[Side note before I even get started-Could my titles be any cheesier?]
Since the announcement that Katie Couric will take over as CBS Evening News anchor I have read and heard comments about whether a woman should be/could successfully be a network news anchor. People question whether a woman has the neccesary "gravitas". Even Walter Cronkite sidestepped the question by saying that men make really good anchors(I'm paraphrasing). What a bunch of hogwash. There are countless women qualified to anchor the evening news. Truthfully, I don't care who delivers the news as long the news is timely and relevant. (Actually, I suppose the real truth is that I don't care who anchors the evening news because I don't watch the evening news. It's much easier to get news and info from the internet, 24 hour news channels or (gasp!) the newspaper. Long gone are the days of anchormen being the rocks we lean on in a time a national crisis. )
I think where Couric should be carefully examined (and, woo, wouldn't that be fun) is her credibility as an experienced journalist. I think those who do watch the evening news want an anchor that has the experience of being on the frontlines (literally and figuratively) of the stories they report. I don't know much about Couric's experience before she became co-pilot of the Today Show fluffmobile, but I think her candy-coated, Macy's parade hostess persona doesn't do it for some people. BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN, LARRY KING, THAT A WOMAN CAN'T HOST THE NETWORK NEWS. Now, excuse me while I go watch reruns of last night' s Daily Show and The Colbert Report because their pseudo-news is funnier than the real stuff.
6 comments:
For the record, there isn't much that the Colbert Report is funnier than.
Aw come on... Sure Colbert swings and misses alot, but who doesn't when they are trying to be funny? (Example:This Blog) I don't watch him every night, but I do tune in I usually find some laughs.
while i agree that a woman may be able to do this job, you are trying to be way to PC with this blog...be a little more controversial...say something like women cant do this because men are too busy looking at their chests...
I don't like her, but I also don't watch the evening news so it doesn't matter. The evening news was always on at dinner time in my house growing up. It seems to me that there may have actually been news worthy news then and not so much scandal and criminal politics, wait, this was the time of the Cold War and the Iran Contra Affair wasn't it. Nevermind. Point is I don't care for Americas Sweetheart and news anchors lost their credibility me when they started standing and walking and Dan Rather spiked his hair.
Aw hell...
I guess I can jump in here. Well B, I have to agree with you and quite frankly don't give a good damn about who may be looking at the boobs. I don't believe that controversy is needed, but I do believe something needs to change at ALL of the evening news casts. I miss Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings. I can do without Kenneth and don't care about the frequency or how much courage he has, although it was quite ballsy to walk off the set when dealing with 41. Having said that ... I guess Dan is cool with me too.
As for Katie ... I love the Today Show and don't really know what I will do now that I can't wake up with the first family of television. The thought of Meredith Vieira is scary, and if I were Matt (after I fixed my $9 million contract), I would insist on someone with personality. I mean, can we really take her seriously when necessary? She might need to call a lifeline for help during a tough segment. Heh. ;-)
At $15 million a year, I think Katie will do well reading the news. If she has any problems, I will give her a call and offer to help her place her breaths ... that does get a little annoying on the morning news. Hell, I'll read it for half that. And that was BREATHS not BREASTS killer.
I've got your back B. Bring on the women. :-)
I love the free market as much as the next gal but CBS is smoking some serious drugs to be paying her close to 16 mil a year to read the news for 1/2 an hour each night. Yeah I know she will be doing sixty min (Nobody I know watches that either anymore) but combined it is still not worth the money. She does lack gravitas. And it is not because she is a woman it is because she is PERKY! Perky and gravitas have a hard time existing in the same room. It would be impossible for them to exist in the same person. Greta Van Sustran has gravitas but....well...not evening news reader material....too curmugenly. Keep thinking the deep thoughts for us Bryan. That is why we love you!
Mary
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