Posted on 11/17/2003 12:56:53 PM PST by Republican Red
Katie Couric vs. Matt Lauer
A civil war between the stars of the Peacock network's Today show has been brewing for some time.
A major media insider with a whole bunch of friends at NBC gave NewsMax the real story about the Today program and some of the negative press Matt Lauer has been getting.
Recently, the National Enquirer splashed a cover story alleging Lauer had engaged in drug use almost two decades ago. The story had the corroboration of a house of cards and was based on a lie detector test given to an alleged drug dealer.
NewsMax didn't even bother to cover the story. Is it fair to report such things twenty years after the fact? With so little corroboration? And what importance does it have for the public? After all, we know Matt Lauer has not been an advocate for strict drug enforcement laws.
But the story itself, so out of place, had some scratching their heads as to who might be behind this negative press.
As the Romans might ask, "Cui bono?" -- who benefits by such disclosures about Lauer?
One media insider tells us that Katie Couric's entourage enjoyed the fact Lauer was smashed by the Enquirer. Our source noted Katie's friends were just a little "too gleeful" about Matt's PR problems.
As it turns out, things are not so happy at the morning show. Matt is said to be angry that Katie is the star and that Katie bags all the big interviews.
And Katie doesn't like Matt. Despite her TV persona, our source describes Katie as "Mean. This lady can be vicious and stomp you out like a bug
Nope! Matt is really resentful of the fact that Katie makes way more bucks than he does.
I thought GMA had retaken the lead, at least for a short while. Hannity had Diane Sawyer on his radio show one day last week, and I remember he congratulated her on GMA being the top rated show for its time slot.
I do know that at any rate GMA is nipping at Today's heels, and a large part of the reason for that seems to be Fox and Friends is taking a lot of the audience for Today.
I haven't been following the numbers too closely lately, myself. Last I heard, maybe two or three months ago, was that while Today still had an overall lead, GMA was routinely beating them in a number of major markets.
Even if Diane Sawyer and Charlie Gibson are liberals, they're not mean and ultra-hardcore about it, and they are honestly pleasant people. That in and of itself makes GMA more enjoyable to watch, before we even begin to consider all the other production factors. With Katie and Matt, most people can tell that they're putting on airs to a certain extent ... they just have this "we're number 1 and we can't help being smug about it" attitude that is increasingly turning a lot of viewers off. Matt can overcome this, if he ever decides he wants to. But I think it's terminal for Ol' Colon Blow.
I was in the Today show audience summer before last. John Walsh (of "America's Most Wanted") was interviewed by Katie. Following the interview, the broadcast cut to a commercial but Katie and Matt's feed to the audience was still live. Katie snarled to Matt, "Don't you just hate it when someone like John Walsh plugs his own show on our show. I hate it when people do that." She came across as something that rhymes with witch.
I know Hannity had nothing but praise for Diane Sawyer (she was on his show to talk about her interview with Jessica Lynch). Maybe I'll catch an episode of GMA one of these days. Personally, I cannot watch Today - just the sight of Katie Couric raises my blood pressure, and I don't need that first thing in the morning. I watch Fox & Friends exclusively anymore, though I will flip over to Imus on PMSNBC when F & F starts in on Kobe/Laci/Scott.
The difference between Today and Fox and Friends is like night and day, and I for the life of me could never figure out what so many people saw in Katie and (to a lesser extent) Matt. Katie Couric was always an abrasive partisan shill, but these days she's about as hateful as they come.
Yes, very similar.
Katie has boyfriends (guys with their tongues hanging out that would do ANYTHING in the hopes Katie might notice them), and men who are in her way, that the boyfriends are more than happy to help get rid of.
Apparently, she did better in his format than he did in hers.
-PJ
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