Couric's Anchor Appointment Is a National Disgrace

I am old enough to remember tuning in to CBS Evening News anchorperson Walter Cronkite to watch the first man on the moon, and to witness the unfolding of Watergate.

I also remember quickly switching the dial to Dan Rather as the second of the two planes hit the Twin Towers.

Tonight, I will watch CBS Evening News anchor Bob Schieffer detail the revelations by defendant Lewis Libby that President Bush ordered the release of classified "intelligence" information about Iraq.

And I, like you, have seen "Good Night and Good Luck," and watched the depiction of CBS anchor Edward R. Murrow stand up to Joe McCarthy.

Today, the day after the announcement that come September, Katie Couric would be sitting in that same anchor chair, I sense her courting and appointment as symptomatic of a larger problem.

The problem is that network news is no longer seen as a public trust, but a profit center.

Seen as a profit center by corporate owners who care more about pleasing profit-hungry institutional investors than by journalism professors and tv critics who have long viewed television news as a sacred platform to speak truth to power, and speak truth about power.

Seen as a profit center by corporate owners who favor lifestyle pieces over exposes.

Seen as a profit center by corporate owners who cannot even make the smallest programming decision without self-predictive focus groups and fashion consultants.

So now comes Katie Couric - an engaging interviewer, a highly intelligent and compassionate person shaped by life's experiences both good and bad (death of a young husband and young sister). But with a resume that includes interviews with self-promoting celebrities rather than reporting from - and gaining a first-hand understanding - of world trouble spots.

From a business standpoint, I do understand Couric's appointment to Murrow's, Cronkite's and Rather's chair. CBS has perennially trailed in the evening news ratings, and the viewers aren't getting any younger. CBS boss Les Moonves has always embraced celebrity as a hotwire to better ratings. He's on record as po-poo-ing the "voice of God" television news anchors of the past.

But while Katie is a really good feature reporter- and throroughly deserves her own prime-time series or "60 Minutes" slot, she doesn't have the gravitas to be the one that the nation turns to in times of crisis.

And no, this isn't "sexism." I can think of numerous journalistically credentialed females who would be totally appropriate for Murrow and Cronkite's chair. Christiane Amanpour. Andrea Mitchell. The brilliant yet underrated Mora Liasson. But none of these women are classically beautiful. But take it from someone who has often assessed female beauty. Katie is highly attractive.

Sexism? No. "Lookism?" Yes.

I'm not the only one who feels Couric's "fluff" image is going to serve her well- especially the next time a really major crisis hits the news cycle fan. And you know, it will.

"If we have another (terrorist) attack or hurricane and need life-saving information, I think her image is that of more fluff than fact and that's going to have an impact," Jeff Alan, author of "Anchoring America: The Changing Face of Network News," tells Associated Press' tv critic David Bauder.

"She seemed far from her hard news roots last November while serving as host for NBC's Thanksgiving Day parade coverage and missing the story of a spectator hurt by a falling street lamp -- a development CBS aggressively pursued," Bauder adds.

It hasn't helped that the morning show balance has tipped to the less serious, Bauder notes Syracuse University journalism professor Charlotte Grimes as saying. Grimes - a female- tells Bowder the new anchor needs to ditch the fashion consultants and crafters of the 172 hairstyles that Couric joked about on Wednesday's "Today" show.

"I think she does have the background but she's going to have to overcome the most recent memories of her," Grimes tells Bauder.

Still, Katie Couric is going to have to prove that she has the chops to be the steady anchor for news reports from, and about, this turbulent word we live in.

But Katie Couric in Edward R. Murrow's chair? "Good Night and Good Luck, Indeed."