Couric Flops in Debut

Couric Flops in Debut

John LeBoutillier
Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2006

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My quick thoughts jotted down right after Katie Couric's debut as host and — the key title — managing editor of the "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric":

"Managing editor" means Katie Couric decides which stories get on the news — and which ones do not. And that is a key element of the success or failure of a news show.

This debut was, at best, inauspicious. Boring, too. To open with Lara Logan and the Taliban was a bore . . . nothing new other than the fact that they are still waging a guerilla war over in Afghanistan.

Then a quick run-down of news stories followed by a "Today" show-like mini taped interview with New York Times writer Tom Friedman — pre-taped and edited and aimed to showcase her legs.

Then an utterly idiotic free speech segment with filmmaker Morlan Spurlock that would put anyone to sleep.

Then, to end the debut show, a long piece on portraits of poor kids in Nicaragua.

All in all, this was a complete flop of an opening show.

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CBS had four months to get this opening show right - and the best they came up with is the Taliban and poor Nicaraguan kids?

Awful decisions. Just awful.

As famed TV journalist Liz Trotta said, "These were decisions made by a politically correct liberal woman — Couric — and they are not the right choices for the evening news audience."

So true. Does Katie really think the evening news audience wants to hear the idiotic rantings of a loser filmmaker? Or do we care about portraits of Nicaraguan kids?

We are at war with radical Islam and we are in the home stretch of a crucial congressional election. Shouldn't that have been the focus of this highly hyped debut show?

If the best they could come up with is this show, with four months of prep, what are they going to do from now on?

All in all, CBS is, again, in trouble.

They just don't get it.

Yes, she'll get a ton of semi-positive reviews in Wednesday's newspapers . . . but in the long run Katie is not going to beat NBC and ABC. Not with shows like this.

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