All Blog Posts from Public Eye

It’s been one year for Katie Couric at the anchor desk of the “CBS Evening News.”

And the media isn’t hesitating at all to give her a letter grade, a progress report, some premature obits and some “stay the course”s to mark the occasion.

But nearly unanimous in all the coverage is the fact that CBS News apparently overshot its goal, choosing not only to install a new anchor and begin a new era, but also to use that occasion to redefine the entire concept of the network evening newscast – and therefore capture the younger audience.

And that it didn't work out.

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Well, this is officially ugly.

On Monday, speaking about the CBS "Evening News," Dan Rather told Joe Scarborough that CBS executives had been "dumbing it down and tarting it up, going to celebrity coverage rather than war coverage." He also criticized CBS for trying "to bring the 'Today' ethos to the 'Evening News'…in hopes of attracting a younger audience."

CBS President and CEO Leslie Moonves called Rather's comments a "cheap shot" the next morning – and characterized them as "sexist."

Rather responded on Fox News. "What [Moonves] is trying to do is change the subject," said Rather. "And I find it insulting, and I find it disappointing -- that's a better word, disappointing -- that Les Moonves, who knows a lot about entertainment, would try to mask the real point with that line of attack."

He added: "These days, they don't know what hard news is, the top corporate leadership. They know about entertainment, but they don't know about news…I do think that there is an audience for quality news of integrity, including on the "Evening News. And there is no empirical evidence that, by dumbing it down, by going with the Paris Hilton story, by softening things up, that it attracts younger audiences. There's no empirical evidence for that. But the corporate leadership, people such as Les Moonves, believe that. And they put the pressure on down below. And that is -- the result is what we have now, which is not a good result."

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Let me start this week's EN Report by explaining my lame headline: The "Rick" is Rick Kaplan, who last week officially began steering the ship at the "Evening News." And the "hard place" is where pundits have been predicting he would take the broadcast, transforming it into something with more hard news than it has had since Katie Couric came on board as anchor.

Kaplan began to really get involved with the show on Tuesday, and it's way, way too early to judge the results. (Although not for this dude.) One thing that is worth noting, however, is something that happened on Friday: A taped hard news interview in the first block involving Katie Couric. Couric interviewed David Iglesias, one of the fired U.S. attorneys. I'm hard pressed to remember the last time Couric did something like this, and though I'm not going to read too much into it, I will say that it's certainly nice to see Couric talking to someone like Iglesias and not, say, Mt. Hood widow Kelly James.

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Rick Kaplan, the new executive producer of the "Evening News," is a longtime friend of Bill and Hillary Clinton. Newsbusters, which bills itself as "exposing and combating liberal media bias," has seized on the connection. The implication in their coverage is that Kaplan will not be able to cover Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign in a fair way.

Kaplan addressed his Clinton connections with the Philadelphia Inquirer's Gail Shister. "I've got a 38-year track record," Kaplan said. "I find it astounding that this is an issue for anyone since it's never come up in my career. There's no smoke there...You could hoist me up and skewer me if there's any truth to that at all."

Kaplan pointed out that he is also a friend of John McCain. "If you're around long enough, you get to know everybody," he said.

Kaplan slept in the Clinton White House twice. After the second occasion, in April 2000, he told USA Today's Peter Johnson, "I do not feel embarrassed, ashamed or compromised in any way, shape or form."

"Everyone has relationships," he added. "We met each other before either of us knew we'd amount to anything. He doesn't expect anything from me, and I don't expect anything from him."

The question of whether Kaplan can oversee fair coverage of Bill and Hillary Clinton goes to the heart of the debate about media bias. Most journalists today feel they can put both their personal and political feelings aside when the time comes to do their jobs. They may like or dislike a politician or his policies, but they believe they can provide unbiased, objective coverage regardless of their feelings.

Critics, meanwhile, charge that such a separation is impossible. They believe that if you agree with the politics of a certain politician, that's going to be reflected in your coverage, even if you don't want it to be. And that goes double if you're friends with that politician – how can you separate your personal feelings from your professional obligation?

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It's official. Here's the CBS News release announcing Rick Kaplan as the new Executive Producer of the "Evening News":

RICK KAPLAN IS NAMED EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF THE “CBS EVENING NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC”

Rick Kaplan, a multiple award-winning news producer and executive spanning a career in broadcast journalism of more than 35 years, has been named Executive Producer, CBS EVENING NEWS WITH KATIE COURIC, it was announced by Sean McManus, President, CBS News and Sports. The appointment is effective immediately.

“Few broadcast journalists have a list of accomplishments and the history of success that Rick has had – the list is truly extraordinary,” said McManus. “I’m very much looking forward to working with Rick and having the benefit of his vast experience and knowledge as we continue to build the best evening news broadcast at CBS News.”

“Rick Kaplan is a big personality with big ideas,” said Couric, the broadcast’s anchor and managing editor. “Though I’ve never worked directly with him, I know Rick is an extraordinarily experienced producer who has exciting plans for our broadcast. I’m thrilled he has decided to come home to CBS News.”

“I spent the first 10 years of my career at CBS News, including three years working on the ‘CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite,’” said Kaplan, “so coming home to that broadcast, especially as executive producer, is particularly thrilling. Katie is an enormously talented journalist and broadcaster, and this is an extraordinary opportunity for us to grow the broadcast in every way.”

More after the jump...

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As we mentioned earlier today, Rick Kaplan is being named executive producer of the "Evening News." He replaces Rome Hartman, who is expected to stay on with CBS in another capacity. Here's some early analysis and comment:



New York Times:

Mr. Hartman, a respected veteran at CBS News, had joined the program about a year before Ms. Couric arrived, and had introduced several stylistic changes in its format. Some, like a nightly editorial by commentators outside CBS News, were not well received by many critics and some members of the staff. The most widely heard complaint has been that the newscast was sacrificing hard news reporting for more features and interviews.

CBS News:

For Kaplan, a broadcast news veteran, the job will be a homecoming of sorts. He worked at CBS for a decade early in his career, including a period as an associate producer for the CBS Evening News…

Associated Press:

Couric took over from [Bob] Schieffer shortly after Labor Day last year and came in with a mandate to try and shake up an evening news format that differs only slightly among the three networks and hasn't changed dramatically in years. For her first two weeks, Couric led in the ratings. But she hasn't returned there since…

"The lesson of the last six months is that it's very difficult to reinvent the wheel," said Andrew Tyndall, a consultant who monitors the content of broadcast evening newscasts.

Last week, we took a camera inside the "Evening News" lineup meeting, where producers discuss what will run on that night's show and where it will run. Hartman was the central figure at the meeting, and if you want to get a sense of his style and personality, I recommend you check it out.

Six months after Katie Couric became anchor, Rome Hartman is reportedly out as executive producer of the "Evening News," to be replaced by former MSNBC and CNN President Rick Kaplan. We'll have more on this later today, so stay tuned...