After five years anchoring CBS Evening News, Katie Couric has decided to step down from the news desk and start a syndicated talk show. Couric, who made a name for herself on NBC’s morning broadcast The Today Show joined CBS in 2006 as the first female solo news anchor for an evening news program. Now, she’s joining the ranks of Tyra and Wendy Williams to host another forgotten daytime TV talk show. Couric has stood as an inspiration to female journalism for years, paving the way for young women in the news industry to work among the Brain Williamses and Tom Brokaws, but now she’s giving up her anchor chair (and credibility) to discuss book clubs and dish out relationship advice.
Katie Couric’s contract with CBS ends on June 4th of this year, but no departure date has been set and the network seems to be pretty hush-hush about the whole ordeal. When Couric began in 2006, ratings soared since she incorporated her interviewing abilities into the program and broke free of the standard evening news format. However, viewers have returned to the more traditional newscast and Couric has now settled in third place behind Brian Williams at NBC’s Nightly News and Diane Sawyer at ABC’s World News for quite some time. Could her departure be a result of the broadcast’s poor rankings? And are the poor rankings due to Couric’s image as “America’s Sweetheart” and not “Stone-cold Emotionless Robot?” I’d prefer not to believe that Couric is succumbing to patriarchal pressures by hosting a show that is more “appropriate” for a charismatic and likeable woman, but then again why else would Katie step down from such an honored and groundbreaking role?
Playing devil’s advocate, are Couric and other female reporters suitable for this line of work, which can sometimes be very dangerous? Take for example the recent events in Egypt and CBS foreign correspondent Lara Logan’s attack. After being separated from her news crew and security team, Logan was sexually assaulted and attacked by a group of Egyptian men for nearly 30 minutes. Many people have called into question the risk female journalists take while reporting in dangerous areas and whether or not it is a field where women belong. Personally, I think that any journalist, no matter their sex, can face trouble while reporting in tumultuous places, but that is a risk they take with their career choice. For women, like Logan, maybe higher security coverage and protection should be in place in order for them to safely and efficiently do their jobs.
I’d like to pay homage to Ms. Couric and all the other female journalists out there by saying thanks. Thank you Meredith Vieira for holding it down after Katie left Today, thank you Lisa Ling for risking your life reporting gang rape in the Congo, and thank you Barbara Walters for never leaving TV. Most of all, thank you Katie Couric for breaking the mold and proving that women can hold their own in evening news telecasts. But I still won’t watch your talk show.
