Extra! Extra! Couric to do Super Bowl feature
Stop the presses! An AP article ran Friday - Katie Couric is scheduled to contribute a feature piece for the Super Bowl pregame show.
I'm not entirely sure why doing one story mandates a CBS press release about it (but as we all know, there are press releases for everything under the sun, and it's Katie Couric), but what I really don't understand is - why did so many news outlets run the AP story about this?
BostonHerald.com, CBS News (ok, makes sense there), ABC News, Fox News, Yahoo News, Salon, USA Today. The list just keeps on going.
I know she's a big deal. And I know CBS wants to get her up in the ratings. Heck, she makes news about what she wears for her newscasts. And how she sits while doing anchoring.
And I can understand that CBS would want to promote this, particularly with the ratings that the Super Bowl draws. In fact, the Super Bowl always bumps up viewership for local affiliates that do televise the game.
But really. The fact that she's "tentatively scheduled" to do a feature piece about Pittsburgh Steeler Hines Ward and his Korean background - that is not news. No aspersions on the Steelers or anything. Just the lack of newsworthiness of this AP article and the rush of all these media outlets to run it.
I tried to hyperlink these links, but Blogger and I are not getting along at the moment:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/19/ap/entertainment/mainD8MO34103.shtml
http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2007Jan18/0,4670,TVSuperBowl,00.html
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070119/ap_en_tv/tv_super_bowl
http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2007-01-18-couric-super-bowl_x.htm
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=2806544&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
LA
posted by Medill Media Watch @ 2:15 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Well I am biased. A feature piece on Hines WARD and the Pittsburgh Steelers IS news to me and worthy of a press release. :) But, I see your point. They probably are trying to boost her ratings, or maybe it was a SLOW news day? We've all experienced those.
JE
I just knew JE couldn't resist from responding to the Steelers comment.
With respect to LA's post... Katie Couric is not news. The AP story ran in all those outlets because Couric is one of the few journalists who serve as tabloid fodder... something we all use occasionally to keep viewers' attention.
I suppose the hope is people will pay attention to the important stories while they wait for the celebrity junk.
TB
There might be an agreement in her contract that binds her to network promotions. She is afterall a product, and putting her face on a Super Bowl segment might bring in an audience that might now otherwise watch.
But JE might be right, they could be trying to boost her ratings. I don't think the nightly news is doing so well.
JK
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