Couric's prognosis is promising, not assured

Much of her debut will be out of her control, dictated by events. If something should occur that would require her to break with what would be the normal routine and instead jump on a developing news story, it would actually work to her advantage. Remember that this is a journalist with extensive experience in reacting to major news stories, most notably 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. Any moments in her first few outings that would underline her qualifications for the job would be a plus for CBS.

It would help Couric also if she made an impact on the design of the “CBS Evening News” rather than just occupy a chair and read a teleprompter. In other words, create a segment or two with her imprint. Although NBC’s “Fleecing of America” pieces may not be Williams’ baby, he has adopted it and it is one of the more recognizable aspects of the evening broadcast. Couric would benefit from making a contribution to the content instead of simply narrating it.

And of course, she’ll need her own personal tagline. She would be wise to avoid, “And that’s the way it is,” or anything that sounds like it.

It might also help if she enlisted help, especially in the early going. The more informative guests Couric can bring into the studio — foreign policy experts, health specialists — the more it will ease the burden by removing some of the spotlight from the new anchor.

Her rapport with correspondents in the field will be another area of interest. By now, Couric surely has reached out to most if not all of the CBS reporters she will be interacting with on-air. But she’ll need to develop a smooth and sharp dialogue with them until it appears that she is as knowledgeable about each correspondent and his or her story as any managing editor of any news organization.

For now, Couric will have to concentrate on getting through that first night and handling the daunting dilemma of enduring intense scrutiny while not bringing too much attention to herself. It’s much easier reading the news than being it.

Michael Ventre is a frequent contributor to MSNBC.com. He lives in Los Angeles.

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