Saving Katie Couric

CBS put a lot of money and effort into revamping the CBS Evening News, but five weeks into the experiment, the broadcast has fallen to third place and the ratings are below the mark set by Bob Schieffer during his last week as anchor in late August.

Here at America Wants to Know, we think we know why.

The broadcast feels like a classroom film. It seems to stop for explanations of the news, while other broadcasts just report the latest development and move on.

It appears that the producers and writers of the CBS Evening News, and perhaps Katie Couric as well, are frightened that the audience either isn't interested in, or doesn't understand, the news.

You can sense the fear as Katie Couric both reports and explains every story. She seems to be silently telling viewers, "Don't be afraid! This is really interesting and important! It's relevant to your life! If I can understand it, you can understand it! Wait, don't go!"

CBS News could take some advice from Ayn Rand, who once said, "When you write, do not think about how beautiful your words are, or how people will react, or above all, what it supposedly proves about you. Think exclusively of what you want to say."

CBS should send the audience-research department home and put its resources into investigative journalism and reporting. Then Katie Couric will have something interesting to say. They may find it's easier to command attention than to plead for it.


Copyright 2006

Source note: The Ayn Rand quotation is taken from "The Art of Nonfiction: A Guide for Writers and Readers" (page 110). The book is available on Amazon.com or at the Ayn Rand Institute's online bookstore.

Editor's note: You might be interested in the earlier post, "Bob Schieffer's Elegant Exit."


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