Posted on 09/05/2006 5:12:28 PM PDT by gopwinsin04
Couric's CBS Debut: From Taliban to Suri Sep 05 7:40 PM US/Eastern
By DAVID BAUDER AP Television Writer
NEW YORK
Katie Couric began her first night as anchor of the "CBS Evening News" on Tuesday by standing in front of a video board displaying a fast- moving rundown of stories ranging from the Taliban to Suri Cruise.
"Hi, everyone," she said. "I'm very happy to be with you tonight."
She ended the historic evening by asking viewers for help in crafting a distinctive signoff.
"But for now, all I have to say is, I'm Katie Couric, thank you so much for watching, and I hope to see you tomorrow night."
Tuesday capped a tumultuous two years for network evening newscasts. For more than two decades, the networks had been the TV homes of Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather. Now Couric, the first female network face, will compete against Brian Williams at the top-rated NBC "Nightly News" and Charles Gibson at ABC's "World News."
Even before the first commercial break, Couric showed her willingness to try new things with an evening news format that she has called formulaic.
She was introduced by a voiceover recorded by the legendary Walter Cronkite, whose tenure as CBS anchor ended in 1981. She quickly introduced a story about the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan, a lengthy exclusive on a relatively slow news day. Correspondent Lara Logan was taken by a Taliban commander to view soldiers openly displaying their weapons less than 10 miles from a U.S. base.
That story segued into a conventional report by White House correspondent Jim Axelrod on a speech given by President Bush on the terrorist threat.
Recalling her 15 years on NBC's "Today" show, Couric, wearing a white one-button jacket over a black blouse, then interviewed columnist Thomas Friedman of The New York Times about the Taliban, the fight against terror and the upcoming fifth anniversary of the terror attacks.
The end of the broadcast found her leaning against the edge of a desk on the redesigned "CBS Evening News" set, instead of seated behind it. After acknowledging that many people were wondering how she would sign off, Couric played clips of other signoffs, ranging from Cronkite's "and that's the way it is" to Rather's ridiculed "courage" to Will Ferrell's "you stay classy, San Diego" as the fictitious movie anchorman Ron Burgundy.
"I'm not sure any of those will work for me," Couric said, then asked viewers, in all seriousness, to log onto the CBS News web site and send her suggestions.
"And who knows," she said, "maybe one will actually stick."
(Corrects signoff quote; ADDS detail. Will be led.)
May she be as successful as "New Coke".
They have to try something as they slide into the tar pits.
Are you kidding? Screw Edward R. Murrow. He's the b@stard that made commie newscasters fashionable!
Is this the live thread??? (/breathlessness)
I watched the first 10 minutes out of curiosity. The typical leftist slant was pervasive so I switched to The Fox Report to get some real news. Katie was boring in my opinion. If you need to watch a news personality, she is not the one in my opinion.
"On the night of April 30, 1945, a drunken Joyce made his last broadcast from Hamburg as British troops entered the city. With his adopted world crashing down around him, but still committed to the Nazi cause, Joyce rambled on through his farewell speech."
Lady Haw Haw.
lol
God Bless America, and may God continue to give President Bush the strength and wisdom to keep our nation safe and strong.
The boss! Who else!
I've seen enough.I won't be back,Katie.
Liberals got mad when Republicans put Max Cleland in an ad that showed a picture of Osama Bin Laden in the ad at a different time. Tonight, Katie put President Bush on the screen next to Hitler and Lenin. I think she and CBS News need to be called out on this.
How about "Vive La Revolution"?
Oh, puhleeze. There are probably plenty of voyeuristic baby websites on the internet you can visit to get your fix discussing the off spring of Holmes/Cruise. FR isn't obsessed with this child or one of them.
"From the deck of the HMS Titanic, this is Katie Couric signing off."
The jacket was at least one size too small.
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