CBS News

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 1:51pm on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Couric, CBS at Impasse

The New York Post reported on February 3, 2010:

"CBS anchor Katie Couric, now 53, is facing a huge pay cut in her unprecedented $15 million-a-year salary.

More importantly, her bosses at CBS have not yet said whether they want to keep her — at any price.

“I would be flabbergasted if she didn’t take a pay cut,” after next year, says a source close to Katie.

The network’s “Evening News” was in third place when she came over from the “Today” show in 2006 — and it has not budged.

The idea of paying Couric eight figures to anchor a news show that is in last place does not sit well in the upper echelons of CBS News, where her hiring as TV’s first female anchor is seen as a noble but failed experiment."

The full story:
http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/stand_off_XeG72zsJqkldTz8td6gyqI

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 7:52am on Monday, January 25th, 2010

Katie Couric Accepts Columbia University Award for Palin Interviews

TV Newser reported on January 22, 2010:

"Couric recieved an award for what ceremony host Gwen Ifill described as "apt and determined questioning of Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin [that] prompted the most revealing remarks and had the greatest impact on the presidential campaign. And on late night comedy."

In her acceptance speech, Couric admitted watching the interviews, even "for the 78th time," makes her "kind of uncomfortable." She described them as "certainly the most talked about interviews that I have ever done" and said, "cab drivers in New York and fellow travelers at the airport still comment on these interviews -- some say thank you, some don't -- even though it's been well over a year since they aired."

Couric said her "only agenda" was to "find out where Governor Palin stood on a variety of critically important issues and help her communicate those positions to the American people." She also said, "I feel I did the job that I was supposed to do.

To a room that included a number of journalism students and faculty, Couric said, "I think this series of interviews proves that followup questions are absolutely critical in an era where, all too often, non-answer answers are given and too-readily accepted."

In her thank-yous, she singled out Brian Goldsmith, the associate producer who helped her research and craft questions for hours. "Who knew that an off-the-cuff one about magazines and newspapers would get so much attention," she said."

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 11:13am on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Appeals Court Denies Rather Motion

Media Life magazine reported on January 13, 2010:

"It appears former “CBS Evening News” anchor Dan Rather won’t get his day in court. The New York Court of Appeals has denied Rather’s motion to reinstate his $70 million lawsuit against CBS, which alleged breach of contract and fraud. Rather sued the network in 2007, a year after he was dismissed, claiming he'd been made a scapegoat after his 2004 “60 Minutes II” report on George W. Bush’s Texas Air National Guard service, in which he cited documents that couldn’t be authenticated."

Mondo Times editors    Boulder Colorado USA

Posted at 11:07am on Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Morgan Freeman Replaces Cronkite As Voice Of CBS News, The Associated Press reported on January 4, 2010:

"Nearly six months after Walter Cronkite's death, his voice is leaving the "CBS Evening News."

His introduction of anchor Katie Couric was replaced Monday by a voiceover featuring actor Morgan Freeman.

The legendary CBS News anchor recorded the introduction, played at the beginning of most newscasts, when Couric started at CBS in 2006. Cronkite's voice was kept on the air even after his death July 17.

"As comforting as it is to look back on the great career that Walter had, we're looking forward now and we just felt it was the right time to make the move that at some point had to be made," said CBS News and Sports President Sean McManus. "This seemed like the appropriate time since Walter's passing to make the move."

Having Freeman on board gives CBS the flexibility to record different intros when Couric has special reports and is on location, he said."

The full story:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CBS_CRONKITE