People prefer Katie in the a.m., and can she handle big, breaking stories?

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT/AP: Poll at Odds With Katie Couric Move
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: April 5, 2006

NEW YORK (AP) -- Now that Katie Couric is making the move from dawn to dusk, her legacy and the future of CBS News depends on an audience that, according to a new poll, prefers to see her in the morning.

Asked if they would rather see Couric in her longtime role as ''Today'' host or as the first woman to anchor a network weekday evening newscast on her own, 49 percent favored the morning and 29 percent said evening, according to a poll conducted this week by The Associated Press and TV Guide....

***

Couric's morning job required her to interview everyone from presidents to preening celebrities to a runaway bride. Some critics have questioned whether those skills translate well to a job that primarily involves reading news headlines and presiding when big news strikes.

"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," said Jeff Alan, author of "Anchoring America: The Changing Face of Network News."...

***

It hasn't helped that the morning show balance has tipped to the less serious, said Charlotte Grimes, a journalism professor at Syracuse University...."I think she does have the background but she's going to have to overcome the most recent memories of her," she said....

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/arts/AP-TV-Couric.html

[graywarrior]

1. What is so great about her?

I don't get it? Guess she'll do what she's told, unlike someone like Amy Goodman.

[rocktivity]

2. What made her good in the mornings won't work for her in the evenings.

I just don't think she has the gravitas for the job. She can turn the world on with her smile, but evening network news is a more serious business.

:headbang:
rocknation

[elfin]

3. She has the summer to prepare

I bet Schieffer isn;t too eager to hand it over. I cannot stand her, but am willing to check her out when she debuts to see if she has learned what she needs to know.

[Cha]

4. How about "preening" presidents?

Did she ever interview any of those?

[Lilsarah]

14. Yes

George H.W. Bush & Bill Clinton

[goclark]

5. No she can't handle it but ROVE will allow her to be there

so it doesn't matter.

She kiss up to Rove for the job and there she goes.

[dflprincess]

6. She's not only going to be the anchor

she's also going to be the managing director. Does this mean she gets a say in the content? If so it will be all Aruba, all the time.

Maybe we should start a pool on how long it takes for any credible reporters to leave CBS.

[liberalpragmatist]

7. To be fair, she has handled plenty of big news stories

9-11 for one.

And Tom Brokaw and Charles Gibson have gone from morning news to evening news.

Anyway, I don't really have a strong opinion on the subject. I don't watch the Today Show. Katie Couric seems like a very nice person, maybe not with enough gravitas for the anchor's job, though. But she may be good, who knows?

[Divernan]

8. How can you call her "nice"? Her 2 emotions are perky sucking up & scorn

She has developed a delivery dripping with disapproval of various people and topics. I used to be able to tolerate her, but the last several years, her high salary has gone to her head and her pocketbook; she just bubbles with joy in the company of Bush & his henchmen. Credibility with the news requires gravitas and neutrality - she exhibits neither.

[robcon]

9. Can she "handle" breaking stories??????

She's going to read the news. What's the issue?

[DeepModem Mom]

11. When an event like 9/11, an assassination, etc., happens...

networks call in their chief anchor to go on camera. An example is the historic footage of Walter Cronkite, fighting back tears, announcing that JFK was dead.

[mitchtv]

15. Thanks robcon,

My thoughts exactly
additionally, she has 'sad face' a good 'happy face',can feign interest, etc.

[dogman]

10. Well now she has that extra something.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/zwecker/cst-ftr-zp29.html
Snip>Couric's latest comes from a different world. He is Washington, D.C., beer distributor Jimmy Reyes, a divorced father of two, a major supporter of President Bush and the former fiance of right-wing radio commentator Laura Ingraham.<snip

[DeepModem Mom]

12. Ohhhhh -- forgot about that romance. nt

[Divernan]

13. Just so Katy doesn't develop cancer , he may stick around.

Google Reyes and Laura Ingraham and you'll see that the engagement ended when she needed him most, i.e, dealing with cancer.
From:
Lloyd Grove's LowdownE-mail:
lgrove@ edit.nydailynews.com

Couric finds a guy who's right for her



Does "Today" show star Katie Couric have a new beau?And is he Washington, D.C., beer distributor Jimmy Reyes - a 43-year-old divorced father of two who happens to be a staunch supporter of President Bush and former fiance of right-wing radio host Laura Ingraham?Apparently, the answer is yes - which might reassure Couric's Republican detractors as she considers leaving NBC for the anchor chair at "CBS Evening News."
* ** * * * * * * * * *
The wealthy Reyes - who's contributed $37,000 to Republican candidates and political action committees since 1999 - keeps a low profile. The National Enquirer identified him only as a "sexy mystery man" last October in photos of the happy couple beaming at each other on a Manhattan sidewalk.Reyes was Couric's date at the extravagant October wedding of billionaire BET co-founder Sheila Johnson to Virginia Judge William Newman. Since then, they've been trading visits here and in the nation's capital. Last week, he attended Couric's celeb-glutted National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
I hear that some of Couric's friends are surprised that she's hanging with a guy who almost married the hard-right Ingraham. Reyes and the radio host were engaged in April 2005, but soon afterward, Ingraham told her listeners that she was coping with breast cancer, and the wedding was off. Friends say that before Ingraham - who was traveling yesterday and unavailable for comment - Reyes canceled his engagement to another Washington woman. Runaway groom?


Originally published on March 24, 2006

[Katherine Brengle]

16. How hard is it to read the news?

She'll be doing the same thing she does now--just more serious stories. Same prep, same teleprompters.

Seems like an easy enough transition to me.