CBS News in Denial
Some executives at CBS are blaming Katie Couric's tanking ratings on sexism and the public's supposed preference for "older white guys." CBS V.P. Linda Mason, who made the "older white guys" comment, also said, "I had no idea that a woman delivering the news would be a handicap. And I'm afraid that Katie's paying a price for being the first woman."
Sean McManus, the president of CBS News, also insists "There is a percentage of people out there that probably prefers not to get their news from a woman."
This obtuseness is, in and of itself, part of CBS's problem. The ratings free fall just can't be the CBS product. It's the public's fault!
CBS refuses to admit that it has alienated a large part of its desired audience: First the network allowed Rathergate -- a false, deliberate attempt to smear a Republican President and influence an election -- which cemented the network's image as the most liberal of the three liberal networks. Then the network piled on by hiring a well-known liberal, Katie Couric, to replace Rather.
I have no interest in Katie Couric's slanted view of the world, and it appears large numbers of Americans feel the same way. For many Americans, Couric's gender has nothing whatsoever to do with their refusal to watch CBS News.
To paraphrase a favorite liberal line, "It's the politics, stupid."
A postscript, this is the same network that is airing an interview tonight in which Mike Wallace asks Mitt Romney whether he and his wife engaged in premarital sex. Can you imagine a CBS reporter asking this of Mrs. Clinton? Or any other Democrat candidate?
posted by Laura @ 6:48 PM
6 Comments:
"...I had no idea that a woman delivering the news would be a handicap. And I'm afraid that Katie's paying a price for being the first woman."
No, Katie isn't paying the price because she's a woman - she's sinking because she is nothing more than a fluffy public relations creation without substance.
"There is a percentage of people out there that probably prefers not to get their news from a woman."
The prez of CBS news needs to get a clue - I could care less who delivers my news - just let the anchor evidence an even-handedness and unquestionable intelligence and study of the matters at hand.
This arrogant dishonesty of CBS is insulting and makes me wonder why the heck they can't figure out that this might play a part in why their ratings continue to plummet.
This may require me to drop a little note to CBS ...
Dana is right - KC is simply too unserious to deliver news in a way that people want to watch. I think there is discrimination against women in many places, still, but in this case I honestly don't think it has anything to do with her being a woman. Fox News has many (most?) women news readers and far more people watch them.
Thanks for your points! Katie is definitely hard for me to take seriously.
Good point too about the women on Fox. I especially liked Linda Vester before she took time off to be with her children (which I also admired).
Best wishes, Laura
"Can you imagine a CBS reporter asking this of Mrs. Clinton? Or any other Democrat candidate?"
Although I understand your point re no one would dare ask Mrs. Clinton (or a Dem) about such a matter, I do find it even more outrageous that Mike Wallace believed himself quite free to cross the line of taste and privacy by asking such a personal question while on air.
"I do find it even more outrageous that Mike Wallace believed himself quite free to cross the line of taste and privacy by asking such a personal question while on air."
Agreed! That has to be a new low in "journalism."
Laura
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