Katie Couric has accused her former employer CBS of being “out of touch” after it decided to replace Norah O’Donnell with two male anchors.
The veteran Today host, who also served as anchor of CBS Evening News from 2006 to 2011, aired the complaint in a scathing op-ed for The New York Times.
In it, the Democrat called the decision “strange,” citing how the millions of Americans who tune in to the show daily will now encounter “two men” instead of O’Donnell.
Last month, the equally liberal anchor announced she was stepping down to make way for the Daily Report’s John Dickerson and CBS New York’s Maurice DuBois, who will now take over the news desk.
Couric, in turn, criticized the change, calling it “disappointing,” though she pointed to the current presidential election climate as a reason for it.
Katie Couric has accused her former employer CBS of being “out of touch” after it decided to replace Norah O’Donnell (pictured) with two male presenters.
Last month, O’Donnell announced he was stepping down to make way for Daily Report anchor John Dickerson (left) and CBS New York’s Maurice DuBois (right), who together will now run the news desk.
“Norah O’Donnell recently announced that she will step down as anchor of the ‘CBS Evening News’ after the election, following five years at the helm,” she wrote in the article published Sunday.
“I know her tenure must have been both stimulating and challenging… I applauded Ms. O’Donnell as she carried out her duties with intelligence and grace.”
The 67-year-old went on to mention that she was proud of the fact that O’Donnell addressed issues that were especially important to women, such as sexual assault in the military… (and) the long-term effects of Covid on women.
“I watched her interview powerful female CEOs and the four highest-ranking women in the military, all four-star generals and admirals,” he recalled.
‘I knew viewers were watching these stories because Norah was the driving force behind telling them.’
At that point, the progressive pivoted, using the accomplishments she had just listed to convey surprise at the prospect of such a figure being replaced by members of the opposite sex.
“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 op-ed, after first noting how much she respected the replacements.
“The two people who will greet Americans watching the evening news will be men,” she said again, hoping for a “more diverse group of journalists” to take her replacement’s place.
Couric, who anchored CBS Evening News from 2006 to 2011, made the allegation public in a scathing op-ed for the New York Times, in which she also noted the political climate surrounding the upcoming presidential election.
“It’s strange and more than a little out of character that even as CBS has announced a restructuring that introduces an additional layer of female executives, the top editorial decision-makers will overwhelmingly be men,” Couric continued, seemingly ignoring the advances made off-screen.
“We are also in the midst of a campaign that could result in the election of the first female president and the first woman of color as president,” she added, indirectly mentioning presidential candidate Kamala Harris.
“It’s a potentially historic story that needs a diverse group of journalists to cover it.”
He also lamented how “three white men: Bill Owens, Guy Campanile and Jerry Cipriano” are currently running the show behind the scenes.
The three are the main producers of the show and Cipriano also writes many of the scripts.
Couric, who has worked with all three, praised Cipriano in particular, before reminding readers that “male writers sometimes have blind spots.”
She recalled: ‘When I was at CBS, I read a piece written by one of my male colleagues that described Hillary Clinton in a way that struck me as subtly sexist.
“I asked my team, ‘Would you describe a male candidate this way?'” she continued. “We rewrote it.”
“We are also in the midst of a campaign that could result in the election of the first female president and the first woman of color as president,” he wrote as reasoning behind his hesitation to accept male replacements for O’Donnell, indirectly mentioning candidate Kamala Harris.
Pointing to the show’s ratings, which have been mediocre under O’Donnell and have added to an already existing gap with rivals ABC and NBC, he said: “CBS Evening News has been in third place for decades.
“While I wasn’t able to do anything during my time as a presenter, I was hoping to open minds,” she continued.
‘Traditional newscasts may be on the way out, but more than half of the viewing population should still demand more from the industry.
‘Until then, once again, the network’s evening newscasts will be the province of a few good men.’
Under O’Donnell, the show’s ratings fell 25 percent, even as CBS renewed his contract in 2022 after offering him an $8 million salary as an incentive three years earlier.
The experts said The New York Post That salary has since been cut, with one person telling the paper: “(O’Donnell) deserved to lose his job.”
That said, O’Donnell, 50, will now move into a new role as a senior correspondent in the wake of the upcoming election, where she will contribute stories and “big interviews” across CBS’ platforms.
Meanwhile, earlier this month, Couric declared that Democrats have “kind of lost” the working-class vote during an interview with White House deputy chief of staff Alyssa Mastromonaco. The podcast ‘Hysteria’.
Couric previously said Democrats had “somehow lost” the working-class vote during an interview earlier this month on White House Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco’s “Hysteria” podcast, where she called the group “out of touch.”
Under O’Donnell, the show’s ratings have fallen 25 percent, even as CBS renewed her contract in 2022 after offering her an $8 million salary three years earlier. Her stint began eight years after Couric left. She is set to continue at CBS as a senior correspondent.
The reason? Once again, being too out of touch with reality.
“I think there needs to be more of a connection between the working class and the Democratic Party because, let’s face it … the Democrats have kind of lost the working class,” Couric told the former Obama staffer during the appearance just over a week ago.
“It was never like that in all my years covering politics,” he continued.
‘You had the head of the Teamsters at the RNC, you have people buying into this notion that Republicans care about the issues on the table a lot more than Democrats.
“And these narratives, I think, have become too ingrained in college-educated liberal elites who are condescending.”
The veteran NBC News host had been referring to International Brotherhood of Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien, who became the first boss in the union’s 121-year history to speak at the Republican National Convention two days after the attempted assassination of Donald Trump.
In his speech, O’Brien criticized companies like Walmart and Amazon, while chiding the Chamber of Commerce and the federal government for failing to take care of workers.
Pointing to Hillary Clinton’s failure in 2016, Couric reminded viewers that this could very well happen again if Democrats don’t get back to reality in November.
“I just want to see her in a welding helmet, working with regular people,” Couric said of Harris, instructing her to start appealing to “regular people.”
He added that Democrats also need to do more work and predicted that their current connection with the working class will not be enough to secure a victory.