End Of An Era

Guess, by now, everyone's heard of Katie Couric of NBC's Today show which boasted 1.3 million more viewers than its rival ABC's Good Morning America. And, by now, everyone knows about Couric's major career move from NBC to CBS where she will be the first woman to anchor a US network weekday evening newscast.

The question is: can the pretty 49-year-old diva, who has achieved superstar status, who has also earned the reputation of being a perky personality, do more than "host" the CBS news show? Can she deliver the news?

Leslie Moonves, top honcho of the CBS network, is not bragging about Couric's journalistic abilities nor her capabilities to report the news. Moonves is talking about her as if she's a mere superstar whose stardom will draw a crowd. He also speaks of Couric as a "host" of the evening news. What is Moonves thinking? That the evening news has no more credibility than a game show?

Couric is replacing Bob Schieffer who, 14-months ago, stepped into CBS's anchor position, replacing the controversal Dan Rather.

Schieffer had the credentials, the experience and the expertise to offer top-notch reporting. He is one of the few broadcast journalists to have covered all four major beats in the Capital: the White House, the Pentagon, the State Department and Capitol Hill.

In an interview on Journalism.Jobs.com Schieffer was asked what the future holds for network evening news programs, the main emphasis of the question being: willl news programs survive?

Bob's answer was classic Schieffer: "We recognize that we have a different mission now . . . It's no longer just reporting the headlines of the day, but trying to put the headlines into context and to add some perspective into what they mean."

The question is: will Couric's approach be a Vanna White? Or a leftist voice-piece? A Schieffer paroting of the headlines? Or a real news anchor with a fresh new perspective and class A reporting skills?

All that being what it is, the latest scoop on the CBS news affair is the Schieffer and Coric lunch date yesterday at Michael's.

The New York Daily News called it a "public lovefest".

It seems that the 69-year-old Schieffer thought Couric needed his public endorsement. What a very old-school, gentlemanly thing to do! The current anchor giving a public affirmation of his approval to the future anchor! And while burgers and chicken salad might not be primetime fare, the sentiment and the orchid corsage he gave her certainly was.
End Of An Era © 2006 Chaeli Lee Sullivan