|
RELATED RESOURCES | |
|
The biggest blogs seemed not to care at all.
Media Bistro's TV Newser provides this.
Charlie Gibson, Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts congratulated Katie Couric at the end of today's "Good Morning America." Here's what I transcribed while I watched:
The New York Observer says not everyone in the CBS News executive offices is thrilled by the Couric announcement:GIBSON: We all know what she does. We're a small fraternity that does this...
SAWYER: ...I think probably we know as well as anyone what it takes to be as good as she is, as long as she has done it. And we really do truly wish her well on this next chapter.
GIBSON: All the best as she goes off to CBS to anchor the CBS Evening News. We wish her well...
ROBERTS: ...All the best to her. She has been wonderful. She is wonderful. And we wish her the best. Congratulations to her.
"There are some people here who think it's a marvelous idea, and some people here who maybe don't think it’s a marvelous idea," Mr. Schieffer said. "I think, by and large, people are pretty excited about it."
Ms. Couric has an entourage of approximately five producers, mostly from "Dateline," whom she plans to bring with her, according to two high-level NBC sources.
Beyond the debates about whether a chipper morning anchorwoman can make suitably serious faces at the evening cameras, there's the question of what Ms. Couric's full role at the "CBS Evening News" will be. Will she be a true managing editor, running meetings and setting news agendas like the men who came before her? Or will she be a pretty headline-reader -- "perky," to use her least-favorite word -- the network equivalent of a shiny hood ornament on a rusty Cadillac?
"She would never take a job as a hood ornament," said Andrew Heyward, the former president of CBS News, who oversaw the Dan Rather memo debacle and who considers Ms. Couric a personal friend. "She's certainly someone with very seasoned judgment and very strong instincts about journalism, about television. She's a superstar.
"What you do behind the scenes on the 'CBS Evening News' is very important," Mr. Heyward added. "It's probably an exaggeration to say it is as or more important than what you do on air, but it is very important."
Still, a perception battle loomed. There was the briefing book that Ms. Couric's personal spokesman, Matthew Hiltzik, had been passing around recently. The 15-page document laid out Ms. Couric's qualifications to be a news anchor, for the benefit of reporters who would eventually write about Ms. Couric becoming the "Evening News" anchor. It included a graph, a table and copious bullet-pointed citations of previous media reports on Ms. Couric's achievements.
