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Katie Couric awaits her moment of truth |
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Written by David Bianculli, McClatchy-Tribune
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Wednesday, 07 March 2007 |
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Six months ago this week, Katie Couric took over as anchor of "The CBS Evening News."
Six months later, what's the verdict? Bad, mixed and incomplete — in that order.
— Bad. It's bad because of the ratings. Couric was hired, and paid a newsworthy salary, to bring new viewers, and hopefully younger ones, to the venerable CBS broadcast. For the just-ended February sweeps, the CBS newscast was down in the ratings from a year ago, with Couric averaging 7.5 million viewers — 2.1 million fewer than ABC's "World News With Charles Gibson," which won the sweeps.
— Mixed. I really liked the effort Couric and company put into adding new elements to her newscast when it premiered. Six months later, though, some of those elements seem to add up to precious moments of airtime squandered, with things like the lengthy rules for viewers to vote interactively for the next "Assignment: America" story. Tick, tock.
While Couric's story sense, even on the feature side, remains strong, she's developed one trait that separates her from Gibson and NBC's Brian Williams, on a nightly basis — and not in a good way.
"So sad," she said Friday after one news report. "This is such a sad newscast," she added after another. Tell us what's important, please, but don't tell us how to feel.
Her "Evening News" interviews remain one of her best strengths — but there, too, there's a question of balance. By making time for this, what is CBS denying us?
— Incomplete. This is the key grade, and the one that, more than anything else, will determine who wins the nightly news race. Couric hasn't really been tested yet in the area that counts most: breaking news of a massive story.
Gibson was on duty at "Good Morning America" when the plane hit the second tower on 9/11, and did a great job until Peter Jennings took over. Williams earned his chops, and a lot of respect, with Hurricane Katrina, where he responded more quickly and compassionately than many government agencies did.
Couric? Nothing yet — not since leaving NBC's "Today." When she gets her chance, when she's representing all of CBS in a breaking-news capacity, she will either win or lose the loyalty of viewers tuned in, and gain or erode momentum afterward.
Six months in, Katie Couric has yet to do what she's really being paid for. The moment is coming — but she has no idea when, and neither do we. When it arrives, so will her first giant grade. | Only registered users can write comments.
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