PASADENA, Calif. – Katie Couric has her CBS eye on making some changes to the network’s evening news show.
Facing the media Sunday for the first time since being anointed the new face of the old guard “CBS Evening News,” Couric said she hopes to make the broadcast more relevant, more nuanced and more in-depth.
“I do believe if you build it they will come,” Couric told reporters gathered here for the television network’s semiannual presentations.
Couric and CBS News brass recently wrapped a series of town meetings in which the former “Today” show star talked to regular folks about what they would like to see on the news.
“I got the distinct sense that they want us to go a little deeper,” she said. “They want more perspective. I think people are hungry and interested in the gray areas of stories. People also want to know how (the news) is relevant to their lives.”
But the veteran journalist also faced the usual questions about her credibility after 15 years in morning TV, the impact of her celebrity and one query about her wardrobe.
When asked what she was going to wear when she assumes the “CBS Evening News” anchor chair for the first time on Sept. 5, she quipped, “I’m actually going to use (ABC News anchor) Charlie Gibson’s stylist.”
CBS News President Sean McManus chimed in, “Are you going to ask Charlie Gibson that question?”
Couric said that she was surprised by the media frenzy surrounding her move to CBS, which comes 16 months after Dan Rather stepped down amid controversy.
“I thought it was a little excessive,” said Couric, who will replace interim anchor Bob Schieffer. “But I think coverage of a lot of things is excessive these days.”
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