Katie Couric, the former anchor of CBS Evening News, has called CBS “out of touch” for replacing Norah O’Donnell with two men during its recent overhaul of the nightly broadcast.
“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 an op-ed for The New York Times. “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.”
The former Today co-host, who worked for CBS News from 2006 to 2011, added, “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.”
Earlier this month, it was confirmed that O’Donnell would depart the anchor chair after the election to take on an expanded role as CBS News senior correspondent. CBS News execs announced on August 1 that lead political analyst John Dickerson and longtime CBS New York anchor Maurice DuBois would replace O’Donnell.
“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,” Couric continued.
CBS News also revealed that Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan would provide regular reporting for the program from Washington, D.C. Meanwhile, 60 Minutes executive producer Bill Owens will serve as supervising producer, 60 Minutes producer Guy Campanile will become exec producer, and veteran news writer Jerry Cipriano will return to CBS News as senior news editor and senior producer.
Couric told the NYT that with Vice President Kamala Harris running for president, the news media needs a diverse group of reporters to cover the election.
“We’re also in the midst of a campaign 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,” the best-selling author shared.
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Couric went on to say that it was even more disappointing that those behind the scenes at CBS Evening News are “three White men: Bill Owens, Guy Campanile and Jerry Cipriano.”
While she praised Cipriano, describing him as her “right-hand writer” during her time at the network, Couric noted, “male writers occasionally have blind spots.”
She added, “While I was at CBS, I read copy written by one of my male colleagues describing Hillary Clinton in a way that struck me as subtly sexist. I asked my team, ‘Would you describe a male candidate this way?’ We rewrote it.”
“CBS Evening News has been in third place for decades. While I couldn’t move the needle during my time as anchor, I had hoped to open minds,” Couric concluded. “Traditional broadcast news may be waning, but more than half of the viewing population should still demand more from the industry. Until then, once again, nightly network newscasts are the purview of a few good men.”
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