Posted on 12/23/2006 8:39:27 AM PST by LdSentinal
Last night's "Evening News" featured Katie Couric's interview with Karen James, the widow of Mt. Hood climber Kelly James. The interview dominated the second half of the show, ultimately absorbing about nine of the 22 minutes of the broadcast.
Reactions to the piece, in the comments section of both the Web version of the story and Couric's blog post on the subject, have been mixed. Some lauded the interview. One commenter, vriss, called it "one of the best interviews I have ever seen on TV." Wrote blrichard: "I liked the interview. It was really a personal story that I think was meant to allow the audience to feel 'connected' to the news. Sometimes it is just better to see the faces and stories behind the news headlines, not just read what happened."
But many commenters were critical.
"I was absolutely appalled watching you spend nearly half of tonight's newscast broadcasting the interview with Karen James. Surely she has suffered a tremendous tragedy and my heart goes out to her," wrote bmangham. "But dedicating half a newscast to the death of one individual who died voluntarily doing something he loved is disgusting. This display of sensationalist broadcasting is spectacularly inappropriate at a time when thousands of people are dying in Iraq, or retuning from war horribly injured and maimed - a daily occurrence that's sure to continue for many months."
Here's pgage: "With all due respect, the prospect of Katie Couric interviewing someone like one of the 'Mt Hood Widows' (a term which itself is repulsive) epitomizes what I most feared when I learned she was taking over the anchor chair at the CBS Evening News. This seems like the kind of voyeuristic sensationalism that is the staple of the Morning shows, with no real news value. Ms. Couric has shown that she is capable of doing better, and I hope that she does."
I contacted "Evening News" Executive Producer Rome Hartman for his thoughts, but he has thus far not responded to the request. We will amend this post with his comments if and when he provides them. It was, we should note, a slow news day yesterday, one in which Donald Trump's latest publicity stunt was among the top stories at many media outlets. That left more room for the "Evening News" to devote so much time to the interview.
But a slow news day can also be an opportunity – a chance to bring viewers undercovered stories and provide greater context to them. That the "Evening News" opted instead to run the lengthy James interview has left some viewers unhappy. "[Other tragic stories] are just as important as this one, but of course they can't all occupy 10 minutes of the Evening News," wrote scwebster. "This story should not have either."
Couric, Nancy Grace.
Cut from the same cloth.
I'm sure you understand that the MSM has gone right past news reporting on their way to bread and circuses.
I gave up on the evening news for the most part 20 years ago, but can't even miss her face promoting it on prime time AND it wasn't even on cBS!
One commercial was particularly obnoxious, when she looked straight at the camera and said something like, "we need to work harder at telling you what all this news means to you"...
I looked up at my cable box, dumbfounded - the commercial was on either TBS or Lifetime...
wow.
And guts! Don't forget guts! Remember the on-air colonoscopy?
"I didn't watch it, but for anyone who did, was there any mention of the fact that none of three was a local, and that the entire cost of the search and rescue will fall to the State of Oregon?"
At some point the left will start focusing on that aspect of American freedom. Democrat leaders in states with beaches or mountains will start looking for more revenue, feminists will realize it is the male sex that largely utilizes their "outdoors".
Liberal politicians will figure out that the winter play land, or the beach, or the lake, or the hunting area, or the off roading area where incidents happen, is in their community, and they will want to tax somebody for it.
As I read your comment, I wanted to shout, "Preposterous", but deep inside I know you will be proven correct in your assumption. God help us.
The show needs Sybil the Soothsayer.
Who's Katie Couric?
The question should be:
Who WAS Katie Couric?
Is Katie still on SeeBS?
nah..she's too fat to be perky.HA!
Oh yeah, I forgot about that.
Yuk!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.