I think I’ve found Katie Couric’s new theme song.
Even before teen queen of indecision Rebecca Black was lyrically pondering one of life’s most profound quandaries, the “CBS Evening News” anchor was asking herself the same question: “Which seat can I take?”
Although Couric’s contract doesn’t expire until June, speculation has long run rampant — fed by her own cryptic hinting — that she will ditch her news desk for the comfy couch of a syndicated talk show (a la Oprah).
Her career crossroads involves the metaphorical choice between the front or back seat. The very definition of journalist is constantly being contested, and before the industry can overcome the daunting challenges of the new media landscape, it must answer a fundamental question.
The decision of an icon like Couric reflects a resolution the whole news business must make about its desired direction: reporting or infotainment?
I don’t often agree with David Letterman, but his recent advice to Couric was spot-on: “Once you take that anchor chair, that’s what you do. It’s not like it’s a temp gig. Look at Walter Cronkite … Tom Brokaw … Brian Williams … Peter Jennings. Look at all these people. They get in it, they saddle up and they ride into the sunset.”
Couric’s departure would mark an official shift from journalist to “TV personality” — what we commonly refer to as “entertainer” or “celebrity.”
What Letterman indirectly explained, however, is the unofficial ethical standard of “once a journalist, always a journalist.” If Couric’s professional path changes, she was never truly a journalist.
Consider this: Couric is paid $15 million a year to have her hair and makeup done, then sit in front of a camera and read what others have written for her (she was quick to divulge that last bit when one of her 2007 video essays was blasted for plagiarism).
Such a job description sounds eerily reminiscent of an actress, no? Factor in her teleprompter usage, and you’ve got an even more disturbing professional parallel: a politician.
The first sources to report Couric’s rumored exit — TMZ, Entertainment Weekly, Entertainment Tonight, TV Guide — also reveal the nature of her career. These outlets aren’t renowned for following journalists.
Is Katie the next Oprah? Journalism purists should hope not. Another journalistic tenet is the reporter should never make the headlines, so someone with her own talk show, let alone cable channel, isn’t a credit to the craft.
Anchoring is indeed not a “temp gig,” but for Oprah, Couric and now reportedly Matt Lauer, broadcast journalism stints may just serve as tickets to Hollywood, like “auditions” to prove they work well on camera. Couric and her former co-anchor wouldn’t be the first “Today” hosts to get their own talk shows. Remember Jane Pauley?
CBS’ newscast has occupied last place among its “Big Three” counterparts for years, which Couric’s arrival was supposed to remedy. It didn’t.
But from the beginning, she had other motivations: the opportunity to make history, along with an even bigger salary and name for herself, as the first female solo evening anchor.
For someone who was hired to revive a declining evening news show, Couric sounded awfully pessimistic about her own venture during a 2010 interview with the Poynter Institute: “Will there be a 6:30 newscast well into the future? I’m not really sure.”
CBS’ problem — and therefore its solution — lies with its content credibility, not its host. Even Couric’s predecessor, Dan Rather, was tolerable before his “Memogate” scandal.
The network’s president, Les Moonves, admitted while visiting the University of Texas last fall that Couric’s nearly $40 million contract was grossly overrated.
“The Katie Couric deal will be the last big deal of that kind ever done,” Moonves said. “Those days are over.”
If so, that’s the best news I’ve gotten from CBS in a long time.
Kelly Hotard is a 19-year-old mass communication junior from Picayune, Miss. Follow her on Twitter @TDR_khotard.
 
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Contact Kelly Hotard at [email protected]