Katie Signs Off
I'm old enough (my junior year of college) to remember Walter Cronkite's last broadcast as the CBS Evening News anchorman.
March 6, 1981. Big national event. End of an era. The dinner hour won't be the same without "Uncle Walter", can Dan Rather fill his shoes, etc. . . .
I wonder how many college juniors will be tuning in tonight, when Katie Couric bids her farewell?
Right. Probably not many -- unless they're stuck on a treadmill without a remote, or are forced to watch it for a communications class.
(Mercifully, I hope this also means an immediate end to the mind-numbing "Katie Couric Notebook" which, for years, has fouled my iPhone's AOL radio player)
Sure, the media world isn't what it was 30 years ago. Cronkite's final broadcast was three weeks before President Reagan was shot. I can still recall the day that happened -- how our dorm floor went searching for a radio, to catch the breaking news, until one of us remembered there was this new invention called CNN. No alphabet soup of cable-news networks back then, no social media. Al Gore hadn't invented the Internet.
But as for Katie, is the lack of buzz surrounding her departure -- as opposed to Cronkite's very dramatic exit -- a sign of the times, or a more an indication of her failure as a purveyor of "hard" news?
Given the "perky" label and a "Today Show" career built on a mountain of colonoscopies and celebrity interviews, was she doomed from the begininng at reading the news?
I'm guessing Katie won't sign off with "courage", or "and that's the way it is . . ."
What do you think her parting words will be?
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Jul '10
Re: Katie Signs Off
"What do you think her pating words will be?"
I'm hoping they'll be, "As for you, 'Kenneth', you can kiss my behind."
Edited on May 19, 2011 at 1:35pmJul '10
Re: Katie Signs Off
"It's Bush's fault."
May '11
Re: Katie Signs Off
I'm not sure what her parting words will be but there is still room in New Media for universal and larger voices just as there are for larger establishments in any market. I think when we look back at the decline of nightly network news we will find the fault to be a lack of adaptation in the face of tremendous change. That fault is on both the anchors and producers. I'm 27 and haven't watched network news since 1995 and, quite frankly, haven't seen any initiative on their part to reach out on their lost audiences.
Re: Katie Signs Off
I've never seen a Katie Couric broadcast. So I'm unable to even speculate.
Aug '10
Re: Katie Signs Off
I have been listening to a lot of shortwave radio in the evenings lately and I swear, Radio Havana and China Radio International sound just like MSNBC, CBS, ABC, and NPR news programs.
Feb '11
Re: Katie Signs Off
Who is 'Katie Couric'?
Feb '11
Re: Katie Signs Off
I haven't watched any of the network news shows in decades, and looking at that "desk" Cronkite was sitting at (there's a good shot of it behind the closing credits after he finishes) made me laugh. Was he supposed to be piloting some sort of spaceship?
Jan '11
Re: Katie Signs Off
I couldn't agree more, haven't watched network news or "the Sunday" shows for that matter for years. I understand that they consistently beat cable (Fox) in veiwer numbers but who are these people that still watch this stuff?
Nov '10
Re: Katie Signs Off
Like others here, I haven't watched the network news in a few decades. Is it still a half hour nightly broadcast? How is that possibly relevant compared to 24 stations endlessly beating subjects into the ground by the time the nets air?
Walter's desk had that bank of phones on it. Who was he going to call in the middle of a broadcast?
Jul '10
Re: Katie Signs Off
Kowaliczko Tom
.. but who are these people that still watch this stuff? · May 19 at 2:17pm
Boomers.
RPD:
Walter's desk had that bank of phones on it. Who was he going to call in the middle of a broadcast? · May 19 at 2:23pm
And newsreaders always hold pens. What do they ever write?
Dec '10
Re: Katie Signs Off
I think she will sashay out, leading a congo line of coworkers to the unemployment line. Which will still demonstrate more class than Cronkite ever had.
All of this will be done under the tearful gaze of the spirit of Charles Kuralt.
Mar '11
Re: Katie Signs Off
Sarah Palin has the last laugh.