Katie Couric is calling out CBS for hiring men to replace Noah O’Donnell

Katie Couric wrote a guest essay for The New York Times in which she called out CBS for replacing Norah O’Donnell as host of “CBS Evening News” with two men, Maurice DuBois and John Dickerson. Couric herself hosted the “CBS Evening News” for five years, from 2006 to 2011. Her problem is not with the new anchors themselves, as she is a fan of both DuBois and Dickerson, but because their hires have now turned television evening news into a make man. -dominated space, as Lester Holt already hosts “NBC Nightly News” and David Muir helms “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,” Couric wrote. “Don’t get me wrong: I know, like and respect these two journalists. But soon there will be four male anchors on the three major networks. Yes, the talented Margaret Brennan will contribute stories from the Washington bureau for CBS, but the two people who will greet Americans as they watch the CBS evening news will be men.

‘More important: the three people behind the scenes, which will make most of the editorial decisions, will be three white men: Bill Owens, Guy Campanile and Jerry Cipriano,” she added of the producers in charge behind the scenes.

Couric praises Cipriano for always being supportive during her tenure at the CBS Evening News, but she notes that “male writers occasionally have blind spots” and draws attention to the fact that the evening news will be dominated by male viewpoints during her tenure . a year “that could result in the election of the first female president and the first woman of color as president.”

“It’s a potentially historic story – one that needs a diverse group of journalists,” Couric argues.

“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 — the image of a solo woman anchor could be a game changer ,” Couric writes later in the guest essay. “Whether it’s politics, sports or other fields once dominated by men, seeing diversity in leadership inspires our imagination about who can and should fill these roles.”

“The new anchors and executives will curate the evening news for an aging audience — if you watch the commercials, it’s pretty clear which demographic tunes in — but the broadcast still averages more than four million viewers every night,” she adds to. “It is strange and quite out of reach that even though CBS has announced a restructuring that introduces an additional layer of female managers, the lead editorial decision makers will largely be men.”

CBS announced on July 30 that O’Donnell will step down as host of “CBS Evening News” after the 2024 presidential election in favor of a new role as a senior correspondent who will seek major interviews and opportunities for deeper reporting. The network then announced on August 1 that DuBois and Dickerson would replace her.

Go to The New York Times website to read Couric’s guest essay in its entirety.