Station Break

What did you think of Katie Couric on The CBS Evening News last night? Did she meet expectations? And what about Rosie O'Donnell on The View? Was she a team player?

Station Break's Paul Farhi is here to weigh in on these culturally significant TV moments plus more on the pop culture landscape and invites your questions and comments.

Farhi was online Wednesday, Sept. 6, at 1 p.m. ET.

Farhi is a reporter in the Post's Style section, writing about media and popular culture. He's been watching TV and listening to the radio since "The Monkees" were in first run and Adam West was a star. Born in Brooklyn and raised in Los Angeles, Farhi had brief stints in the movie business (as an usher at the Picwood Theater), and in the auto industry (rental-car lot guy) before devoting himself fulltime to word processing. His car has 15 radio pre-sets and his cable system has 75 channels. He vows to use all of them for good instead of evil.

The transcript follows.

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Paul Farhi: Greetings, all, and welcome back to a Very Special Edition of StationBreak (very special because we usually do this on Tuesdays, but here we are on Wednesday! As you can tell, I have very low standards for what I consider "special"). Anyway...Katie, anyone? Yes, me. I thought she was attractive, sharp and (as always) likeable. The broadcast, on the other hand, was junky. I think they tried to do too much on Day One. Where, for example, was the news? Lara Logan's piece on the Taliban wasn't a lead story; it was a second-block feature. The interview with Tom Friedman: Why?The oil-price piece didn't tell me very much about oil prices. And Morgan Spurlock is the first guy you get for the FreeSpeech segment? Unclear why. Plus, the idiotic Tom Cruise baby pics--sheesh. The one highlight, for me, was the appearance of Ted Baxter AND Ron Burgundy (both personal heroes of mine) on the broadcast. Shows CBS News has a sense of humor, which is good. But I'd really rather (subtle pun) CBS News had some news....Let's go to the phones...

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Katie on the news: Paul,

She will never be a total newsperson. She has survived so far on her smile and spunk, neither of which will serve her on the evening news.

Paul Farhi: Well, smile and spunk are good. But she has other skills, too. She's a fine interviewer, a good reporter and she can read a TelePrompter with the best of them. Why is she any less qualified than Tom Brokaw and/or Charlie Gibson?

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Baltimore, Md.: Why do journalists keep using terms like "good interviewer" and "charm" when referring to Katie Couric? Since when does making a series of vague and uniformed statements to guests qualify as an interview?

Katie: This is your first book, right?

Guest: No actually...

Katie: You like cheese, right?

Guest: No, I'm lactose intolerant.

And so went her horrible interviews on The Today Show. She sucks and her aura is the color of evil. Since when does a fake smile make someone charming? Since when are journalists giving free compliments to these cheesy TV personalities frontin' like they're real journalists?

Paul Farhi: Well, let's throw down the gauntlet (whatever a "gauntlet" might be): There's a fair amount of sexism in all the criticism of Katie. She's done "tough" interviews and she's done "light" interviews. And why is "charm" a bad thing? I LIKE charm....

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Boo for Katie: Paul,

She is definitely DAY SHOW MATERIAL and she outta remember that. Her kind of schtick is not meant for the evening ANYTHING, let alone news.

I hope she has her next job lined up.

Paul Farhi: Man, the hatas are out today...I wonder if having a personality is what trouble y'all. The idea that we sort of know Katie, that we're "comfortable" with her, kind of rankles people who feel anchors should be remote, cool figures, like Peter Jennings. As if "remote and cool" equals "serious and trustworthy." Well, it does and it doesn't.

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Fairfax, Va: Paul.

Way too much todo about Katie doing the news. She's just another person reading the news, that's it. Give me Connie Chung any day.

Paul Farhi: Interesting comparison. To me, Connie always seemed to be trying too hard to be emphatic and "likeable." It seems to come easier for Katie (don't you love how we call the women by their first names and the men by first AND last, or just last names?)...

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Binghamton, N.Y.: Bring back Tim Brokaw!

Paul Farhi: TIM Brokaw? I think, of course, that you are referring to longtime anchor and country singer Tim McGraw...

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Severna Park, Md.: The Fonz was remote and cool but was he trustworthy? I can't remember.

Paul Farhi: Hahahaha. Yes, waaaaay trustworthy! The Fonz was a man of his word.

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Katie breakdown: As far as I'm concerned there was the early Katie (with Bryant Gumbel) who did tough interviews. Remember how Bush I went after her?

Then (when Gumbel disappeared? when she was comfortable in her position?), she morphed into the I'm all about me and my fabulous gams interviewer.

Paul Farhi: The gams, yes. Interesting. CBS (and NBC before it) surely showed them off (they did it again last night; they could have shot her from the desk-level up, but chose several times to show her with legs exposed. This does make arguments about "sexism" a little murkier, I think...

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Katie on the news: Paul,

Thank goodness CNN has round the clock coverage. After watching that, network news is old and slow moving, no matter how much you spend on set design or anchor personnel.

Paul Farhi: Call me an old guy, but I still like the network evening news (when I get to see it). It's usually a very good summary of the day's major events, with a feature or two thrown in. Compare that with the LOCAL evening news(es), which always seem hyped and padded.

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Los Angeles, Calif.: Hello Paul,

Isn't it funny that on a day when more space in newspapers and blogs and time on radio and TV are collectively spent on Katie Couric than anything else going on in the world, many critics are ripping her because her show was light on news? (Example: Tom Shales: "The CBS Evening No-News.") The people in those glass houses really need to pull up their shades.

Paul Farhi: It does bespeak a certain amount of empty celebrity worship, yes, but I also think it says that anchor people (at least at the big networks) are still culturally important figures. They bring us (or about 25 million of "us") our daily fix on the world. They're still important, even in our ever-fragmenting news universe. And we (or some of "we") would like them to live up to high standards. That's good, ain't it?

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Katie: Boy, that mist lens was pretty strong, huh? What are they going to do if she needs to have someone else in the studio? And how about when hi-def becomes the norm, and the law?

Paul Farhi: Whachu talkin' 'bout? She's a nice-looking person. She'll look fine in high, low or some other def. And back again to the sexism: No one's asking how Charlie Gibson will look in hi-def.

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The Sign Off: ..Paul, are YOU sending Ms. Couric a suggestion on her sign off? Do share!

My suggestion - "It's really all about me, isn't it?"

Paul Farhi: I like what Ann Althouse, a blogger, said about the silly sign-off contest:

She wrote, "why did [CBS] think it was a good idea? It's like a schoolteacher's 'hands-on' assignment. Ooh, she wants to include us. It's so feminine to want everyone to feel included . But how about having an identity instead of asking us to supply one or offering to please us with whatever we want?"

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Washington, D.C.: Thank goodness for CNN? Yeah, because we needed 36 consecutive hours of Steve Irwin coverage. I used to be a cable news junkie until I realized that there's way too much oversaturation without much new information. Now, an hour of Jim Lehrer each night keeps me more on top of things than three hours of CNN ever did.

Paul Farhi: Yes, I like the NewsHour (okay, okay, I AM an old guy). It plays EVERYTHING straight down the middle. It does not hype or primp or have gimmicks. Just very, very solid. In, out, nobody gets hurt...

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ABC World News Tonight: Monday night, instead of reporting an obituary for Steve Irwin, ABC News chose to use his death as the hook for a story on thrill-seeking personalities. Psychoanalyzing the man before his body was cold seemed EXTREMELY callous, especially since Irwin wasn't engaged in any particularly risky activity when he died.

Paul Farhi: This is known in the news biz as a "second-day follow," using yesterday's news as a peg for a feature that offers some kind of perspective on the news story.

I don't know about ABC's callousness, but Irwin was indeed engaging in risky activity, as evidenced by the fact that he is now dead.

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Equal Time: I just want to say for the record that I think Charlie Gibson will look HOT in hi-def.

Thank you.

Paul Farhi: I told you never to post on these chats, Diane Sawyer!

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Washington, D.C.: Shouldn't we be careful before around accusations of sexism? It could just be that Charles Gibson has unattractive legs and looks terrible in shorts.

Paul Farhi: Oh, I've seen 'em. ABC is totally covering up its most powerful weapon in the news wars...

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Springfield, Va.: I watched Katie Couric's debut last night. I have never watched any of the others (seriously) so I am unable to compare her to the men. However, it seemed like she was acknowledging the fact that whole idea of her as a solo news anchor was a little bit awkward for everyone (herself included) so she was taking a softer approach and attempting to ease her way into our living rooms. Is it also possible that it was a fairly soft day news-wise?

I'd watch her again - if I could remember what time and channel she was on.

Paul Farhi: That's a good point. It WAS a slow news day yesterday, as reflected on the front pages of most newspapers. But watching CBS News I got the sense of a restaurant that wasn't quite ready for review. Too many dishes. No order or direction. Simmer down, please...

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Baltimore, Md.: As long as they show his reruns on the TV, the Crocodile Hunter will never leave us.

Paul Farhi: True, I'm sure. But I noticed that Irwin's star had dimmed on Animal Planet before his death. I mean, they were still running lots of old "Croc Hunters" (had he made any new ones in the past few years?), but he was out of primetime. "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom"--the anti-"Croc Hunter" nature show--was getting more primetime play than he was.

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Burbank, Calif.: Hi Paul, love your stuff.

I am sputtering over CBS affiliates apparently being fearful to re-air that 9/11 documentary (the one made by those two French brothers) because of the language. As I recall when I saw it, someone says "Holy f-k" when the first plane hits the tower...All Janet Jackson issues aside, when would there ever be a more appropriate moment to curse than during that horrible day? I weep for our future, seriously.

Paul Farhi: Yes, I find that whole episode absurd, disappointing, and a bit suspicious. There are actually two CBS affiliates that have declined to re-run that documentary--both of them owned by Sinclair Broadcasting. When last heard from, Sinclair (HQ'ed outside of Baltimore) was trying to pass off a very anti-Kerry "documentary" as a public service during the 2004 campaign. They also loudly protested "Nightline's" roll call of Americans who have been killed in Iraq. I wonder if their concerns about the 9/11 documentary have some other motive than worries about "indecency"...

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Vienna, Va: Paul,

Did WRC get rid of Clay Anderson ? They have a new weekend guy on the past couple weeks.

Paul Farhi: They did. Not sure what's happened to Clay.

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Baltimore, Md.: Paul, THANK YOU for addressing the sexism issue. It's quite clear that much of the criticism directed at Katie Couric has a lot to do with her gender. Tom Shales' review was a classic example. He commented on her outfit. Who cares? Did he comment on what Charlie Gibson was wearing for his first broadcast? Katie will be fine. Her credentials are fine. The content of the show was a little jumbled, but I suspect that will get ironed out eventually. I'm sure I'll watch again, and I never watch CBS. That's the true test.

Paul Farhi: Yep. Well said. Although I have to say, I NOTICED her white jacket, which seemed to be askew during the broadcast. Sorry, I couldn't help it...

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ABC News/Second-day follow: Yes, but it wasn't the second day, it was the day of his death. And not everyone watches cable news all day, particularly on holidays.

The fact that he's dead is evidence that he died doing something unusually risky? Tell that to all those folks who die slipping in the bathtub. I have a better chance of being hit by lightning than Steve Irwin did of getting stabbed by a sting-ray. Whatever risks he took during his life, his death was a freak accident.

Paul Farhi: That's odd. You mean, ABC didn't report Irwin's death as a news story, that they went straight to the feature about thrill seeking? If true, that's pretty odd news judgment. And, yes, Irwin's death was a freak accident, but Irwin's whole shtick is/was to put himself in dangerous situations.

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Columbia, Md.: Sorry to disagree, but "Wild Kingdom" was not the anti-"Croc Hunter." Yes, Marlon Perkins stayed nice and tidy, but remember Marlon's flunky Jim? The film footage would show poor Jim fighting for his life while Marlon was saying in a soothing voice over "The playful anaconda decided to wrestle with Jim."

Paul Farhi: Hahaha. Yeah, Marlin always seemed to be back in the Range Rover, while Jim did the dirty work. But Irwin kicked up the dangerous scenarios about a hundredfold. That was the whole POINT of "CH," wasn't it? Not so "WK," which often did the cute-baby-leopards-in-their-den thing...

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Arlington, Va.: So, we've moved on from Katie? Good. Who is the new sports chica on channel 9? Meeeeeowww! Sure is better to look at AND listen to than Brett Haber. Actually, strike that. She's just better to look at, period. Better than Lindsay Czarn...

Paul Farhi: You see the kind of sexism we have to deal with? You see the kind of blatant objectification that is endemic to our society? When will we get past this nonsense?

(And what time is this sportscaster woman on?)

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Scuba diving is not a high-risk activity: Sure, some people get the bends. But when I saw snorkeling in Hawaii I took the chance a shark could come by. Everybody does.

I was so shocked when Steve Irwin died. I think the TV coverage has been appropriate, especially once people saw how he touched so many people.

Paul Farhi: I think everyone thought that what Irwin did was dangerous (and fascinating). You knew it could backfire on him, but it never did. Even so, it was still a shock when he died.

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Rockville, Md.: It seemed to me that Katie was very nervous, especially considering that she has been on TV for many years. She ran from story to story as if she was reading the prompter but didn't really know where the spaces were. I think we should all do what Tom Sietsema does with restaurants, give her a month to settle in and then make a judgment; I hope by then there will be more news in the news.

Paul Farhi: Well, opening night IS opening night. No chance reviewers were going to ignore her debut, especially since CBS itself hyped the thing no end.

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ABC re Steve Irwin: I saw it also. It was literally, "He's dead; now let's talk to this Harvard expert about people who have to have extra dopamine to be happy..."

Paul Farhi: That's reaching a little bit far. As a longtime editor around here once counseled, "Readers need one clean shot at the facts before anything else." That goes for TV news, too...

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Silver Spring, Md.: Baltimore thinks that criticism of Katie is based on sexist opinions. I think what is sexist that they toned down the news and upped the fluff for a woman anchor. Do they not believe that she can handle hard-hitting topics or international issues?

Paul Farhi: Well, they had a woman (Lara Logan) reporting the opening piece (and on such a fluffy subject--the Taliban's military resurgence in Afghanistan), so I don't think they have a problem with women doing serious reporting.

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Alexandria, Va.: I admit it. I'm a woman and am old enough to have rooted for Barbara Walters and Connie Chung on the evening news broadcasts--and I still would. More recently, I watched Vargas, and I'd be delighted if any number of other female journalists (Diane Sawyer?) got a shot at the solo gig.

The fact is, I, like many other viewers, just have a visceral dislike for Katie Couric. In my case, it has almost nothing to do w/ her credentials or her ability. I think it's more about the feeling that the perky exterior she tries oh so hard to portray just thinly covers someone who is less likeable underneath. The hard-hitting reporter doesn't have to be Miss Congeniality, too. (Martha Raddatz (sp?) doesn't try to be perky.) Katie seems to want to have it both ways, and it leaves me feeling vaguely distrustful and uneasy about her.

Paul Farhi: I hear you. This goes to a very old observation about TV news--people don't watch the news, they watch the people on the news. How we "feel" about our anchor "friends" is a very important, perhaps the most important, factor in what we watch (or don't). But back to sexism: Can a woman be "tough" and "hardhitting" and succeed as an anchor? A man can. Not so sure it works the other way. Women HAVE to be "pretty" and "feminine" and a bunch of other things that men don't have to bother with to succeed.

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Re: Katie: My parents (late 50's) have freakishly strong opinions about their television personalities. They LOVED Katie Couric on the Today show, but after last night's news, they told me they were going to stick with Brian Williams while Katie "got her sea legs." I could tell they were underwhelmed.

Paul Farhi: It's that perception thing again, isn't it? I dig what your folks are saying. Once again, it's not about the news. It's about your feelings about the people on it.

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New York, N.Y.: If we are forced to cover our anchorwomen's legs, then the terrorists have already won.

Paul Farhi: The caller makes a good point.

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RE: Katie Couric's Sign Off: Paul,

Any truth to the rumor that Katie will into The Station Break Dancers to shake their money makers as the broadcast fades to black?

Paul Farhi: We are in discussions, yes. Sexism-wise, I will point out that the StationBreak Dancers include both men and women. Also, we've added a mariachi band...

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Old-Timer, I Guess: All these comments about Katie Couric not being able to do hard news...am I the only one who remembers her as a pretty good hard news correspondent for WRC-TV (Channel 4 here in DC) when she was fresh out of U.Va?

Paul Farhi: No, you are not the only one. I remember, too. She played Pat Collins' younger sister...

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RE: Katie & Ratings: Ok, so the big event is over and her debut has something like a 17 share. Paul: What are the chances that you can make a specific point of mentioning her ratings, on October 5th? She's a good new reader but the novelty will have certainly worn off.

Paul Farhi: Hard to say where she'll be on Oct. 5th. But I suspect CBS has already earned back the $15 million they're paying her.

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My question is...: What's Robing Givhan going to say about Katie's white top ?

Paul Farhi: Should be an interesting column, shouldn't it?

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Reston, Va.: A slow news day is a lame excuse.

Would Cronkite have led off with a fluff piece about the Muppets if it were a slow day?

Paul Farhi: You ever watch old tapes of CBS News? I mean, in the '60s and '70s? Yes, they were serious and did important stories. But they were also kind of stiff and parochial (women, non-white men and non-government people were hardly in evidence). Network news has changed, and in many ways it's much better...

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Re the Steve Irwin thing: Am I the only person in the world who found him incredibly loud and annoying? He's nearly being canonized by the media, but wasn't he the idiot who held his kid in front of a crocodile? I haven't seen that mentioned once in all the "poor Steve Irwin" stories.

Paul Farhi: Oh, crikey, mate. That was a stock line in every obit I saw. And I think I saw file footage of that incident at least a dozen times...

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Washington, D.C.: Bring Bob Schieffer back!! I liked him more than Rather, Brokaw and Jennings AND Couric.

Paul Farhi: I liked Schieffer, too. Where were they hiding that guy?

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Baltimore, Md. again: I'm not sexist... I'm a lady journalist! Katie's not charming! She's EVIL. Actually, I think it's sexist that she's receiving compliments. She has no good professional qualities. It's like men may as well be writing articles saying, "She sucks, but she's HOT."

I got Haterade by the gallon, Paul.

Paul Farhi: My advice: Stay classy, Baltimore.

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If Katherine Couric wants to be a true news reader...: she's gonna need to leave her mike on and go to the bathroom. Apparently that's what "serious" news organizations do when a political figure they oppose is delivering a speech.

Paul Farhi: Um, could someone tell this poster that Kyra Phillips and CNN didn't know that her mike was on when she went to the bathroom? That it was a MISTAKE? Sheesh...

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Chantilly, Va.: Enough Katie -- no one besides the elderly and other assorted shut-ins watch the evening news any more.

Instead, I would like to get your thoughts on the Mike Steele commercial. Your colleague Chris Cilizza thinks it's effective. I think it's an amateurish joke -- along the lines of commercials for Eastern Motors (Motors).

Paul Farhi: That's one of the most interesting campaign ads going, and one of the most interesting in a long time. I'm still having trouble figuring out what Steele is trying to do. To portray himself as a kind of Phil Donahue-ish/Montel Williams talk-show host? To go all warm and fuzzy? To make himself look and sound different than the other guys? If so, it works for me. But it also raises a question: What else has this guy got? The ad is so vague about what he would do as senator that it's kind of hard to figure out.

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Alexandria, Va.: I second the comment about Bob Schieffer. Bob was the bomb.

Paul Farhi: Roger that.

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Purcellville, Va.: RE: WUSA Sports gal.....

Her name is Sara Walsh..... and give me Lindsay C. any day of the week over her.

Paul Farhi: Thanks. And let's note a mini-trend here: Women sportsanchors. Not many of them. In fact, according to an industry survey that I just happen to have right here in front of me, only 7 percent of sportsanchors nationwide are women.

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RE: Kyra Phillips: Let's talk sexism here. If Miles O'Brien was captured on mike saying most women were (unprintables), he'd be hung out to dry. Ms. Phillips slams all men in a vulgar fashion, and not a peep....

Paul Farhi: Hmmm. Yeah, I bet the reaction would be different. But did Kyra say that? I couldn't tell from the tape because that other guy who was giving a speech kept talking over her.

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"Bob Schieffer was the bomb..": If you told that to Schieffer he'd probably be offended!

Paul Farhi: Okay, okay. Bob Schieffer was a happenin' dude. Better?

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Pittsburgh, Pa.: I third the Bob Schieffer comment. Katie may have a sense of humor, but Bob has WIT.

Paul Farhi: Wit, experience, reporting cred, a certain twinkle. Yeah, all that.

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Alexandria, Va.: I loved defamer.com's recommendation for Katie's closing line:

"I'm Katie Couric, and I'm sorry."

Paul Farhi: Hahaha...

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Alexandria, Va.: Re women sports anchors. That ranks better than women coaching men's sports teams. It's OK for men to coach women, but not for women to coach men. We've still got a long way to go, baby.

Paul Farhi: True dat.

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In Sinclair's Defense: Fair questions about impartiality. On the other hand, the FCC has been fining individual stations the max for language, without offering guidance in advance, so it's pretty risky stuff for a station group to expose itself to those fines. Whether the language is appropriate or not, the filmmakers could have gotten their point across without giving station owners a plausible reason to skip airing the show.

Paul Farhi: Yes, I will acknowledge that. The FCC has spooked everyone about what they can and can't say. The agency used to give a blanket pass to language contained in news reports (and documentaries would seem to be "news reports") but that went out the window when they fined a PBS station in California for airing Martin Scorsese's doc about the blues (several musicians used some salty language--imagine!). So, now everyone is skittish. 'Tis a shame, and particularly weird since we're now wringing our hands over a documentary that has ALREADY been on TV.

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I'm sorry but...: isn't "tru' dat" the proper spelling ?

Paul Farhi: Sorree.

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Baltimore, Md.: Re the true Katie Couric: Paul, just ask your colleague Marc Fisher about the run in he had with Katie when he was working for the Miami Herald and she was a TV reporter down there. Among other things, she called his editor to try and get him fired. He ain't a fan.

Paul Farhi: Heard something about that, yes, but don't know the particulars so I won't comment...Okay, I will comment: I'm on Fisher's side. He's da man. Or da bomb. Or possibly both.

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Olney. Md.: What about Rosie's debut on the View. Thought the opening was well crafted. Rosie will always be Rosie, even with Barbara WaWa sitting nearby.

I thought Rosie was poised and funny. She needs to regain her Queen of Nice title and I think she has, but with an edge.

Do you think Babs will pick another female, maybe Hispanic, for the fifth spot on the View? Babs looked really tired yesterday. Do you think she can show up there daily and participate, given her age? I know she's the boss, but she needs to loosen the reigns a little.

Paul Farhi: I am fully prepared to hate "The View," but I actually find it interesting at times (okay, go ahead and revoke my Maxim card). From the look of yesterday's show, Rosie could really shake that thing up. It won't be long, I'm sure, before she's going after Elizabeth Hasselbeck. Rosie can be brash, obnoxious and irritating. I like that...

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Katie Evil?: All I can say is that she sat next to my brother...who is a schmo...on a flight into DC a few years ago, and he said she was an absolute joy. Very friendly to everyone who approached her, and my brother and her conversed most of the flight, she didn't bury herself in a book or magazine so as not to be bothered.

It says something that she swims with the Great Unwashed.

Paul Farhi: I don't know anything for sure, but I'm a little suspicious of the Katie-is-evil stuff (which seems to have been propagated by Alessandra Stanley in the New York Times). Anytime someone, particularly a woman, gets as big as Katie, there will always be people calling her a diva.

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Baltimore, Md.: Women can be just as hard or harder on other women. It's one of our many charms. The woman journalist who wrote in about Katie personifying evil is probably jealous of her success. Evil? Isn't that a bit of a stretch?

Paul Farhi: Yeah, Stalin, Hitler, Mao...Couric? Naw.

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Paul Farhi: Folks, I gotta wrap this bad-boy (or bad-girl) up. Just to let you know, I too am having a contest to create a new sign-off. I was thinking of "Peace. I'm outta here!" and/or "Shecky, get the jet!" but I've heard those someplace before. If you have a suggestion, pipe up when we return to our regular time (1 p.m., Tuesday) in two weeks. Until then, "Kato, bring the car around!" No, no...Nevertheless, regards to all...Paul.

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