Katie Couric Takes a Jab at Rather

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Katie Couric Takes a Jab at Rather

Posted Nov 14th 2007 4:26PM by Ben Greenman
Filed under: Katie Couric, Video, Controversy

Back in June, Dan Rather said some unkind things about Katie Couric's news broadcast. Specifically, he said that the CBS Evening News was "dumbing down" and "tarting up" the news, favoring celebrity coverage over hard news. There was a flap. Les Moonves accused Rather of being sexist.

There was a musical.

Now, we get this video of Couric preparing for a Nashville broadcast last week, and before she goes on the air, she spends a little time ripping Rather back. The tone is generally light-hearted, and there's no real venom -- as opposed, say, to the Olbermann-O'Reilly feud -- but the highlights should be entered into this year's pop-culture record, maybe a step or two below "Don't tase me, bro." Here are some of the better quotes from the Couric video, in ascending order:

#3: "Jeez, don't you think he deserves a little payback?"
#2: "I'm not vain...just a little vain."
#1: "This tart is ready to go."

It's worth wondering how this video got out. Leaks of TV feeds aren't that rare, but Couric comes off well enough in this one -- loose, comfortable, self-deprecating without being spineless -- that it seems possible that she leaked it herself. As media becomes more dependent upon these kinds of viral products, it becomes more and more likely that media figures will try to control their appearance and distribution.

Your move, Dan.

[Ben Greenman is the author of several acclaimed books of fiction, including the recently published A Circle is a Balloon and Compass Both. Buy it here.]

Photos: Photo of the Day

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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 9)

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1. she has no credibility with me

DOMINICK at 11:26PM on Nov 14th 2007

2. Where do we vote WHO CARES!!! Honestly, TV news personalties think they are all competing to be gods.
I turned off my TV three years ago...and my life is soooo much better! These people truly are NOTHING when it comes to the big picture of life!!

Marsha at 11:44PM on Nov 14th 2007

3. are we just a little self-absorbed?

Tip at 6:07AM on Nov 15th 2007

4. i use to wach her with Matt Lauer but now ...I find her performance lifeless and boring.

Dafina Roll at 6:09AM on Nov 15th 2007

5. she is awsome in every way

john at 7:25AM on Nov 15th 2007

6. she is as fricking bad as Rosie. She needs to just go away and find another woman and live happily ever after with that squeaky little voice..

Dick Worell at 7:29AM on Nov 15th 2007

7. What an immature, low class, pathetically inane woman. She has no credibility as a professional.

Helen at 7:41AM on Nov 15th 2007

8. Dan Rather is a news icon in the ranks of Cronkite, Jennings, Brokaw, and Murrow. Couric belongs judging "Dancing With The Stars," not anchoring the evening news.

Jane Pauly was a newswoman with integrity and class - if they wanted to go for a woman for the sake of having a woman, they should have gone with her.

wem72 at 7:42AM on Nov 15th 2007

9. OK people, get used to women in power. Brian Williams appeared on Saturday Night Live, no biggie. Imagine if Katie had done that. SHE WOULD BE CRUCIFIED!! Get with the 21st Century!!

Doris at 7:58AM on Nov 15th 2007

10. She is NOT matured in her private life.
She keeps the maintality of Jerry Springer guests
in her public responces to criticism.

jafcojetz at 12:01PM on Nov 15th 2007

11. I've always like katie..but im shocked she did that....thought she had more class than that. and the comment about senior.... not a nice remark to make. whats that all about?

jenneferln at 8:09AM on Nov 15th 2007

12. Looking at the responses from others, it appears that Katy Couric's time in the limelight is over.Questions are being raised as to how she got there in the first place. It's time for her to ride off in the sunset maybe with Rosie at her side.

Wamason577@aol.com at 8:22AM on Nov 15th 2007

13. Katie has faced an uphill battle for the spot light following her laterial career move...however I believe she has what it takes to meet the challenge successfully...even in light of the media's not so secret "glass ceiling"...she can and should achieve her goals and not be pushed out by a dinosour like Dan Rather.

Ron at 8:13AM on Nov 15th 2007

14. I personally like CBS news Katie does a fine job Who cares about any of this fluff I want hard news None of the big three gives hard news anymore

ken at 8:13AM on Nov 15th 2007

15. I'VE SEEN RATHER'S BE DISRESPECTFUL TO OTHER FELLOW REPORTERS. HE IS NOT IN THE CLASS OF CRONKITE. THAT MAN HAD CLASS.

HWALKER28 at 8:16AM on Nov 15th 2007

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Mo Rocca appears on a bunch of shows, including CBS News Sunday Morning (with the indescribably wonderful Charles Osgood), The Tonight Show on NBC, and NPR's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! He's a sometime judge on Iron Chef and was featured on Telemundo's Amore Descarado. Last year he starred on Broadway in the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His expose "All the President's Pets" was published by Crown in 2004.