning composer James Horner to write new theme music for the broadcast.
I saw some of the promos while watching the Ahmadinejad interview.
The spots seemed to indicate that the Oprahfication of the new CBS news was well underway.
And why the new music? Does Couric need something less harsh than the old theme? Something serious yet light? Perky yet intense?
So the guy who wrote the score for Titanic is going to set the mood for Couric's news.
Who chose Horner? Is Couric a Titanic fan?
It would be fitting for the new theme to have lyrics.
Then Couric could sing her opening. That would be a first, though I do think Dan Rather would occasionally break into song.
CBS News President Sean McManus says he sees a media "feeding frenzy" over Couric's new role and is surprised by "this unbelievable thirst for information" about her life. "It's a good thing that everyone is talking about the 'CBS Evening News' right now," he says. "The downside is that people are going to be so quick to jump to conclusions after one broadcast. Some things are going to work and others aren't going to work."
McManus is trying to lower expectations.
He must have some uneasiness about the new direction CBS news will have under Couric. He could also be concerned that all the hype and great expectations will guarantee a letdown.
One of those elements is the new commentary segment, dubbed "Free Speech," which will give a 90-second platform to outsiders -- some prominent, some not -- and will also include a weekly essay by Schieffer.
"People are sick of the lack of civil discourse," Couric says, with guests "screaming and interrupting each other and trying to stay on message and berating the other person. They want us to get away from sound bites from inside the Beltway and roll up our sleeves and hear from real people."
That doesn't sound like news. It sounds more like those town hall meetings Ted Koppel used to do on Nightline.
Thirty minutes isn't enough time to get through all the important stories of the day. How will there be room to hear from "real people"?
More importantly, who cares about hearing from "real people"?
I want accurate information, not some goof's opinion.
On immigration, Couric says, CBS might interview a restaurant owner about illegal immigrants or a recent emigre from Guatemala. "Sometimes in recent years there's been such an effort to bend over backwards to placate both sides of the political aisle, and that on-the-one-hand-this, on-the-other-hand-that approach has left people a little bit cold," she says. "Sometimes they want more analysis and fact-finding and critical thinking."
Translation: Couric's news will not offer balance to the public. It will be a lib propaganda operation.
On the other hand . . . one planned segment will also feature author Nora Ephron expounding on plastic surgery, a subject of her new book. "They're not all going to be super-heavy," Couric says.
It's the end of network news as we know it.
..."She's America's cutie pie," says Robert Lichter of the Center for Media and Public Affairs. "She's bringing star power to a job that has been a black hole in terms of losing viewers. She's a devil to people who think TV news is losing its soul, and an angel to people who think TV news needs shaking up."
In my opinion, Couric isn't "America's cutie pie." She's almost fifty-years-old. Her "cutie pie" years are ancient history.
Definitely, there's a gravitas deficiency.
Her lack of gravitas isn't because she's a woman. It's because her image as silly and giggly and flirty is so deeply engrained.
Couric, who left "Today" at the end of May, sounds a bit impatient to get on with it, telling reporters on a conference call Monday: "It's been an out-of-body experience to watch these major news events unfold in my pajamas." But in the interview in the first-floor conference room, she cautions against the idea of a personal transformation.
"I don't want to lose who I am, in terms of how I communicate with people," she says. "I'm not going to become a different person. The downside of all the attention is to suggest I'm going to single-handedly save anything. I'm just going to try to be a contributor with a great group of people who are already in place."
Frankly, I think Couric's personality is not a plus for the network; it's a problem.
Maybe it's not a problem. Maybe that's just what CBS wants -- Oprah at the anchor desk or couch or whatever it ends up being.
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Read what people are saying about Couric on the CBS site.
Hop A Ride On Katie’s Listening Tour
She wants YOUR input and suggestions because you're important. CBS and Katie care about you.
I wonder. Will Couric recommend that members of her audience keep a journal to log their feelings about the news?
Will Couric have a book club?
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