Friedman: ‘Couric Has Rep for Fairness and Objectivity’
By Don | November 25, 2009
CBS MarketWatch columnist Jon Friedman thinks that Katie Couric can do no wrong.
From MarketWatch.com
Sarah Palin is taking aim at her No. 1 enemy as she tours the U.S. to hawk her new memoir, "Going Rogue," and jumpstarts her drive for the White House in 2012.
So who turns Palin's stomach the most? Who dredges up bile from the vice-presidential candidate, whose White House campaign with Sen. John McCain proved unsuccessful? Was it McCain himself, or perhaps his aides? Could it be Tina Fey, the actress who lampooned her so convincingly on "Saturday Night Live"?
No, it is none other than Katie Couric, anchor of "CBS Evening News" /quotes/comstock/13*!cbs/quotes/nls/cbs (CBS 13.13, +0.31, +2.42%) .
Where the 'feud' began
Palin's consternation began during the 2008 campaign, when Couric, who has a reputation as a forceful interviewer, asked her such questions as what kinds of newspapers and magazines she read. It was a legitimate query because Palin was seen as a lightweight by some voters.
If anything, that sort of blunt, straightforward question gave Palin the chance to show that she was not, in fact, the intellectual featherweight that the establishment media had portrayed her as being. But Palin flubbed her big moment and seemed indecisive in Couric's presence.
In trying to defend herself, Palin has dug a deeper hole.
Palin noted that her counterpart, Joe Biden, Barack Obama's running mate, made mistakes during his interview with Couric but was given a virtual free pass by comparison. This is a matter of opinion, but Couric seems unlikely to bare her fangs for Palin and roll over for Biden.
Couric cares ultimately about being fair and drawing high television ratings. Palin should know this.
Holding a grudge?
Palin has appeared almost everywhere lately -- from Fox shows hosted by Sean Hannity to ABC's /quotes/comstock/13*!dis/quotes/nls/dis (DIS 30.23, -0.25, -0.82%) "Oprah." (Fox, like MarketWatch, is a unit of News Corp. /quotes/comstock/15*!nws/quotes/nls/nws (NWS 14.09, -0.10, -0.70%) .) And she still seems angry at Couric for creating an impression that she's unqualified for the presidency.
Palin expected Couric to host a lighthearted exchange about the challenges that working moms face when raising teenage daughters. Instead, she felt that Couric badgered her into answering questions she didn't expect to be asked in the first place.
It's one thing for Palin to harbor a grudge against late-night talk-show host David Letterman, also of CBS. Letterman is in the business of being funny. He'll happily mock Palin and Obama in the same sentence if the audience laughs.
But Couric is different. She has a reputation for fairness and objectivity. If anything, she probably hoped that Palin would rise to the challenge of creating a new image for herself.
Palin is making a mistake. Yes, she wants to fortify her red-state ranks by going after the liberal-leaning national media. That's shrewd politics on her part.
Liberals have been having a tough time with Palin's poularity as she has attracted large crowds on her book tour and sold 700,000 copies to date according to AP which only adds to their aggravation.
But let's take a brief look at what Friedman calls Couric's fairness and objectivity.
From the Media Research Center
Katie Couric insisted on Monday's Today that Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, who is "in line to become the new Senate Minority leader after Tom Daschle lost his bid for re-election," is "more conservative than Tom Daschle." She emphasized how "I know he's anti-abortion." But Reid is hardly much less liberal than Daschle with a single digit difference in the ratings from the American Conservative Union and Americans for Democratic Action while the National Right to Life Committee gave Reid a 55 percent rating, far below the 91 percent earned by Reid's Republican Nevada colleague, John Ensign.
Couric, the MRC's Geoff Dickens noticed, asked Tim Russert on Monday's Today: "Let me ask you about Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. I know he's He's anti-abortion and voted against the assault weapons ban. What kind of leader do you think he'll be?"
Russert: "Quiet, methodical. He's a tea-totaling Mormon. But he has the respect of his Democratic colleagues for making the trains run on time. He will not be the public face as much as Tom Daschle would have been but he believes that he can put forward a united organized group of 45 Democrats. If that's possible."
Reid has earned a 21 percent "lifetime" rating from the American Conservative Union compared to 12 percent for Tom Daschle.
For Reid's rating: acuratings.com
For Daschle's: acuratings.com
On the left, Americans for Democratic Action gave Daschle an 83 percent career rating compared to a barely lower 76 percent for Reid.
For Daschle's ADA rating: www.adaction.org
For Reid's : www.adaction.org
For 2003-04, the National Right to Life Committee assessed Reid at 55 percent compared to 91 percent for his Nevada Senate colleague, John Ensign. See: www.capwiz.com
This is just one small example. For a more detailed list go here.
Some of the Couric bias is subtle and some of it is more blatant. Yet years after her departure from the Today show where she was referred to as America's Sweethart it is apparent that even though she has struggled as the anchor of the CBS Evening News her liberal allies in the press are still protecting her and ignoring the truth.
And I shouldn't forget that she was on the guest list for Obama's first State Dinner last night as well.
Post #2479
2 Comments | Post a Comment
For these so-called “Anchors” (News Readers) will never admit their Liberal Bias’s, which actually equates to lying, if they had any ethics, they would find another job.
November 27 at 6:27 am | #1 | Link
Couric has gone nowhere as an anchor. She would never admit that her liberal bias is the cause of it all. Friedman and the rest will live on in denial until they’re finally shown the door.