Former anchor and managing editor of CBS Evening News Katie Couric is criticizing the network’s decision to replace outgoing host Norah O’Donnell with two men, Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson.
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In her guest essay for The New York Times published Sunday, Couric made clear that her gripe wasn’t with DuBois and Dickerson in particular; rather, it was the fact that adding them to the roster makes broadcast TV’s evening news a male-dominated space, with Lester Holt hosting NBC Nightly News and David Muir emceeing ABC World News Tonight .
“It was more than a little disappointing to read that Ms. O’Donnell would be replaced by two men, John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois,” Couric wrote in the essay. “Don’t get me wrong: I know, like and respect these two journalists. But soon, on the big three networks, there will be four male anchors. Yes, the talented Margaret Brennan will be contributing stories from the Washington bureau for CBS, but the two people who will be greeting Americans watching the CBS evening newscast will be men.”
“More important, the three people behind the scenes, making most of the editorial decisions, will be three white men: Bill Owens, Guy Campanile and Jerry Cipriano,” she added, while simultaneously praising Cipriano for his support during her own tenure on the news program from 2006-2011. But she also noted that “male writers occasionally have blind spots,” drawing attention to the fact that the evening news will be dominated by male points of view during a year “that could result in the election of the first woman president, and first woman of color as president. It’s a potentially historic story — one that needs a diverse group of journalists covering it.”
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She continued: “Whether it’s in politics, sports or other once-male-dominated fields, seeing diversity in leadership inspires our imagination about who can and should fill these roles. It’s odd and more than a little out of touch that even while CBS has announced a restructuring that introduces an additional layer of women executives, the leading editorial decision makers will mostly be men.”
CBS announced July 30 that O’Donnell will be stepping down as host of CBS Evening News after the 2024 presidential election in favor of becoming a senior correspondent contributing to Evening News , 60 Minutes and other CBS News programs. The network then announced Aug. 1 that DuBois and Dickerson would replace her later this year.
Thoughts on Couric’s comments? Drop some comments below.
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