Speed Gibson

From the Associated Press:

Katie Couric says the move to CBS would have been less appealing if she had known she'd be doing the more traditional "CBS Evening News" broadcast that she anchors now.

"People are very unforgiving and very resistant to change," Couric said in an interview with New York magazine. "The biggest mistake we made is we tried new things."

Couric's move to CBS has been a big disappointment so far. The evening newscast's ratings are deep in third place, and CBS has rolled back some of the changes it made last fall to shake up the format. Couric conducts fewer interviews, an outside opinion segment was scrapped and the anchor admits she's even dressing down a little to give her critics less ammunition.

First, I'll give Couric some credit for willing to try something different, both in terms of network TV news and her personal career.

But mostly, these were changes in style, not substance, as if to ignore what put them in third place before Couric, or should I say who: Dan Rather. It was Dan Rather's insistence on "fake but accurate" storytelling that squandered what remained of the famed integrity and excellence of CBS News.

The whole concept of a fixed evening time slot for a national news program is of course obsolete in a CNN / Fox / C-Span / Internet world. Star power is pointless, and Couric would do well do move on, for Margaret Carlson was right:

"About the time the network dinosaurs finally stumble into the tar pit, that's when a woman will finally sit first chair."