Katie Couric: Her Own Worst Enemy

In a Gallup organized poll, only 51 percent of Americans have a positive feeling towards CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric. This puts her solidly in third behind the two men who work the news desk for ABC and NBC.

When Couric was hired by CBS, she was expected to be a breath of fresh air, a revival to the struggling evening news institutions, especially at CBS where Dan Rather had been unceremoniously run our of town following his report on Bush's affiliation with the Alabama National Guard. She seemed like an appropriate choice as she was the super popular host of NBC's morning juggernaut Today. But, as time has gone on, the softer focus that she has taken on the news along with not giving fair time to both conservatives and liberals has, after its initial bump from the novelty of Couric on the evening news wore off, stayed in the bottom space. And, to be honest, the other guys are better. Their shows are better with better story coverage and a bit more neutrality. Then again, all of them pale to the juggernaut that is The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS.

I'm not trying to diss Couric or anything. She seems like a fairly nice, polite person. I'm sure she's probably a bit of a diva, but I expect most newspeople to be regardless of sex. This story is just one of those stories that piqued my interest in a strange way.