Couric’s debut solid, but should play it straight

Note to Katie: It’s called the “CBS Evening NEWS” for a reason.

The evening news telecasts on the three major networks last for 30 minutes apiece, which means after commercials there is only about 22 minutes or so of actual news. Slip in the occasional light feature or human interest story, or a closing feel-good segment, and that’s a painfully small plate upon which to serve up the day’s important world and national news stories.

Katie Couric’s much trumpeted debut on the CBS anchor desk Tuesday night was, for the most part, solid and professional, with a few blemishes here and there. But overall, the most noticeable and unfortunate change was not so much the person reading the news, but more what she chose to read.

It’s unfair to judge Couric on one show, and I won’t. But if she wants to completely shed the “Today” show’s “Hey kids, let’s put on a show!” attitude, she should retool some of the segments she unveiled Tuesday night and place more emphasis on the myriad stories around the globe that are crying for attention.

It’s admirable that Couric wants to infuse the evening news with new ideas. Yet some of the segments felt jarring and out of place.

The most notable of these was the “Free Speech” portion of the broadcast. It’s unclear whether this is planned as a nightly spot, or an occasional one; she did mention that Rush Limbaugh would appear on Thursday night.

The problem here is that there’s commentary everywhere you look. CNN has a veritable pundit parade in a seemingly endless quest for controversy and ratings. Ditto for MSNBC and Fox. Talk radio is an endless sea of yapping blowhards. The blogosphere is growing larger and more imposing by the hour.

Do viewers really need their cherished less-than-a-half-hour of straight news pared down even further so yet another talking head can spout off? For goodness sakes, Limbaugh is on radio every day. The country isn’t dangerously low on opinions, it’s dangerously low on hard news.

Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock did the kickoff commentary on “Free Speech” and talked about how the nation isn’t as split on issues as many believe. Maybe he’s right, but any more commentaries like this one and it will be.

Commentary creates demand for equal time
Couric also did a segment with Thomas Friedman of The New York Times in which he opined on the state of the world. Friedman is a brilliant journalist and commentator, but again, this is supposed to be a news broadcast and not “Charlie Rose.” Friedman works for the Times, which is perceived by many as being liberal. So to be fair, Couric probably also should have somebody on who is from the Washington Times or Wall Street Journal, which is conservative.

It’s a slippery slope. Now to show she’s not biased either way, Couric will have to get opinions from both sides of the aisle. That’s what happens when you invite so much commentary into a news show.

Commentary isn’t new to evening news. Walter Cronkite’s famous critical assessment of the Vietnam War after covering the aftermath of the Tet Offensive is widely believed to have turned public opinion around. But that was a different era and an unprecedented situation. The news business now is much more sophisticated and the number of political partisans who lie in wait for any media types to reveal their biases has grown exponentially.

Couric probably would have been wise to keep commentary on the back burner until she settled more comfortably into the anchor chair, or better yet, keep it out altogether.

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