Never thought I’d blog about Katie Couric

I really don’t care about Katie Couric’s move from the Today show to evening news. I only catch the Today show occasionally when I’m waiting for the local TV station to show the weather, and I tend not to watch network evening news because I’d rather get my news from a newspaper or NPR.

However, the topic has been debated on a Mizzou j-school graduate listserve I belong to. Mostly, people are discussing if it was a smart move and if Couric, who’s been doing morning-show fluff for the past 15 years, has the journalism chops to join the ranks of Murrow, Cronkite and Rather. However, one person brought up an interesting question: “If Matt Lauer were tapped for the CBS spot, would anyone be discussing this?” My guess is probably not. Although Lauer and Couric have both been doing the same cutesy morning fluff for the past few years, most people wouldn’t think twice if Lauer decided to become a “serious” journalist, whereas when Couric decided to make the shift, everyone questioned if she could hack it. Why? Because she’s female.

It’s 2006, and this sad country still has a problem with women in positions of power. And unfortunately, a lot of this misogyny is self-hatred. Women hate strong women. If you’re a strong woman in this country, other women call you a bitch. Think about Hilary Clinton and Eleanor Clift. Hell, even Martha Stewart. Lots of women love her magazine and TV show, but they also find her cold and frightening. Even Oprah got flack when she was “too serious” and “too hard” on James Frey. Sorry Oprah, women don’t it like when you ask tough questions. Just stick to talking about feelings and giving away cars.

This self-hatred is the reason we probably won’t see a female president any time in the near future. I saw an interesting statistic recently: In Afghanistan, women represent about 27 percent of the government’s lower house and 23 percent of its upper house; in Iraq women hold 26 percent of the seats; in China, women represent 20 percent of the government. And how about our Western, supposedly enlightened, equality-loving country? In the U.S. woman only hold 15 percent of the House and 14 percent of the Senate. Nice.

So what does this have to do with Katie Couric? Absolutely nothing. She might be the first women to host an evening network news program all by herself, but I don’t see that changing anything in the country. In fact, if the CBS’ ratings fall after she takes over, all networks might think twice before allowing another woman to hold such a position.

It’s like Veronica Corningstone infiltrating the Channel 4 news team all over again.