CBS: Now That Soledad O'Brien is Available, Isn't It Time to Dump Katie Couric?
Timothy Sexton
April 23, 2007
As has been pointed out by me as well as thousands of others, Katie Couric just isn't making it as the CBS Evening News anchor. Many of us had little doubt that Katie Couric wasn't up to the job, and she has come through with flying colors. Her ratings spiked in the first week and have been consistently going down since. Why, even Charlie Gibson is finding out that putting a knife in the back of a co-worker is a terrific career move; ABC's evening newscast seems to have benefited the most from Katie Couric's arrival. Elizabeth Vargas may be the biggest loser in this tango of personality-as-anchor that is currently going on among the big three networks.
When Katie Couric first took the job at CBS I wrote an op/ed piece expressing my prediction that she would flame out miserably. Even I was surprised that she peaked within her first week, however. At the time I suggested that if CBS was really committed to giving a woman the anchor position they would have done better to have hired either Amy Goodman or Soledad O'Brien. Alas, Amy Goodman-while the premier journalist in America today-doesn't have the single most important virtue for getting a spot on television news today: she's not particularly photogenic. Soledad fits that bill, however. And she's a far better and tougher interviewer than Katie Couric.
Now comes word that Soledad O'Brien and her unrelated partner Miles O'Brien have been yanked from the CNN morning show. Soledad has been put on the special assignment team. We all know what that means. What that means is a golden opportunity for CBS to correct their potentially legendary mistake. Soledad O'Brien would be a terrific fit in the anchor chair at CBS. But, alas, she probably won't get it. She's not content to toss softball questions at potentially lucrative sponsors the way that Katie Couric does. For instance, did you catch Soledad's take on the recent identity theft scandal at TJX, the parent company of TJ Maxx and Marshall's? Over 45 million credit and debit card numbers were stolen from the computers at TJX. While everybody was busy blaming the crooks who set up this elaborate system (and rightfully so), as far I ever saw only Soledad O'Brien ever brought up the question of what kind of responsibility TJX had in this whole mess. Remember, that this scam had been going on for well over a year. You would think that just maybe TJX might have noticed something suspicious a little bit earlier. And what kind of response did Soledad O'Brien get for daring to suggest that the company that keeps your records on a computer be held at least partially accountable for their security?
My favorite comment was the one to question why Soledad was so negative in her coverage of American businesses; why couldn't she be like the guys on Fox News who cover positive stories about big business in America, and who provide information on which stocks are the best to invest for your future. Yeah, that's about the level of so-called journalism that is practiced regularly on Fox.
Or CBS for that matter. CBS has the perfect opportunity before them. Everybody knows Katie Couric's days are numbered. Why wait and let Soledad O'Brien slip away? Go ahead and put Katie on "special assignment" for 60 Minutes and let a real journalist take over the coveted position of CBS Evening News anchor.
When Katie Couric first took the job at CBS I wrote an op/ed piece expressing my prediction that she would flame out miserably. Even I was surprised that she peaked within her first week, however. At the time I suggested that if CBS was really committed to giving a woman the anchor position they would have done better to have hired either Amy Goodman or Soledad O'Brien. Alas, Amy Goodman-while the premier journalist in America today-doesn't have the single most important virtue for getting a spot on television news today: she's not particularly photogenic. Soledad fits that bill, however. And she's a far better and tougher interviewer than Katie Couric.
Now comes word that Soledad O'Brien and her unrelated partner Miles O'Brien have been yanked from the CNN morning show. Soledad has been put on the special assignment team. We all know what that means. What that means is a golden opportunity for CBS to correct their potentially legendary mistake. Soledad O'Brien would be a terrific fit in the anchor chair at CBS. But, alas, she probably won't get it. She's not content to toss softball questions at potentially lucrative sponsors the way that Katie Couric does. For instance, did you catch Soledad's take on the recent identity theft scandal at TJX, the parent company of TJ Maxx and Marshall's? Over 45 million credit and debit card numbers were stolen from the computers at TJX. While everybody was busy blaming the crooks who set up this elaborate system (and rightfully so), as far I ever saw only Soledad O'Brien ever brought up the question of what kind of responsibility TJX had in this whole mess. Remember, that this scam had been going on for well over a year. You would think that just maybe TJX might have noticed something suspicious a little bit earlier. And what kind of response did Soledad O'Brien get for daring to suggest that the company that keeps your records on a computer be held at least partially accountable for their security?
My favorite comment was the one to question why Soledad was so negative in her coverage of American businesses; why couldn't she be like the guys on Fox News who cover positive stories about big business in America, and who provide information on which stocks are the best to invest for your future. Yeah, that's about the level of so-called journalism that is practiced regularly on Fox.
Or CBS for that matter. CBS has the perfect opportunity before them. Everybody knows Katie Couric's days are numbered. Why wait and let Soledad O'Brien slip away? Go ahead and put Katie on "special assignment" for 60 Minutes and let a real journalist take over the coveted position of CBS Evening News anchor.
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