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Katie Couric is speaking out. The 67-year-old journalist and former CBS Evening News presenter wrote a guest essay for The New York Times in which she called out CBS for replacing Norah O’Donnell as the host of CBS Evening News with two men, Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson. Katie herself hosted CBS Evening News for five years from 2006 to 2011. Keep reading to find out more… She doesn’t have a problem with the new anchors themselves, and even says she’s a fan, but she’s criticizing the hiring of two men for evening news on broadcast TV in a male-dominated space, as Lester Holt already hosts NBC Nightly News and David Muir hosts 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. 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,” she writes. “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 continues. While she praised Jerry for always having her back during her own run, she adds that “male writers occasionally have blind spots,” and 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,” she continues. “Nearly 20 years ago, I wanted to be the face of CBS Evening News because I knew that for the audience — especially little girls and little boys watching at dinner time — the image of a solo woman anchor could be game changing,” she says. “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.” “The incoming anchors and executives will be curating the evening news for an aging audience — when you watch the commercials, it’s pretty evident which demographic is tuning in — but the broadcast still attracts over four million viewers on average every night,” she adds. “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.” Click here to read it in full. Earlier in the year, she reflected on the sexist attitude of a former co-anchor.
