Ann Curry returns to ‘Today’ for Colorado shooting

Just weeks after her tearful departure from the co-hosting job on NBC’s “Today” show, Ann Curry is back. She’s traveling to Aurora, Colo., to co-anchor “Today” on Saturday and Sunday with her studio replacement, Savannah Guthrie.

When Curry departed “Today” on June 28 after 15 years on the program and just one year as co-anchor, she announced she would be staying at NBC to lead up a team tasked with reporting on the world’s biggest stories. The mass shooting of moviegoers at a midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” is the first major story she’s going to get the chance to report. It will be her first time back on the show since she announced her departure.

In addition to her “Today” return, Curry will anchor a special edition of “Dateline” on Friday evening.

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Earlier this week, former “Today” co-anchor Bryant Gumbel told Show Tracker he didn’t agree with media portrayals of Curry as a victim.

“I don’t know why she’s being portrayed as a modern-day Joan of Arc,” Gumbel said. “In every job, in every walk of life, people are hired to do a job, and if they don’t do it well they are relieved of that job.”

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Indeed, Curry’s departure, though emotional, was not devastating for the newswoman, who chose to remain at the network and got a reported $10 million for leaving her spot on the “Today” couch.

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Join Patrick Kevin Day on Google+ or Twitter. Email: patrick.day@latimes.com

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