Meta-News (Katie Couric)

Below is a brief excerpt from a peice at public eye.  

Well, I guess no one is throwing Katie under the bus, or anything similar.  CBS may be sticking with Katie Couric.  I don't spend much time watching the CBS Evening News, because most of my content is from the internet sources, or CNN, or MSNBC.  But supposedly, some articles about the ratings indicate that she has not been doing as well.

I'm curious if many people here at Gather have any ideas about how well/fair/poor Katie Couric has been doing at her new job?

Does aanyone have any strong feelings about the new/changing formats of delivery of the news? 

 

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Brian Montopoli: You told me, a little while back, that you were "the first woman at every job I had at CBS News." And that includes in 1971, when you were the first female field producer for The CBS Evening News With Walter Cronkite. I'm curious your take on Katie Couric's experience as the first solo female nightly news anchor.

Linda Mason: I'm just surprised at how, almost 30 years after I worked on the "Evening News" as the first woman producer, that Katie is having such a tough time being accepted by the public, which seems to prefer the news from white guys, and now that Charlie's doing so well, from older white guys. I guess they want the reassurance of a Walter Cronkite.

I had no idea that a woman delivering the news would be a handicap. And I'm afraid that Katie's paying a price for being the first woman. But I think it's a great trail that she's blazing, and I think if the broadcast continues to be as good as it has been, if we continue to break news, if we continue to tell interesting stories, people will start to watch. It takes time, I think. But I was surprised that there was an obvious connection between a woman giving the news, and the audience wanting to watch it.

 

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