Katie Couric: I’m staying put
The Television Critics Assn. Press Tour, the semiannual gathering of television journalists from around the country that began July 8, continues at the Beverly Hilton. We offer these dispatches.
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Katie Couric said she’s not going anywhere -- at least not any time soon.
Facing the press for the first time since reports surfaced this spring that she was preparing to leave the CBS News anchor chair after the presidential election, Couric said Friday that she’s staying put.
“We have no plans to part company any time soon,” Couric said. “And there were a lot of speculative pieces that I think got, quite frankly, spun out of control.”
Couric and CBS News President Sean McManus both said that media reports suggesting that she planned to leave the third-place “CBS Evening News” after the election or the next presidential inauguration if the ratings don’t improve were wrong.
“It’s not true,” McManus said.
The anchor referred obliquely to talks she had with CBS executives earlier this year about her future on the broadcast. In the discussions, Couric and the network officials agreed to table any decision until after the presidential election.
“You know, we always assess how the show is doing and what direction we want to go in. And so clearly when you work for an organization you have ongoing discussions,” Couric said. “But I’m very committed to the people here.”
Speaking via satellite from New York, Couric told reporters that “it’s befuddling to me the amount of attention I have received.”
“I spend every day really focused on doing the best job I can,” she said.
-- Matea Gold
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