Couric ready to work, but sitting tight
Couric sits tight
Aug 15, 2006
NEW YORK -- Soon-to-be "CBS Evening News" anchor Katie Couric said Monday that she has been tempted to go on the air in the month that she's been at the network but instead is taking the longer view and preparing for her Sept. 5 debut.
Couric started at CBS News in July and hasn't appeared on the air since her final "Today" telecast on NBC at the end of May. But she's hardly been taking the time off: She's been working with CBS News president Sean McManus and "Evening News" executive producer Rome Hartman to shape the evening newscast. She also completed a weeklong town meeting-style round of events around the country and has been doing other things behind the scenes.
"I've been working on a '60 Minutes' piece that will air Sept. 10 and planning some other pieces as well," Couric said Monday. "That's been very time consuming. I really want to come out of the box strong. As a reporter, I've wanted to be involved in some of the (breaking) stories, but I also understand the importance of good planning" (for the debut of her newscast).
Hartman said there have been some discussions about Couric appearing on air but that it never got to the point where she was about to do it.
"She's been out shooting '60 Minutes' stories and stories that are going to air for us in the fall," Hartman said. "She's been out practicing the craft, that's for sure -- just not on the air."
In a roundtable interview Monday at CBS News headquarters in Manhattan, Couric said that she was trying to chart a new path for the evening newscast. That includes taking on a case-by-case basis whether to travel extensively in war zones or other dangerous places, something for which her predecessor Dan Rather was famous.
"If I feel strongly that my presence will advance a story, that I'm not just window dressing to show that I'm at a particular story, which I think does happen quite frankly in certain situations," Couric said. "If I get an important interview or actually have time to do real reporting and my presence will serve the story, that's something I will consider. But additionally, though, there are family considerations for me that would be part of the equation."
Hartman agreed. "There is a game of network 'chicken' sometimes, and I don't think we necessarily feel the need to play that game," he said.
Couric, who tackled a wide range of topics in the 30-minute interview, declined to tip her hand to many of the specifics of how her newscast will be different. But she said not to expect a "soup to nuts" roundup of the day's news, which she said wasn't appropriate in the current media landscape.
"We're going to take risks and try some new things, and we're not going to be tied to the formulaic evening newscast that we've all pretty much grown up with that hasn't changed very much in the last several decades," Couric said. "We're going to take some chances and try some new things."
But don't expect Couric to be the same on air as she was during 15 years at "Today" -- or a robo-anchor either.
"I had opportunities to show my sense of humor or more playful side (on 'Today')," she said. "I think there will certainly be fewer opportunities for that on the evening news, and yet I hope the essence of who I am will surface on the broadcast."
Said Hartman: "Every evening newscast on every network has always reflected to some degree the personality and the taste and the sensibility of its anchor. Ours will, as others have. Katie brings what she brings, she is who she is, and that is going to come through."
She's planning to address the "CBS Evening News" audience during her first newscast but said she doesn't know what she'll say or when.
"I can't sort of show up and pretend like this is my 87th newscast and there's nothing new and different here," Couric said. "I think that obviously I will want at some point to say a few words to the four people who are watching -- my parents and my kids -- and give them some sort of indication of what we are going to try to do here."
Couric said she was thinking about what she'd use as her closing but hadn't come up with anything. She said her mother was working on it too. And she's planning to stick with Katie instead of Katherine, a change she made in the early days of "Today."
"No one called me that except my father when he was mad at me," Couric joked. "That's just not who I am."
Couric started at CBS News in July and hasn't appeared on the air since her final "Today" telecast on NBC at the end of May. But she's hardly been taking the time off: She's been working with CBS News president Sean McManus and "Evening News" executive producer Rome Hartman to shape the evening newscast. She also completed a weeklong town meeting-style round of events around the country and has been doing other things behind the scenes.
"I've been working on a '60 Minutes' piece that will air Sept. 10 and planning some other pieces as well," Couric said Monday. "That's been very time consuming. I really want to come out of the box strong. As a reporter, I've wanted to be involved in some of the (breaking) stories, but I also understand the importance of good planning" (for the debut of her newscast).
Hartman said there have been some discussions about Couric appearing on air but that it never got to the point where she was about to do it.
"She's been out shooting '60 Minutes' stories and stories that are going to air for us in the fall," Hartman said. "She's been out practicing the craft, that's for sure -- just not on the air."
In a roundtable interview Monday at CBS News headquarters in Manhattan, Couric said that she was trying to chart a new path for the evening newscast. That includes taking on a case-by-case basis whether to travel extensively in war zones or other dangerous places, something for which her predecessor Dan Rather was famous.
"If I feel strongly that my presence will advance a story, that I'm not just window dressing to show that I'm at a particular story, which I think does happen quite frankly in certain situations," Couric said. "If I get an important interview or actually have time to do real reporting and my presence will serve the story, that's something I will consider. But additionally, though, there are family considerations for me that would be part of the equation."
Hartman agreed. "There is a game of network 'chicken' sometimes, and I don't think we necessarily feel the need to play that game," he said.
Couric, who tackled a wide range of topics in the 30-minute interview, declined to tip her hand to many of the specifics of how her newscast will be different. But she said not to expect a "soup to nuts" roundup of the day's news, which she said wasn't appropriate in the current media landscape.
"We're going to take risks and try some new things, and we're not going to be tied to the formulaic evening newscast that we've all pretty much grown up with that hasn't changed very much in the last several decades," Couric said. "We're going to take some chances and try some new things."
But don't expect Couric to be the same on air as she was during 15 years at "Today" -- or a robo-anchor either.
"I had opportunities to show my sense of humor or more playful side (on 'Today')," she said. "I think there will certainly be fewer opportunities for that on the evening news, and yet I hope the essence of who I am will surface on the broadcast."
Said Hartman: "Every evening newscast on every network has always reflected to some degree the personality and the taste and the sensibility of its anchor. Ours will, as others have. Katie brings what she brings, she is who she is, and that is going to come through."
She's planning to address the "CBS Evening News" audience during her first newscast but said she doesn't know what she'll say or when.
"I can't sort of show up and pretend like this is my 87th newscast and there's nothing new and different here," Couric said. "I think that obviously I will want at some point to say a few words to the four people who are watching -- my parents and my kids -- and give them some sort of indication of what we are going to try to do here."
Couric said she was thinking about what she'd use as her closing but hadn't come up with anything. She said her mother was working on it too. And she's planning to stick with Katie instead of Katherine, a change she made in the early days of "Today."
"No one called me that except my father when he was mad at me," Couric joked. "That's just not who I am."
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