“I’m sure she’ll read the prompter just as well as the others…”
If I’m not mistaken that’s what Harry Shearer said about Katie Couric’s future performance on the CBS Evening News. Well, the time has come and gone, and he appears to be correct– she can read off a screen just like she were one of the boys. I don’t think anyone was tuning into CBS this past evening at 6:30 thinking they’d see anything all too crazy. Ms. Couric wasn’t going to explode a la Scanners. She wasn’t going to stop mid-sentence and pull a Howard Beale (maybe if she’d gotten the Judd Hirsch role in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip). It’d just be the news as usual.
Maybe that was the problem. As someone who earns his paycheck working in broadcast news, I rarely sit down in front of my television to check out the evening news in my free time. If you put a gun to my head and asked me to remember the last time I flipped on any of the big three networks at 6:30pm on a weekday, I’d say, “I’ve lived a full life” and thank you for your time. So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered what most of America all ready knew: the evening news is awful. Keep reading by clicking below…
Katie Couric the person is a fine and logical choice to be the face of the CBS evening news. The problem is that Katie Couric the personality is exactly what’s wrong with the whole industry. If I weren’t a technologically savvy kid in my 20s who understands that any news broadcast over television is available faster and more in depth online, I’d tune into the networks every night to get my news. Because, see, that’s what I want: news. I don’t want entertainment. I’m entertained for twenty-three and one-half hours every day (I have AWESOME dreams at night). I don’t want my news to be entertaining. That’s why I couldn’t do anything but cringe when Morgan Spurlock (a person whose own career I enjoy) inexplicably appeared at the end of the broadcast and began spouting off on how all the news shows are trying harder to entertain than to actually report the news (yes, the irony was palpable). Likewise, she had a short (and tightly edited) interview with Thomas Friedman, who last time I checked, was a an op-ed columnist.
Ratings matter. It’s what keeps television free. But 6:30 should be a safe-harbor. It should be that one time of the day when information trumps entertainment. Sadly, it is not, and the arrival of Katie Couric to The Evening News is actually harmful to the cause (they should have gone with Diane Sawyer).
Tags: CBS, CBS Evening News, Katie Couric
September 6th, 2006 at 7:24 am
I suggest you try tuning into ABC World News with Charles Gibson. He’s your trusted source.
September 6th, 2006 at 9:04 am
I didn’t think it was that bad, though I admit to fast-forwarding through all the packages and the Friedman interview. I like the idea — basically a show more like CBS Sunday Morning (which usually has Ben Stein or someone doing the editorial thing) meets Face the Nation (interviewing a member of the press). The problem is the show is too short — I mean, what can someone really say in two minutes (at the most)? Then again, they probably don’t want to become the NewsHour, which sounds more like the show you want. (Straight-up news, though dull.)
Anyway, I liked that they led with Afghanistan, which has been undercovered in the last few years.
September 6th, 2006 at 2:59 pm
I thought Couric’s performance was good– certainly as watchable as Brian Williams or Gibson. I don’t know, though: last night’s debut just seemed so rushed, yet empty. It seemed like they were simultaneously cramming in too many ideas about what the show should be AND failing to provide much actual substantive content. Even the Afghanistan story seemed like it was more “about” the reporter’s experience of getting the story than about the news-worthy substantive issues surrounding the story itself. I did see an interview with Couric in which she said they will be trying out a bunch of show ideas during these first months and will cull/focus as they go along. So, maybe I should wait awhile to see what shapes up. Also, I totally agree with being confused about the Spurlock appearance… and Friedman came across as so nervous in the interview– which is weird, since it was taped earlier in the day (I assume?).
September 7th, 2006 at 9:51 pm
I didnt watch the show (i too can not remember ever turning on the nightly network news) . . . however, i must say that I am more than happy with the fact that they went with “Katie”. With Meredith Vieira on the Today Show, I might actually start watching it.