Katie Couric accused her former employer of being “out of touch with reality” on Sunday after the “CBS Evening News” announced it would replace host Norah O’Donnell with two male anchors, calling it a “bizarre” move.
“I was a little disappointed to hear that Mr. O’Donnell would be replaced by John Dickerson and Maurice Dubois,” Couric said. Written in an editorial She wrote in The New York Times that she admired both Dickerson and Du Bois: “These are the two men who greet the American people watching the evening news.”
O’Donnell announced in July that she was leaving her role as anchor of the “CBS Evening News” to take another role at CBS. Couric previously served as anchor of the “CBS Evening News” before leaving the network in 2011.
“It’s odd and surreal that even as CBS announces restructuring to bring more women into executive roles, most of its editorial decision makers are men,” Couric continued.
Katie Couric has slammed her former employer, CBS News, for hiring two men to replace “CBS Evening News” anchor Norah O’Donnell. (Left: (Photo by Gary Miller/Getty Images), (Right: Photographer: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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She argued that Vice President Harris’ presidential campaign needs a diverse press corps.
“We are also in the midst of an election that could lead to the first woman president and the first woman of color to become president. This could be a historic event and it deserves coverage by a diverse set of journalists,” Couric wrote.
CBS News announced that “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan will report regularly from Washington, D.C., for the show.
Even more unfortunate, Couric argued, is the fact that the people behind the scenes at the “CBS Evening News” are “three white guys: Bill Owens, Guy Campanile and Jerry Cipriano.”
CBS News & Sports President Sean McManus and CBS Television Anchor and Editor in Chief Katie Couric speak during the CBS Television Critics Association Press Tour at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel on July 16, 2006 in Pasadena, California. (Photo: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)
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She praised Cipriano, who she described as her “right-hand writer” during her time at the station, but lamented that “male writers sometimes have blind spots.”
“When I was at CBS, I read a script written by a male colleague that I felt described Hillary Clinton in a subtly sexist way. I asked my team, ‘Would you describe a male candidate like this?’ and we rewrote it,” Couric said.
“The CBS Evening News has been stuck in third place for decades. I wasn’t able to effect change during my tenure as anchor, but I hoped that I could shift people’s minds,” Couric concluded. “Traditional broadcast news may be in decline, but more than half of viewers should demand more from the industry. Until then, nightly network news programming will once again be in the hands of a few talented people.”
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CBS News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
