{"id":90889,"date":"2006-09-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-09-06T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2006\/09\/06\/the-verdict-on-couric\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T04:05:03","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T09:05:03","slug":"the-verdict-on-couric","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/journalism\/2006\/09\/06\/the-verdict-on-couric\/","title":{"rendered":"The Verdict on Couric"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After an unprecedented buildup, the early verdict is in. A sampling of the nation\u2019s television critics and online commentators finds that there is more criticism than praise – and more mixed reviews than anything – for Katie Couric\u2019s feverishly anticipated debut as anchor of the \u201cCBS Evening News\u201d yesterday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To get a sense of how Couric\u2019s opening night played with the TV punditocracy, the Project for Excellence in Journalism evaluated 43 columns or commentaries — primarily from daily newspapers — that weighed in on the former \u201cToday\u201d host\u2019s inaugural newscast. Overall, 79% of the reviews were either mixed or mostly negative. In raw numbers that translates to 20 mixed, 14 negative and 9 positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fairness to Couric, a good deal of the criticism was aimed less at her and more at the content \u2013 or lack thereof \u2013 in a program that included pictures of Tom Cruise\u2019s and Katie Holmes\u2019s baby daughter Suri and a segment in which filmmaker Morgan Spurlock railed against political polarization while using Hulk Hogan video to make his point.(On a more superficial note, Couric\u2019s wardrobe, a white blazer over a black skirt and top, also attracted its share of comment.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Boffo\" 21%Boffo<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\" 46%So-So <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\" 33%Uh-Oh<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Philadelphia Inquirer\u2019s Jonathan Storm wrote that \u201cher presence actually gave weight to a blab-filled report that threatened to float away on a cloud of tepid air.\u201dWriting for the online publication Salon, Heather Havrilesky asserted that \u201cthe broadcast hit its low point when Couric gushed over the first published pictures of Suri Cruise\u201d and accused the new anchor of \u201csounding far more like Mary Hart than Tom Brokaw.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Summing up the general sense among reviewers that Couric herself provided no particularly memorable or distinctive moments, Robert Bianco of USA Today ventured that \u201cIt\u2019s hard to see how anything she did on the newscast could possibly have earned a strong reaction either way.\u201d The Boston Globe\u2019s Joanna Weiss echoed those sentiments, declaring the newscast to be largely \u201ccompetent and safe.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a bad sign for network, the name of CBS news icon Edward Murrow \u2013 whose signature signoff was used to help close Couric\u2019s first show \u2013 was invoked in some unflattering reviews. The Washington Post\u2019s Tom Shales wrote that \u201cSome people will say that including the image of Murrow on such a frothy, funsy broadcast as the Couric premier was sacrilege, and that Murrow is spinning in his grave.\u201d Added Matt Zoller Seitz of the Newark Star-Ledger: \u201cNow would normally be the time to evoke the ghost of Edward R. Murrow, but I won\u2019t. He\u2019s suffered enough.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The more positive reviews found Couric herself to be competent and polished if not necessarily compelling. David Bianculli of the New York Daily News wrote that \u201cShe was serious at the start, folksy at the end, and poised and professional throughout.\u201d And Mike Duffy of the Detroit Free Press lauded her ability to project the \u201csame self-assured down-to-earth professionalism\u201d that made her a success in morning television.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even before her first CBS newscast, Couric\u2019s historic and much-scrutinized transition from morning host to evening anchor at played out much like a high-stakes political campaign, leading the New York Times to compare it to \u201can image campaign worthy of a presidential candidate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The intense media coverage of Couric leading up to Tuesday night\u2019s program helped stoke much speculation about whether CBS\u2019s gamble — reportedly costing $15 million annually in her salary alone — would pay off in ratings and buzz. For those of a sporting bent, The New York Post discovered an online bookie who put Couric\u2019s odds of drawing more than 8.5 million viewers last night at 6.5 to 1. (CBS reported today that the broadcast attracted a whopping 13.59 million viewers, its biggest audience in more than eight years, and easily beat the ABC and NBC newscasts.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the network did much to encourage and orchestrate the avalanche of media attention on Couric, CBS News President Sean McManus told the Washington Post last month that he was surprised by the intensity of the media \u201cfeeding frenzy\u201d and worried that \u201cthe downside is that people are going to be so quick to jump to conclusions after one broadcast.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, that broadcast is over and the first returns are in. And McManus, Couric, and company were probably hoping for a better reception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Study Design<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thrust of this analysis was to gauge overall evaluation of Couric\u2019s first night, based on a wide range of reviews that appeared across the country in the first 12 hours following the broadcast. To do so, we created a list of outlets likely to run reviews. We began with media outlets that had staffers who were members of the Television Critics Association. That list featured 33 newspapers of varying size, including the 9 of 10 largest circulation dailies in the country. Next, to add depth to the sample, we added the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n