Dan Rather Correct About Katie Couric

Let us not forget that Katie Couric thought it so important for the world to see Tom Cruise’s child that on her very first night as news anchor she showed the photos of the baby.  That was the same night she never mentioned that a new leader of Mexico had been announced after a tense election, or that the United Nations had strong words over the actions of the Sudanese government in relation to Darfur.  We did however find out that Couric liked to provocatively cross her legs. 

I wrote about her first night and was not impressed in my September 6, 2006 post.

Meanwhile I just love Gwen Ifill.   I think she is perhaps one of the most cerebral journalists on television today.  Her work on PBS’s “NewsHour” and “Washington Week” allows me to better understand the facts of the story, and the dynamics behind the headlines.  She is a solid and substantive reporter and anchor.  No one could ever claim she ’tarted’ up the news, as former CBS anchor Dan Rather did in remarks about Katie Couric.

This was not the first time that Rather has made a strong, and correct point about the blurring of the lines between serious news and the fluff world of entertainment that far too often passes as news.  It is the role of the anchor to help shape the news broadcast to reflect the real world on that particular day.  I think Rather is very concerned about the dulling effect on the American public of the stories about such people as Anna Nicole Smith.  I think Dan is right that the business angle of the network news has too much control over the primary role of the reporters on the broadcasts.  And he is right that Couric has played into the hands of the network brass.

I just can’t take Couric seriously as a journalist.  Her broadcasts are void of the heft that should come from the Tiffany Network. I am not alone in my views as the ratings show the network news program hit the lowest ratings ever since she has become anchor.  Less than 6 million tune in for what once was a staple item for many Americans.  While I understand the diminishing role of evening news programs on the big networks, we need to keep in mind the role that the news broadcasts should, and can, serve in our nation.  Especially in time of war and international upheaval.  I grant that many Americans think the Paris Hilton story interesting, but I am convinced that given a mature diet of news and insight on the evening news broadcasts without the fluff, that the national audience would respond.

There are light years between the hard news world of Gwen Ifill, and the perky Katie Couric.  I want a female news anchor to succeed, but not because of her gender but because she will be a brilliant anchor.  Couric has not delivered the ratings, and will not as long as she thinks that fluff in the news is better than solid reporting.

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Published in: on June 15, 2007 at 9:22 am Comments (2)