Katie Couric not the woman needed for network anchor
By Jane Holahan
Updated Feb 19, 2007 15:40
Back then, in the dark ages of the 1960s, you made decisions like that and you rarely deviated from them.
Our motto: We’re a CBS family and we’re going to stay a CBS family.
Huntley-Brinkley? John Chancellor? Tom Brokaw?
Nope.
Howard K. Smith? Babwa Wawa? Peter Jennings?
Sorry, no thank you.
The CBS eye followed me through the Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinations, Vietnam, Watergate, the hostages, the end of the Soviet Union, Monica Lewinsky and the attack on Iraq.
Walter was my guide to the moon, and Dan “What’s the frequency, Kenneth” Rather carried me through more presidential elections than I care to remember with his folksy (and often very strange) sayings.
My family stuck with Dan even though we all agreed Roger Mudd should have gotten the gig after Walter was forced to retire because he turned 65. (Which was probably the dumbest thing that CBS News ever did.)
We actually had conversations about this over the dinner table, which shows you how old I am and how utterly devoted we were.
And when Dan left, Bob Schieffer took over, and I stayed loyal.
Well, no more.
I’m sorry, but Katie Couric?
Whose horrifically bad idea is that?
Katie with the perky voice and the perky name.
Katie, who wants the world to see her great legs and funky shoes as much as possible.
Katie, who giggles a lot and is really good at making silly small talk and salad recipes.
Katie, who has helped make the “Today” show truly unbearable to watch.
Hey, I am more than ready for a woman to host the evening news. Over at ABC, Elizabeth Vargas seems to be doing a fine job. Plenty of correspondents at CBS have the gravitas to do it. Katie doesn’t.
Katie represents the entertainment side of the news business, which has been gaining ground for way too long.
Did they hire Katie to bring a younger audience to the newscast? As my father always loved to point out, old people watch the news. Just look at all the ads for Tums and Denture Cream. Ain’t no way the hip and happening 20/30-something crowd is going to watch Katie Couric.
The network news has been through a real upheaval in the last year or so. Brokaw retired, Jennings died and Rather was pushed out the door.
Of course, ratings are down, as viewers have so many more options with cable and the Internet.
Network news, the pundits say, is no longer all that important. And the idea of an anchor being, well, the anchor of a network’s news division no longer holds much weight.
OK, but where did you turn after 9/11? I’ll bet it was CBS or NBC or ABC. I bet you stayed with the anchor who was able to make you feel just a little secure and safe, the one you trusted to give you accurate information and ask the right questions.
All three of the big anchors did a fine job during that nightmarish week, when the country turned to them. They had years of real news experience, they kept a scared nation sane.
Can you imagine living through a huge news event like 9/11 with Katie Couric at the helm?
Edward R. Murrow is probably rolling in his grave.
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Jane Holahan is a New Era staff writer. Her column appears every other week.
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