Oh no. Katie's in a quagmire again. As I blogged back in July, Katie Couric seems to be a lightning rod for criticism, especially when she's discussing her anchoring job on the CBS Evening News.

The latest topic of controversy is a video of Couric making fun of Dan Rather. Well, not Dan himself, but his obsession with his appearance and wardrobe during a live outdoor broadcast some years ago.

Why would Couric make fun of a legend-in-his-own-mind like Dan Rather? Well, maybe it's because Rather, when asked during an interview to give his opinion of her performance, dismissively accused the network — and not-so-indirectly the woman herself — of "dumbing it down and tarting it up." Instead of calling Rather a pompous airbag (which would have easily rolled off my tongue — OK, something much worse would have), Couric took the slam in stride. For a while there, media types were queuing up to criticize Couric, so Rather's comment had to take a number and stand in line.

Fast-forward a few months and it turns out that Katie, in an off-the-air moment, did some needling of her own. In the video, Couric jokes, "I'm going to be like Dan Rather." She then adds, "Geez, don't you think he deserves a little payback?" She begins to laugh and says, "This tart is ready to go!" Watching the video of Couric having fun with her staff and crew will make little sense if you haven't seen the Rather video, so let's start with that one: … continue reading

The word on the lesbian cable news street is that left-leaning Rosie O’Donnell is in discussions to join MSNBC for a nightly news show.

Nothing is final, but I’ll wager that if execs are talking to the New York Times, it’s all but decided. And in retrospect, it makes a lot of sense that Rosie would find another forum for her liberal lectures following her yearlong stint on The View, during which she regularly dissed President Bush, dished on 9/11 conspiracy theories and lengthily discussed gay marriage.

UPDATE: [Nov. 8] The MSNBC deal appears to be off. The New York Times has the story here and here. … continue reading

A year ago, CBS announced that Katie Couric would take a seat behind the Evening News desk, making her the first female network news anchor.

Couric's pioneering new gig set off a chain reaction of job movement for women in the broadcast industry. Her cozy spot next to Matt Lauer on the Today couch went to Meredith Vieira, and Vieira's perch at the head of the table on The View went to Rosie O'Donnell (after a nasty bout of she said–she said-she said between O'Donnell, Star Jones Reynolds and View den mother Barbara Walters).

So what has become of the female-centric TV shakeup of last summer? … continue reading