Katie Knows What You're Thinking

For those (including Katie Couric) who think criticism of her is sexist in nature, here's a clue: Monday's Howard Kurtz interview with Ms. Couric is replete with quotes that exemplify what one might call the Couric Problem:

Just because people have tired of this war doesn't mean we should stop covering it. You wrestle with it on a nightly basis. Of course, people are obsessed with the [presidential] campaign right now. That's something we have to be on guard against, neglecting Iraq. It's obviously hugely important for this country, even if people have slightly lost interest.

"I think people have pretty much lost interest in my love life."

For someone who spends the vast majority of her day (and days) inside the cocoon of West 57th Street, it's amazing she knows that much about what "people" think. Too bad Walter Cronkite wasn't as psychic.

A suggestion: knowing more about what's important, and newsworthy, might be a better use of the brain cells currently occupied with poll results.

Comments

[LeoMarvin]

If she knows what I'm thinking, that usually puts her one up on me.

[JAUG]

She has got to be one of the WORST interviewers of all time, next to that guy she sat next to during that morning show.

[SharonB]

Her vapidity has nothing to do with the fact she is a woman. It has everything to do with the fact she is inane.

[alncarter]

Couric's problem has nothing to do with her making bad choices as to what news to cover. What choices? The big 3 networks feature the same lead stories every single night with no variation from each other. Network anchors are talking heads and the audience has been conditioned to accept a look and a voice that goes back to Huntley/Brinkley--either you have an authoritative baritone or a folksy southern drawl, delivered by a guy in a business suit. She doesn't have any of that and that's the problem.

[wilhelmR]

Walter Cronkite was an "ass" and self-deprecated journalist who knew nothing about the world. He was a "corporate man" ready to defend Bush and "sell short" Dan Rather. I am sick and tired of people like Howard Kurtz (another crony) who think they are the center of the world: We can think for ourselves and getting raw news from the same "feeders" the WP, the NYT, and the other many newspapers do. These "journalists" and their newspapers don"t have reliable "in-house" correspondents any longer; they rely upon self-employed people in many counties. I have enough sources and friends from countries across the world to get my own "feeds" and the thinking is my own. So please stop picking on Katie Couric because she does the same job if not better than the ones at the same position as hers.

[Durango]

What did Andy Rooney say about the $20 million they pay Couric?

That they should take that money and hire a couple dozen reporters around the world.

And they should. Who needs celebrities reading the news? We need reporters on the ground finding out what in the world is happening out there. No pundits and no polls.

REPORTERS!!!!

[MinM]

Brian Unger had a great take on an interview Katie subjected John and Elizabeth Edwards to. This is a little over a year old now...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9284381

[Janelynne]

Couric is the cute and perky version of the vapid, vacuous, sold-out male dunderheads who inhabit the so-called news anchor chairs in the useless mainstream media. Is that sexist? Sorry Katie. I didn't mean to attack you, just because you are a woman.

[bogananda666]

The Republican Party is always telling the American people how/what Americans think.American think we should go to war and so on. Couric is a piker compared to the Republican Party. I've not heard a Republican say that the American people likes Social Security, Medicare, a better medical system in terms of value for care received. According to the Republican Party the American people like paying taxes in exchange for no services provided.

[stuco]

This is my first comment. So much said about Couric I have to relate this story i watched when she covered the Olympics. The wreath of olive branches placed on gold medal winners' heads was on her desk. She refused to put it on her head: it was rough to the touch, she made a face and it would mess up her hair. Can u imagine such an attitude about a victory symbol? how can she call herself a reporter? Ever since i saw that, i lost all respect for her.

[NoSillyName]

She's not a "reporter"; she's a vapid "personality".

[Kundera]

The cocoon of NY/LA has always been a big problem. Of course the biggest example ever was when Pauline Kael, writer for the New Yorker, after Richard Nixon won 49 states in a huge landslide over McGovern said "I don't know how this happened, I don't know anyone who voted for Nixon."

[Puller58]

Look where she came from and where she is going. (Nowhere?) She's fluff. Pushing 50 and floundering on the increasingly pointless CBS news. People can get their news from so many other sources that old fashioned broadcasts like hers are finding fewer and fewer viewers. She is in worse shape than the other two nightly news shows since her promotion seemed like a popularity contest victory. I'll wager when her contract is up, she'll be gone for good from the boob tube.

[mrsfeild]

she's past 50!

[mounthoodliberal]

that's ok, i'd still do her...so I guess that means she's wrong..people are thinking about her love life...

[RoseL]

I guess what we're really learning is that cute doesn't go very far, does it? Uh-oh, one must have some brain activity too, huh?

[TheHandyman]

There are 2 social and political paradigms. Democracy and Totalitarianism. Both work equally well. One hope that in the latter you get a Philosopher King who truly works for the benefit of the people. In order for Democracy to work the People have to be totally aware and engage in the process. That means knowing what is going one with their government and not let them hide their dirty little secrets. That also requires a free press and media that snoop and probe and report everything they find.

Americans have dummied their education down to where it is what to think, not much, thankyou! And the Wealthy have bought up the media so they can have the government they want by buying the politicians they want. The People have abrogated their responsibilities so why shouldn't the press?

[TheHandyman]

The media does what it has always done, report on what meakes them money. Media does not totally exist for bringing us what is important to everyone. One only has to look at the dearth of reality shows and American Idol type shows that Americans think is entertainment to know how poorly this population thinks. In the past there have been good investigative programs that looked into what was going on in this country and exposed the dark underpinings of business and government. Now we have to go looking elsewhere. There is Democracy Now, Bill Moyers report, The Nation Magazine but the problem is that one has to hunt for them and that shouldm't be the way it is.

As far back as the Mexican American war rich owners have driven government policy and war through their newspaper. Now corporations can do the same by owning their own mouthpieces. Harry is spot on about Katie Couric. She reads what the owners tell her to read. Hanging out at the studio or the spa or at some plush country club is not thesam as hanging out on the Hood or down at the Boys or Girls Club with other not as rich as her people. She was hired as a pretty face to read infotainment! You won't see her treking through the vast hinterlands of the US insearch of how Americans really feel..

Continued below

[waynewoodworks]

You sure you meant the "dearth" of reality shows? That means not very many.
Maybe you mean proliferation? I couldn't even name them all!

[Mac-A-Roon]

Harry, I'm not sure why you wield a stick with Couric's name on it. I don't watch her and don't consider her particularly consequential. Surely (I hope you don't mind the appellation [Appalachian? I'm not from the mountains!]), your skewer can find sweeter, more deserving meat. N'est pas?