EX-`TODAY' HOST TAKES ON NIGHT COURIC FIRST SOLO WOMAN ANCHOR OF EVENING SHOW.Byline: DAVID David, in the Bible David, d. c.970 B.C., king of ancient Israel (c.1010–970 B.C.), successor of Saul. The Book of First Samuel introduces him as the youngest of eight sons who is anointed king by Samuel to replace Saul, who had been deemed a failure. KRONKE Television Critic It was a slow news day Tuesday when Katie Couric Katherine Anne "Katie" Couric (born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist who became well-known as co-host of NBC's Today. In 2006, she made a highly publicized move from NBC to CBS, and on September 5, 2006 she became the first woman to solo-anchor of the weekday debuted as the anchor of ``The CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. Evening News'' and became part of the story herself. Making history as the first solo woman anchor of an evening network newscast, she handled a professionally packaged half-hour telecast that featured three hard-news reports, plenty of lighter news items and copious plugs for the broadcast's Web site. Couric, known for her personality and style during the 15 years she co-hosted NBC's morning show ``Today,'' wore a white jacket over a black dress and opened the broadcast with a homey, ``Hi everyone, I'm very happy to be with you tonight,'' introducing what was on tap for the newscast standing in front of the updated anchor desk. (Glimpse of Couric's legs No. 1.) After Oscar-winning composer James Horner's unobtrusive new theme played, Couric was behind the desk, which has been retrofitted with a giant video screen, which delivers further news, such as the day's stock performances. Couric introduced three stories -- the Taliban's re-emergence in Afghanistan, President George W. Bush's reframing reframing (rē·frāˑ·ming), n the revisiting and reconstruction of a patient's view of an experience to imbue it with a different usually more positive meaning in the of the War on Terror This article is about U.S. actions, and those of other states, after September 11, 2001. For other conflicts, see Terrorism. The War on Terror (also known as the War on Terrorism and a massive oil strike discovered in the Gulf of Mexico Noun 1. Gulf of Mexico - an arm of the Atlantic to the south of the United States and to the east of Mexico Golfo de Mexico Atlantic, Atlantic Ocean - the 2nd largest ocean; separates North and South America on the west from Europe and Africa on the east . She interviewed New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of Times columnist Thomas Friedman Thomas Lauren Friedman, OBE (born July 20, 1953), is an American journalist. He is an op-ed contributor to The New York Times, whose column appears twice weekly and mainly addresses topics on foreign affairs. -- a former proponent of the war in Iraq who has since become critical of its handling -- for added perspective on how Bush is conducting the War on Terror. The interview took place near the anchor's desk, on a small set with two chairs and a coffee table. (Glimpse of Couric's legs No. 2.) Introducing a new segment called ``freeSpeech,'' Couric explained, ``We're trying a few new things. Expressing your opinion is very American, one of the privileges of living in this country.'' Liberal filmmaker Morgan Spurlock provided the first ``freeSpeech,'' essentially a wry plea for civil discourse. It was intercut in·ter·cut v. in·ter·cut, in·ter·cut·ting, in·ter·cuts v.tr. To interweave (two separate, usually concurrent scenes) in a film; crosscut. v.intr. To crosscut. , oddly enough for an evening newscast, with images of Hulk Hogan Terrence Gene Bollea (born August 11, 1953), better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American actor, former rock bassist and professional wrestler. He currently stars on the VH1 reality show Hogan Knows Best and will be the new host of pulverizing a foe -- which Spurlock compared to much TV punditry. Rush Limbaugh Rush Hudson Limbaugh III (born January 12, 1951) is an American conservative radio talk show host and political commentator. Born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, he is a self-described conservative, who discusses politics and current events on his program, will get to prove that point when he delivers ``freeSpeech'' on Thursday's broadcast. Another new segment was the biggest time-waster, ``Snapshots,'' which bizarrely juxtaposed jux·ta·pose tr.v. jux·ta·posed, jux·ta·pos·ing, jux·ta·pos·es To place side by side, especially for comparison or contrast. baby pictures of England's Prince Charles with the first public pictures of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' baby, Suri, to be released today in Vanity Fair magazine. ``Proof positive that, yes, Suri, she does exist,'' Couric quipped, all but ripping off the same pun on the magazine's cover. The evening's final story, about a Wisconsin artist who gives orphans around the world portraits of themselves that he has commissioned from high-school art students, was as feel-good as news gets, but a valid, interesting story by any measure. Couric, oddly, used the report as an opportunity to play radio DJ: ``That's Peter Gabriel's hit song `In Your Eyes,''' she declared as a few seconds of the song played before she introduced the story. With pop-culture references, non news features and a smattering of commentary, Couric and CBS have tried to create a kinder, gentler, slightly more humanized telecast not unlike a distilled version of your daily newspaper. This approach probably won't resurrect the network evening newscast or result in significant long-term ratings growth, but it certainly won't kill it off, either. Hard-core news junkies still have other alternatives. The true test of Couric's mettle will come when a big, breaking news story erupts close to airtime and she and her producers won't have time to edit together neatly scripted packages and can't rely on light features. With the midterm elections approaching and the war in Iraq remaining unpredictable, that day could come soon. On today's broadcast, Couric will interview Bush. Not to be outdone out·do tr.v. out·did , out·done , out·do·ing, out·does To do more or better than in performance or action. See Synonyms at excel. , Charles Gibson of ABC's ``World News'' will spend the day with Bush on Thursday. Tuesday's newscast ended with an overhead shot of Couric sitting on the anchor desk, laughing with her crew. (Glimpse of Couric's legs No. 3.) Before that, however, she mused over how she should sign off each broadcast. ``Nothing has felt right,'' she confessed, introducing a montage of anchor sign-offs that included fictitious newsmen Ted Baxter and Ron Burgundy. ``If you have a bright idea for a great sign-off, log on to our Web site,'' Couric said, which marked at least the fourth time the Web site got plugged in 22 minutes of airtime. For Tuesday's show, Couric signed off with perhaps the most honest, straightforward message of any anchor: ``I hope to see you tomorrow night.'' david.kronke(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3638 CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- color) ``CBS Evening News'' anchor Katie Couric begins her debut broadcast with the show in New York on Tuesday. (2) The ``CBS Evening News CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963. with Katie Couric'' has a revamped set, a new theme and new segments such as ``freeSpeech'' and ``Snapshots.'' The newscast featured three hard-news reports, pop-culture references, features and some commentary. (3) Katie Couric exits the CBS television studios after the airing of her first broadcast as anchor Tuesday. CBS |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion