Media news and entertainment through television, the Internet, and even on cellular phones are becoming an ever expanding world filled with options to choose what you want to view.  One has to wonder whether or not the entertainment shows are starting to overcrowd the serious and old-fashioned version of news stations.  The news stations deliver news about external affairs overseas and the presidential elections while entertainment shows focus on celebrities and poke fun of the weekly “buzz” going on.  With these two extremities being combined together into one, anchorwomen/men are being forced to change their style of presenting news by trying to find the right medium between serious yet engaging and interesting to listen to. 

Katie Couric is currently the host of The CBS Evening News being only the third permanent anchor The Evening News in forty-four years following Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather.  Before switching to CBS, she was previously a host for the Today Show for NBC from 1991-2006.  By switching to CBS she became the first solo woman anchor of an American weekday evening news show earning her an outstanding salary of $15 million.  Couric also worked for ABC and CNN as a reporter before switching to NBC. 

Couric has an impressive resume of important people she has interviewed including Tony Blair, Barbara Bush, George W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, Hilary Clinton (Clinton’s first television interview), and John F. Kennedy Jr. (his first and last interview).  Couric’s perky attitude and detailed interviewing style where no question is off limits is what makes Couric a respectable and successful anchorwoman and reporter.

 I would label Couric as a “hard news” reporter, meaning that she stays professional and focused on the news and doesn’t waste time on celebrity gossip.  She is a successful anchorwoman who has become well known and accomplishing in a male dominating profession.  Couric sticks to the facts because she has to in order to establish herself among her competitors because for women anchorwomen it is more about what they wear and what their hair looks like rather than their intelligence and their ability to speak intelligently and with persuasion. 

According to an article in Like It Is, the author agrees that women are judged more on their looks than on their intellect.  She has interviewed some of the world’s greatest and influential leaders, all while being able to hold her own in the interview by being informed and asking direct questions that go straight to the heart of the issues.  She has found the perfect balance between reporting the news and keeping the main focus on the worldly issues and not on celebrity news.  Because of this perfect medium, I believe that she does not have to change anything to become a more serious journalist.