Thanks to Dave Hughes’ excellent DCRTV for reminding us of the local angle to a national media story: the status of Arlington native Katie Couric’s recent ascension to the anchor’s chair over at CBS News.
Couric grew up in Arlington, attending Yorktown High School (where she was a cheerleader) and UVA before beginning her climb to the top of the TV news industry — a process that included a stint at D.C.’s WRC-TV, NBC4. From there you all know the story: local girl done very, very good. It warms the heart (sniff).
But, as the New York Times reports, all is not well with Couric’s latest project. Although she’s doing better than interim host Bob Schieffer, until last week Couric’s audience had declined every week since her debut. And ratings aren’t the only trouble: the broadcast has come under fire for Couric’s editorials and its controversial “Free Speech” segment — particularly one installment in which a bereaved father blamed a school shooting, in part, on the inclusion of evolution in school curricula. And a hopelessly fluffy interview with Condoleezza Rice did little to restore faith in Couric’s capacity for hard news.
It’s hard not to root for a hometown girl, but things aren’t looking good. We wish her the best, of course. But if Couric doesn’t get things back on track, this Washington-Lee alum will be forced to conclude that her case is just another sad example of the suffocating limits imposed by a Yorktown education.
Image by Flickr user Nicki Weber Moore, used under a Creative Commons Sharealike license
