Katie Couric Lashes Out at 'Vultures'

[CatWoman]

Katie Couric admits that her new gig as anchor of the CBS Evening News has been "a little harder than I thought it would be."

"Some people out there are rooting for me to fail," Couric, 49, tells Esquire in its January issue. "You have to be unwavering in your convictions that you're doing something good, because there are a lot of circling vultures that will eat you alive."

Couric points out that Esquire itself criticized her after her Sept. 5 debut. "You guys even take a shot at me," she tells the magazine. "You have something in the November issue, something about how since I've become an anchor, you don't know me anymore. You don't know me anymore? Bite me."

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20004432,00.html

[LibraLiz1973]

1. GOOD FOR HER

I think everyone has been fucking ridiculous about her.
Granted, I'm not watching... but, she isn't Bill O'Lielly.

People are shitting ALL friggin over her BECAUSE she is a WOMAN.

As a woman I find that disgusting.

[ChairmanAgnostic]

2. damn right. she can read a script as well as any male talking head.

and far better than most of the population.
of course, no broadcast talking head does journalism anymore. and hasn't for years.

[sweetheart]

3. is it really 'cuz she's a woman...

... or that she's another corporate shill sucking down a paycheck to
apologize for war crimes and mass murders.... same news, different apologist.

[Individualist]

5. A corporate shill spewing propoganda for the neocons

The fact that she's a woman has nothing to do with it.

[LibraLiz1973]

17. that doesn't seem to stop people from watching Brian Williams

or the guy on ABC

So, no... I don't think that's why

[Hardrada]

24. I haven't watched network news since they were

kissing Saint Ronnie's butt.

[KansDem]

35. I'm still waiting for her to "get back with us..."

COURIC: Hey, wait a second. Democrats took — Democrats took money from Abramoff too, Mr. Dean.

DEAN: That is absolutely false. That did not happen. Not one dime of money from Jack Abramoff went to any Democrat at any time.

COURIC: Let me just tell you — According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Abramoff and his associates gave $3 million to Republicans and $1.5 million to Democrats, including Sen. Minority Leader Harry Reid.

DEAN: Not one dime of Jack Abramoff money ever went to any Democrat. We can show you the FEC reports, we’d be very happy to do it. There’s a lot of stuff in the press that the Republican National Committee’s been spinning that this is a bipartisan scandal. It is a Republican-financed scandal. Not one dime of money from Jack Abramoff ever went to any Democrat, not one dime.

COURIC: Well, we’ll obviously have to look into that and clarify that for our viewers at a later date. Howard Dean, chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Mr. Dean, Governor Dean, thanks so much for talking with us.

DEAN: Thanks very much.

Think Progress

Well, it's almost a year now and no getting back to the viewers that I'm aware of...

Katie needs to stop complaning.

[QuestionAll...]

39. ha! this alone makes her vulture meat.

shut up, you stupid wench.

i'm a woman so I decided I can say that.

[QuestionAll...]

4. I don't really know Couric all that well...

but what I have seen of her I think she's very undeserving of a post like that because she appears to be a total lightweight way out of her league. What I find disgusting is the way news has been bubble gummed to twits like her and Wolf blitzer and the scores of others like those no talent script readers.

[CatWoman]

6. agreed

I mean, from Dan Rather to 'THIS'????

[gulfcoastliberal]

9. I thought the outrage stemmed from "free speech" segments that included

Limbaugh but not Bill Maher? This has nothing to do with gender. That's irrelevant. Do a minuscule amount of research on the "show you don't watch" by typing in "CBS news kaitie couric" in Media Matters. Then get back to me.

[doublethink]

45. Bingo .....

think Limbaugh spewing his bullshit was not only her first "free speech" segment on that show: but I remember seeing him a couple days later on her program too. Haven't watched it since. Peace.

[tanyev]

12. I am a woman who finds Couric's sitting on top of the anchor desk

(while wearing a short skirt) during the broadcast disrespectful to her profession and to the legacy of Murrow and Cronkite.

[peace13]

22. I second you on this one! n/y

[peacebird]

36. agree 100% - and her lightweight human interest stories belong on GMA not the evening news

[justice1]

55. I hadn't seen her show, but my mom mentioned the same thing.

After that, I tuned in to see what she was talking about, and saw for myself. Now every time I watch Bob Schieffer I imagine him using the same "ploy".

[tularetom]

21. She's no more unqualified as a journalist than

Charlie (I got this job because the other guy got blowed up in Iraq) Gibson, or Brian (I can relate to the red states because I like NASCAR and I own a pellet gun) Williams. She just arrived amidst a great deal of fanfare, and it was so phony it almost made you want to puke. At that point it was almost un Amurkin not to want her to fail. As far as I am concerned, network news jumped a whole school of sharks many years ago and it's marginally worse than cable news.

[SemperEadem]

43. nope

he got it because Vargas had a baby. He's the better choice and I'm glad to see he's there. Having been Jennings' pinch hitter, it's good to see a seasoned journalist win out over who's hawt this month. I'm sick of anchors being decided on who gives the managers the bigger woody.

[Raine]

29. I don't believe that

and I won't believe it unless they put on a woman like Christin Amapour (spelling?) and she gets undeserved criticism. Couric is a lightweight and it shows.

[greenbriar]

52. her "Navy Seals Rock" lets all fight is why we don't like her

she is a bush puppet hard core

[mondo joe]

53. How much of a victim worldview do you need to mistake criticism of Couric's candy-news

for sexism?

[Cha]

7. couric can

fucking bite the USA.

[Pastiche423]

37. zidzi, you have always been great w/words

especially the ones you just typed!

From Walter Cronkite to Rather...............to katie? What was CBS thinking?

I will not watch her. She is a part of what is terribly wrong w/our country.

[Cha]

54. Thanks, Pastiche!

cbs was thinking "ratings!" in exchange for substance. Too bad they didn't stand by Rather instead of cowering to the busheveks..they'd be getting all kinds of "Ratings".

[Straight Shooter]

8. Did Katie Couric ever stand up for Dan Rather when he was being attacked by vultures?

If not ..... :nopity:

[AngryOldDem]

10. She better not pick up Vanity Fair, either

The media critic in the latest issue also doesn't have a lot of good things to say. But it's all fair criticism.

Really -- what did she expect?

[bbernardini]

11. Kettle? Pot on line one. nt

[WI_DEM]

13. She needs thicker skin if she is going to survive in that industry

I honestly don't think her show is better than Bob Schieffer's and her ratings aren't much higher. I'm not a huge fan of Katie's and think that there are other more worthy female journalists who could have anchored the Evening News-such as Christine Amanpour.

[undeterred]

14. Can't stand the heat? Get out of the kitchen.

[stevedeshazer]

15. Walter Cronkite, she ain't.

It's not because she's a woman. It's because she's taken arguably the most storied news department in American history and turned it into something akin to the first half-hour of "Today".

[SemperEadem]

44. 'nursing mom' news

has no teeth in it.

[mtnsnake]

16. Poor Katie. How the heck could she survive on NBC's measly 13 mil/yr salary?

when $15 million at CBS is so much easier to live on? Plastic surgery isn't cheap!

Katie just isn't a good fit for her new position. She should've stuck with the NBC morning show where she was far more suited to be her corny old self trying to chew gum and look like a teenybopper.

[hfojvt]

33. I think she has done some good things

plus she is not as obviously rightwing as Schieffer. She put Arianna Huffington on the air, which is more than ABC or NBC have done AFAIK. I think her interview with Michael J. Fox was very helpful to us.

Perhaps since I never saw her on NBC that I did not grow to have no respect for her.

[mtnsnake]

57. Agreed. nt

[trumad]

18. Somerby on Couric---

http://www.google.com/custom?q=Katie+Couric&sa=Google+Search&cof=AH%3Acenter%3BAWFID%3Ac32a032061318778%3B&domains=dailyhowler.com&sitesearch=dailyhowler.com

[Uncle Joe]

31. Somerby rocks

:yourock: Someone should publish his book.

I don't think any more or less of Couric than I do the other corporate shills, broadcast or cable. They play the good cop and bad cop scenario for the people, sort of like professional wrestling too, but in the end, the corporate bottom line dictates their information. This is one reason, we get commercials masquerading as news.

[devilgrrl]

19. If all else fails Katie, you can always make fun of how Michael Moore dresses...

what a whiner.

[symbolman]

20. She's nothing more than

another corporate Leering Skull, spouting trash, butterflies & puppies, and her colon was the LAST thing I ever wanted to see...

[acmejack]

23. Did you have to bring THAT up?

I was about to mount a defense of poor Katie but now, I simply can't. The format is terrible, fluffy & upbeat. Ahem, it's the News, remember? But I really do like the new set.

I rooted for Katie from the beginning, but I suggest that she needs to get serious and be a news person vice a news personality. At her inflated salary, I just can't imagine that actually happening!

[Disturbed]

27. Somebody rich should send her a

sterling silver fork.

[hfojvt]

42. Upbeat is bad?

So the Democrat's victory was not news, simply because it was good? I thought many people complained that 'news' shows only looked at the negative.

[symbolman]

56. Ooops

Sorry :)

Having nearly lost my dad and a sister to colon cancer I understand the importance of getting checked out, but was no way interested in Courics 'perky' colon, and taking that rocket ride down it, seen enough of my own, and waking up in the middle of the procedure with the biggest nurse in the ward pinning me to the table with her feet hanging as I was going to LEAVE in the middle of it :)

Some things you don't need to see, that and the SMILE that won't GO AWAY no matter what she reports, it's like a CLOWN telling you about how your whole family died and asking you how you feel about it..

Fluffy, like a kitten, eh? Nothing sells a product better than FLUFF :)

[rollopollo]

25. Bite Me

LOL- that sounds so funny coming from Katie Couric. I wonder if thats the angriest she gets.

[partylessinOhio]

26. In over your head, Katie? Don't blame me.

I didn't tell you to Botox, sit on a desk and some other places, hike your skirts and sit on chairs on the set with your bony legs being featured. No, you did that all by yourself and lost the viewers you thought you had.

[cwydro]

28. Hell, I would like her if she was

DOING THE NEWS. But it seemed like it was a newsmagazine...those we have plenty of already. If that has changed, someone please tell me and I'll watch her again. At this point I haven't been back since the third week. All that magazeeny stuff not for me.

[WilliamPitt]

30. Navy SEALS rock.

[Bunny]

32. Navy Seals rawk!!!

Remember that one, Katie???

[BlooInBloo]

34. Shorter Couric: Are you guys blind? Can't you see my legs?

[hatrack]

38. Well Katie, you ARE the managing editor of the evening news, right?

In that case we're just being honest in pointing out who's ultimately responsible for the high Suckiness Quotient your show has been displaying since you graced the soundstage, aren't we?

:eyes:

[EndElectoral]

40. Sher's an embarassment as an anchor...roll over Edward R. Murrow

[Marr]

41. Color me vulture, then.

"Navy SEALs rock!"

[Nikki Stone1]

46. Admittedly, Couric has been given a truly awful format

Part of the contempt for her is the contempt for the FAUX news-type format that CBS stooped to, complete with Rush Limbaugh on a "free speech" segment Katie's first week out of the gate. First impressions are really hard to counteract, and Katie should direct some of her anger towards the CBS suits who forgot that their show was serious news and not infotainment.

But Katie herself has to take the blame for the type of image she projects. She has not done serious journalism, she often makes vapid comments, and the buildup to her taking the anchor's chair at CBS made her appear condescending to her audience.

Her being a woman certainly does play into the degree of venom; I don't know if Matt Lauer would get the same kind of reaction, even though he is as much a lightweight as she is.

[ismnotwasm]

47. She's the same as any other

I've watched her a few times, which is surprising in itself, because at first I couldn't stand to watch her.

I think I see potential. On occasion. I'm not willing to watch on a regular basis to see if the potential is filled when the media is so bad, and so much is at stake and she doesn't seem to be making any effort to add to,or improving anything.

"Bite me" is a ridiculous response to critics. I'd have more respect for a healthy "fuck off" but then she's really be in deep doo doo, since she's hasn't quite shaken off that America's sweetheart morning anchor image.

I wasn't aware of, or hadn't noticed her sitting on her desk lately I guess. Dumb move.

[Kahuna]

48. Bullcrap. She catered to the wingnuts by having rush on and kissing

shrubs ass. She sealed her own fate.

[Imagevision]

49. Until Katie Couric proves herself, like muzzling Ann Coulter, her days are numbered!!

Katie, I use to love ya darlin but you sold your soul and you can't work without one...

[Hippo_Tron]

50. I'd love Helen Thomas in her job, so I guess I hate women

Couric isn't a journalist, period. I'd be trashing her if any non-journalist male were in her job.

[KG]

51. geez, what a whiner!