Comments on: Katie Couric Weighs Anchor

First Woman To Solo As Anchor Debuts On CBS Evening News

[rob27521]

please try to show how all illegals are draining states of everything. not how hard it is for them. they are breaking the laws and what about the ones who are doing it right. the illegal are keeping wages lower. those people hiring them and providing them housing all are getting rich. so please be the news people who thinks about their people the ones who go by rules and do our best everyday. who going to be the voice for all those people who are doing with less or nothing because lower wages and tring to play fair and by rules only to lose. please be our voice after all we are the ones who made you. thank you for your time. the trogdon family

[lindawaugh]

Katie, I met you at the Today show in 1997--I just turned 50--You are so genuine. I like the way you are signing off now--"thanks so much for watching." It sounds like you--Good luck! Linda

[cjp91068]

Katie needs to take a pause between stories she reports on. She went from news about 9-11 to some other story on tuesday night without pause or breath. It seemed insensitive or nervousness on her part to me.

[keehotay]

Sorry Katie, I have to go back to ABC now. I just want the news.

[suzyqj1]

Where are all of the comments? We are only seeing the last few. Would like to see all of them!!!

[irritated_n_]

I realize that it was her first time as the anchor, but where was the news.
And who cares what she says when she signs off the air, just give us the news

[melodienoele]

I think Katie did an excellent job on her first day as first solo woman news anchor. It's great to see her face on the evening news! Keep up the good work, Katie!

[macmaybe]

Our local CBS channel was without video for the CBS news last night, but after hearing that Ms. Couric's debut included a segment about the Cruise baby, I'm glad I didn't watch. CBS used to be synonymous with prime news coverage, but this new anchor has lost me to ABC and NBC.

[trice6312]

Hi Katie,

Unfortunately I missed your debut, but I have been reading all about it. I wanted to share what I thought you should sign off with, here it is:

This is Katie Couric, looking forward to sharing the news with you tomorrow or

Good night, God Bless, until we meet again.

[virginiagir2]

Good job Katie!!
I enjoyed watching you again on television. I had been waiting all summer for this first time news report and I was not disappointed at all. This makes my second comment on the subject but I failed to see my comment mentioned earlier today.
Keep up the good work.
And maybe for a sign off: I'm Katie and God Bless all of you.

If Katie Couric's news show were aired at 7pm, I probably would watch it. She is attractive, personable and intelligent.

But, at 6:30 pm I am looking for a roundup of hard news and not featurettes. This is not CBS News as I have come to know it over the years and I have faithfully listened to and watched CBS News ever since Ed Murrow was broadcasting from London in 1940 when I was 5.

So it is with some considerable sadness that I conclude that your need for change requires me to do the same.

Good night and good Luck!

Donald H. Kane
Jupiter, FL

[suesouders]

Comments about the show---- viewers need to remember that this is an evening news show with a lot of info to present-----In watching the first newscast I felt that Ms. Couric did well but seemed to be reading her script more then actually reporting it-the subjects seemed to clog up instead of flowing from one topic to another--I was listening more then watching and felt I had difficulty separating one piece of news from another----with co anchors it seems that the flow goes back and forth between anchors----with only one anchor there needs to be a breakoff inbetween news subjects---she seemed extremely nervous and did not seem herself--Ms. Couric has earned the right to be where she is---I think that what most viewers want from a newscaster is predictability-----serious when is should be serious and light hearted when needed---it makes the viewers feel safe and informed -I think Ms. Couric needs to be herself----sign off as she wants and see how it falls----too much coaching from others can be a bad thing and cause problems that viewers just don't understand

[cindy5479]

Well, CBS. You lost a viewer with me. Katie is a lightweight. She can't be considered a serious journalist - I find her shallow, vain and too occupied with showing off her legs. She does not report the news in a impartial way - her style of reporting is slanted and at times confrontational. You could have done better. I think you got the short end of the stick. Her ratings may be high now due to people's initial curiosity, but she will lose her appeal when people see how "light" she is. Unless they tune in to see how short her skirt is.

[noozvuer]

Is this the beginning of the end for 30-min. evening network news?

(Part 1 of 2)

I have been a regular watcher of the CBS Evening News for decades, tuning in to see the images that constitute history in the making-- the images that can't be conveyed by thousands of words in newspapers and magazines. The anchor, mostly Dan Rather during that period, succeeded by playing second fiddle to the news and field correspondents. The newscast is not about the anchor. I'm no fan of Couric but I tried to keep an open mind to her arrival at CBS News. In brief, I found her debut presence and presentation way too smiley and smarmy. It doesn't have to be grim or somber to be news, but it shouldn't be smiley contests to come up with a sign-off message, either. Very high-schoolish. You're paying her the big bucks so we can come up with a sign-off? That kind of gimmick may work at close range to win friends and work your way to the anchor position, but now that you're there, Katie, it seems undignified. I realize the News is trying to compete with the Internet by making things seem interactive, but don't lose sight of the power and appeal of a well-crafted presentation that's not interactive at all.

[noozvuer]

Is this the beginning of the end for 30-min. evening network news?

(Part 2 of 2)

But smarminess is a quibble compared to how last night's newly introduced "features" undermine what used to be the CBS Evening News. What I used to tune in for, as I said, and what I got, was the moving images and facts related to news. When you've only got 20 minutes of content, opinions such as Friedman's and the Supersize-me guy's 1) can't be presented in any meaningful depth, 2) crowd out actual news, and 3) are likely to alienate viewers by seeming one-sided because you necessarily can only present one side per show (see no. 1). When Rush Limbaugh appears, I will tune out. He represents the worst of our socially polarized society. More opinion = Bad idea. Worst idea? Easily the Suri Cruise photo. Celebrities and their babies are not news. Sorry, Katie, save that for the office. CBS: Save that for Insider, ET, etc. If I want to see that stuff, I'll watch those shows. By forcing that stuff into the NEWScast, you are forcing me to another network or the Internet-- and I realize you may not care, if more people come than leave. But are things that bad, or should I ask, do you think things are that bad that the last bastion of the evening news can't survive on news alone? Make a good news show and they will come. Hold the fluff or they will go.

Good luck, I for one would miss the departure of the old CBS Evening News.

[carol9999]

My unfavorable review of Katie's debut last night and the new "CBS News Lite" format has mysteriously disappeared. In view of the overwhelming majority of favorable posts that one sees here now I can only wonder how many other unfavorable ones have been removed.

If you don't want to know what the public thinks don't ask. But for Pete's sake don't censor us when you ask and then we give you our honest opinion...

[radmani1]

I made it home from class just in time to cstch Katie's CBS debut. She was wonderful of course, and I see her to be a true inspiration. I, myself, am a broadcast journalism major. I will br more than ecstatic if I can be half as successful in my lifetime as she has been thus far in her career. She's my idol and I hope to follow in her footsteps.

[mbns1111]

Well Done! I do not watch any evening news, but I tuned in out of curiosity. I thought Ms. Couric did a fantastic job. I like the changes, I like the new studio and the set-up - 2 chairs in studio for one on one interviews. One of Ms. Couric's strengths is one on one interviews and it's nice to see some thought went into utilizing her strengths to separate herself from the others. The networks should feel embarrassed for not making changes to the format before now. Evening News has been losing viewers for 20 years? Great praise to Ms. Couric for breathing fresh air and bringing fresh ideas into the networks. As a woman, part of me felt that she was representing all of us in this step forward. Well done, and thank you.

[roseplatinum]

I'm a woman and have always found it heard to believe that we are in 2006 and only now are we getting around to have a lone woman anchor the news. I looked forward to Katie's debut. I WATCHED. I was disappointed! )-; Not by Katie, she was okay--but WHERE was the news? Between Katie's making nice, the "FreeSpeech" segment, the interview with Thomas Friedman,and the fluff, I don't think there were actually 4 news stories. I'm sorry, but if you want to beat Brian on "another network", and keep me as a regular viewer, you're going to have to do a WHOLE lot better.
And please, NO MORE Tom/Kat/Suri, for the love of God!!

[shadowslady1]

It has been a lot of years since I watched the CBS News. M's Couric last night has made me a new viewer. I like the fact that M's Couric took the stiffness out of presenting of the news. If you watched her face and listen to her voice, you would be to tell the seriousness or light heartiness of the story. Thank you M's Couric for taking on such a big job.