Beyond Katie-Mania

If you live, um, in the world, you might have noticed that meta-analysis of Katie Couric's premiere on the "Evening News" tonight is being served up in bulk today. So, in lieu of an uber-roundup of the material (a task being handled ably by TVNewser in the form of an hourly countdown to Katie), we'd suggest taking a gander at two articles that follow up on some more unique aspects of tonight's premiere. In The Wall Street Journal, Brooks Barnes chats with James Horner, the composer of the broadcast's new theme song. How'd he make the tune "urgent and serious, yet light"? "Flexible, yet memorable"? Evocative of wheat fields rather than the Manhattan skyline? Check out the story here.

And how about what you'll see onscreen besides video footage and the flashy new set (and of course, Katie herself)? In today's Boston Globe, Joanna Weiss talks to the design firm behind the new graphics for the "Evening News," – intended to be "classy," "elegant," and "timeless" – and gets some reaction from a few graphic design professors.

Amid a whole lot of cacophony out there, both stories are well worth a read.