Day By Day© by Chris Muir.

September 06, 2006

Shales Skewers Couric's Debut

I didn't see Katie Couric's debut behind the CBS anchor desk. I have not watched network news in a long time, and these days, my schedule means I don't get home in time anyway. Even if I had the time, Couric's being on CBS is not a big incentive for me to tune in at 6:30.

Tom Shales of the Washington Post was singularly unimpressed with Katie's performance last night. His review is here. A few highlights:

Last night, the show simply played to her strengths, chiefly her ability as an interviewer. She had a taped sit-down with liberal columnist Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, who seemed to be trying too hard to "come across" on television, as if he'd just completed TV training.

Suddenly, with no hint at a transition, Couric was talking about executive changes at the Ford Motor Co. and then about the late Steve Irwin, the crocodile expert who died over the weekend when he was attacked underwater by a stingray. These little mini-stories were rammed together with no indication from Couric that she was changing topics. She needs work, and help, at reading off the prompting device and making it clear when the focus is about to shift.

As someone who used to read news (albeit on radio), I know the importance of pauses and changes of vocal inflection in order to signify a change of story. If Couric received any coaching in this area at all over the last three months, it obviously didn't stick.

Then the show reached its lowest point with an item that Couric had coyly promoted earlier in the day on the CBS Web site: a photograph of Suri Cruise, the previously hidden baby of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. The portrait will be on the cover of Vanity Fair, out today -- so the segment was a shameless plug as well as celebrity trash, the kind of thing better saved for "Entertainment Tonight" and its ilk.

Ugh. A photo of Tom Cruise's offspring is not news. Save that nonsense for People or US magazines. (Do you think Tom would advise Katie to start calling herself Kate, as he has ordered his wife to do?)

So it remains to be seen how well Couric will do in the weeks and months to come. One thing is certain: her shelf life will not be as long as that of her predecessors. After all, we know how older women are treated by television execs. The moment Couric shows any major wrinkles, it's off to the glue factory.

UPDATE (11;56 a.m.): Alessandra Stanley of the New York Times says:

Ms. Couric’s ratings at CBS will not be a test of feminism; they will be a measure of viewers’ flexibility.

I beg to differ. Couric's ratings will be a measure of how well she delivers the news, and how well the show is produced. Period. Her lack of certain anatomy should have no bearing on it.

An unimpressive first outing