Sign up for The Media Today, CJR’s daily newsletter.
Yesterday, Katie Couric confirmed that she will soon depart as anchor of CBS Evening News in pursuit of a gig that allows for “more multi-dimensional storytelling.” Marketwatch.com’s Jon Friedman greeted the news in much the same way he greeted Couric’s imminent debut in 2006. Friedman’s column then: “Why Katie Couric will be a brilliant failure.” Friedman’s column now: “Katie Couric’s CBS legacy: a noble failure.” (Future Friedman column: “Katie Couric: an above-average failure.”)
While we’re time-traveling, let me pull from my review of the reviews the morning after Couric’s first evening in the anchor chair, some choice nuggets that appeared in actual, real newspaper columns (well, some realer than others):
Boston Herald:
CBS is spending $15 million a year on Katie Couric. That comes to $7.5 million per shapely leg. The new CBS anchor flashed her gams just a few minutes into her debut.
Washington Post:
[Couric] oddly wore a white blazer over a black top and skirt, the blazer buttoned in such a way as to make her look chubby, bursting at the button, which we know she isn’t. It was a poor choice…
New York Sun:
Wearing white after Labor Day isn’t a fashion crime anymore. But if Katie Couric really wanted us to focus on her reporting rather than her wardrobe, she shouldn’t have flouted one of the oldest rules in the book.
A rule which, you know, will be important for Couric to bear in mind should her final CBS Evening News broadcast fall before Memorial Day.
Has America ever needed a media defender more than now? Help us by joining CJR today.
