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Sarah Palin beat Katie Couric in the ratings game Tuesday when the two women hosted competing morning shows. Palin, never one to hold punches, gloried in her dominance over “the ‘perky one.’” “[F]rankly, I’m ecstatic we beat the ‘perky one,’” Palin emailed Zap2it, along with some glowing compliments for the “Today” show staff and cast. Her problem was not with ABC, Palin made clear, just Couric, who was filling in as the host of “Good Morning America.” “I wouldn’t have gone up against ABC’s vacationing Robin Roberts, because she’s such a good egg,” said Palin. “By the way, both Robin...

Here is video of CBS News Anchor Katie Couric during the 2008 Presidential Campaign being caught on video mocking Sarah Palin and her family during a practice session just days before the Republican National Convention. Couric is seen mocking the name of Palin’s son “Track” after reading his name, and later doing the same with the name of Palin’s hometown – Wasilla, Alaska. The video is instructive in that it shows the behind-the-scenes bias against Palin that was actually quite obvious during broadcasts as well.

Deacon Greg Kandra was an interesting presence on the CBS staff in the Katie Couric era. He edited her blog Couric & Co. as he was ordained a Catholic deacon in 2007. At his Beliefnet blog The Deacon's Bench, he responded to the blog Creative Minority Report claiming Couric is a modern Margaret Sanger, the controversial eugenics-endorsing founder of Planned Parenthood. (The label came from Couric's recent subsidize-the-contraceptives commentary.) I expected Kandra might offer some defense to the CBS star. Instead, Kandra wrote: CMR calls Katie a "modern Margaret Sanger." I know what CMR is talking about. And boy, do...

I hate what’s happening to Katie Couric. If, for instance, you’ve been in a supermarket checkout line recently, you’ve seen her face plastered on the cover of the National Enquirer, next to a headline that declares that bad ratings and backstabbing have demoralized her so much she wants out. True or not, such Enquirer stories are indicators in their own way (of someone’s wish fulfillment, if not necessarily hers). You can’t call Couric blameless for the rain of ill-will she’s now enduring. She’s been in media all her adult life and she knows full well that few worlds fulminate with...

I was channel surfing and my gosh, she had some sort of eye job done. Her eyes are smaller and she looks totally different. I don't think I would recommend her doctors for anything based on what I saw.

One week ago, Katie sat down for a briefing at the White House, and noticed something unusual. _______________________________________________________ Last Wednesday, President Bush gave his address to the country about “the new way forward” for Iraq, and lots of journalists—including me, of course—were in Washington to cover it. But before the Big Speech, there was the little-known Big Meeting. The White House invited all the network anchors, and some cable anchors, along with the Sunday political show hosts to a meeting with unnamed VERY senior administration officials. (Obviously I know their names, but the agreement was that in order to attend...

With a few important reviews coming up and the notebook full of snark all but emptied on Monday, here are a few TV issues du jour to wrap up: . . . -- Despite what you may think, there's never much joy in saying "told you so," especially when the prediction at hand seems so obvious. In this case: Katie Couric and the evening news. One of the most overhyped issues at the time -- Couric and her $15 million salary were supposed to "save" CBS and revitalize a dinosaur news format -- culminated in knee-jerk overkill in subsequent weeks...

Hi, everyone! Okay, I’ve been waiting to exhale for some time now…and I finally have!!! Last night was my one week anniversary…and the good news is, I’m still employed! (I think) I’ve had no problem sleeping in until 7 every morning…and I’m really really enjoying my new gig. There’s a lot of excitement here about trying new things, and the people with whom I’m working are terrific-smart and funny and very dedicated to putting on the best product we can. I’m still getting used to the half hour format, but it’s gratifying to see how much we can get in…I...

by Mark Finkelstein August 30, 2006 - 13:49 In the wake of the fauxtography scandals of the recent Middle East conflict, you might think that the MSM would be particularly careful to avoid tinkering with photos. And if there is one TV news operation you would imagine would be particularly gun-shy about altered documents, it would be the Memogate network - CBS. Apparently not. The photo on the left is Katie's official CBS photo. The one to the right is to be found in the CBS "Watch" Magazine. Whoops. You know, they say it's all about the accessories. That little...

Monday, Aug 28 Couric Gets Bush For 1st 'Evening News' Katie Couric has landed an interview with President George W. Bush at the White House for the CBS primetime special "Five Years Later -- How Safe Are We?" The special will air from 10 to 11pm on Sept. 6. Excerpts from the interview will air on Couric's first evening newscast on Sept. 5 (and on the Early Show the next morning)...

"James Horner, a two-time Academy Award-winning composer, has composed the new musical theme for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric," CBS announced this afternoon. He composed "My Heart Will Go On" for Titanic and the scores for "Apollo 13," "Braveheart," "Alien," "Field of Dreams," "A Beautiful Mind," and more than 100 others. "The musical theme will also be integrated into other CBS News programs over time," CBS noted. > By the way: "In the 58-year history of the CBS Evening News, four different musical themes have been used. Prior to the first, which was added in 1962 when Walter...

This week is the first of a new epoch in American history. It might come to be known by historians as the Post-NBC-Couric Age, or possibly The Second Era of Katie. It is the first full week after Katie Couric announced that she was leaving the television network NBC to join the television network CBS. You may not have heard of Ms Couric. She is a perky, personable 49-year-old TV presenter. After 16 years as co-anchor of Today, the long-running breakfast show, she has jumped ship to host the main evening news at the rival network CBS. Now in Britain...

Losing presidential elections appears to be quite difficult for Democratic nominees to take. Al Gore has now evolved into a hysterical radical, unhinged caricature and attacks anything that doesn't fit his far left agenda at every turn. Now it appears John Kerry is set to join the unhinged failed presidential candidate club. After his Davos dial, where he called for a filibuster of new Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito from the slopes, he hit the airwaves on Wednesday morning and threw a bit of a hissy fit on the NBC's 'Today' Show. It was to be nothing more than an...

<p>You know how Rush Limbaugh has an excellent track record at predicting trends or attitudes amongst liberals?</p> <p>Well, not to compare myself to El Rushbo, but my intuition was certainly borne out this morning when it came to the issue of the attempt of 20th hijacker Zacarias Moussaoui to enter a guilty plea that could result in the application of the death penalty.</p>

202.885.4231The above number is for the Washington office of the Today Show. At that number you may actually speak with a real person. At least you can leave a message. The New York number is 212.554.4444. That gets you to an operator. Twice I was supposedly transferred to the Today Show but it rang and rang without answer. They are probably all busy having lunch and rinks with Kitty Kelly. Katie and Kitty sitting in a tree....saying Dubya's not for me......She will spin, she will lie, while we watch the mainstream die. Katie Couric is very pleased to do a...

Katie Couric saved the worst for last today. In what was shaping up as a ho-hum discussion of presidential politics with former Clinton Press Secretary Joe Lockhart and conservative commentator Bay Buchanan, in the last minute or so Katie unleashed a sneak attack on W's National Guard service. Couric reviewed what she described as a muddled state of documentation surrounding W's service. Her ensuing statement, although somewhat ambiguous as to subject and object, seemed to be "the question is . . . why did President Bush receive an honorable discharge?" Lockhart, having served as press secretary to the country's most...

Through Turmoil and Tragedy, a Peppy News Pro Wakes Us with a Smile Premieres: Jan. 4, 9 p.m. Encores: Jan. 5, 12 a.m.; Jan. 6, 8 p.m. She hates the P-word, but you can hardly describe Katie Couric without saying "perky." For millions of Americans, she and Today cohost Matt Lauer represent a human jolt of caffeine. Yet for all her cheeriness, she has been lauded as one of the best in the business, slipping easily between serious topics and infotainment. Catch this E! True Hollywood Story, when it premieres Sun., Jan. 4, at 9 p.m., and see how Couric...

A double-header of liberal spite on this morning's Today Show. First up was an interview by Katie Couric of Amb. Paul Bremer, U.S. civil administrator in Iraq. Couric's questioning was a festival of second-guessing, baiting and barbs. "More soldiers have been killed in Iraq than in the first three years of the Vietnam War." [By the way, this is surely a question of semantics. When do you date the beginning of the war - when JFK sent in a few hundred "advisors" in the early 60s or when actual fighting began in '64 or so?} And of course Katie cited...

Only hours after the news broke, Katie Couric thought Rush Limbaugh's drug problem was funny. So funny as a matter of fact, that she made up a story about sitting next to him on the plane and asking for an aspirin - you get the rest. She told it with a baby-girl hair flip. It wasn't funny. During the Democrat debate last week, John Kerry thought Rush's pain was funny and took a shot. That wasn't funny either. For hard-pressed liberals, merchandising Rush Limbaugh's admitted pill addiction will be an interesting test of individual sensitivity and a telling reality check...

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - One month before the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 tragedy, the broadcast networks seem set to change the tone of their coverage of that event from focusing on the event itself and the memorials to looking more at policy issues in the aftermath of the attacks. The exact extent of the coverage is still uncertain as the networks await to hear from New York, Washington and Shanksville, Pa., on their plans for the day, but it is highly unlikely that ABC, CBS and NBC News will repeat their 2002 menu of broad live coverage...