(in this instance anyway, which to me bodes ill for the hard-earned reputation of CBS News that is slowly disintegrating…)Gee, I wonder who Ms. Couric was trying to slam with these remarks (I’ll give you a hint; I included his photo)...
"The audience is more sophisticated than we give them credit for -- they don't want a mechanical Ted Baxter," said Couric, whose last day as co-anchor of NBC's "Today" was Wednesday. "I'm a serious, caring, compassionate person. I hope that comes out. ... People want a multidimensional (news anchor) and not someone they can put in a box."Oh yes, yes, enough already for crying out loud! The only story that has gotten more play at CNN and elsewhere is the news of the most famous celebrity baby birth that I can remember in a long time, and I hope to never hear of anything like it again for the sake of both the kid and my sanity (another hint: the name of the parents has been morphed into some weird single-name construction that starts with the letter “B”).
I know I took a shot at Couric already, but to be fair, she actually did say some good things in the CNN story about reporters “held captive by spin” and having to explain stories “in a plain-spoken way.” This story to me, though, still reeks of “cult of personality” BS in network news as opposed to spending the money to help the news teams craft the best possible stories. However, I should wait and see and give Couric a chance.
But just to prepare ourselves, let’s take a look at this list of items from which I took the above Media Matters entry so we know what to expect.
Update 6/7: Former CBS News producer Mary Mapes wrote a good post on her former employer recently.
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