Katie Couric
Encyclopedia
Katherine Anne "Katie" Couric (born January 7, 1957) is an American journalist and author. She serves as Special Correspondent for ABC News
, contributing to ABC World News, Nightline
, 20/20
, Good Morning America
, This Week
and primetime news specials. Starting on September 6, 2012, she will host Katie
, a syndicated daytime talk show produced by Disney-ABC Domestic Television. She has anchored the CBS Evening News
, reported for 60 Minutes
, and hosted Today and reported for Dateline NBC
. She was the first solo female anchor of a weekday evening news program on one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks. Couric's first book, The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary was a New York Times best-seller.
Hene), a homemaker
and part-time writer
, and John Martin Couric Jr., a public relations
executive
and news
editor
at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
and the United Press in Washington, D.C.
Her mother was Jewish, but Couric was raised Episcopalian. Couric's maternal grandparents, Bert Hene and Clara L. Froshin, were the children of Jewish immigrants from Germany
. In a report for Today, she traced her paternal ancestry back to a French
orphan
who immigrated to the U.S. in the nineteenth century and became a broker
in the cotton business.
Couric attended Arlington Public Schools
: Jamestown Elementary, Williamsburg Middle School, and Yorktown High School and was a cheerleader. As a high school student, she was an intern at Washington, D.C.
all-news radio
station WAVA
. She enrolled at her father's alma mater, the University of Virginia
, in 1975 and was a Delta Delta Delta
sorority
sister. Couric served in several positions at UVA's award-winning daily newspaper, The Cavalier Daily
. During her third year at UVA, Couric was chosen to live as Head Resident of The Lawn
, the heart of Thomas Jefferson
's Academical Village. She graduated in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in English with a focus on American Studies
.
, later joining CNN
as an assignment editor
. Between 1984 and 1986, she worked as a general-assignment reporter for WTVJ
in Miami, Florida
. During the following two years, she reported for WRC-TV
, the NBC owned-and-operated station in Washington, D.C., work which earned her an Associated Press
award and an Emmy
.
in 1989 as Deputy Pentagon
Correspondent. From 1989 to 1991, Couric was an anchor substitute and filled in for Bryant Gumbel
as host of Today, Jane Pauley
, and Deborah Norville
as co-anchor of Today, Garrick Utley
, Mary Alice Williams
, and Maria Shriver
as co-host of Sunday Today, and John Palmer
, Norville, and Faith Daniels
as anchor of the former NBC News
program NBC News at Sunrise
. She also subbed for Daniels, Norville, and John Palmer as the news anchor on Today.
—an evening time weekly TV newsmagazine
with Tom Brokaw—which was later canceled and folded into part of Dateline NBC
, where her reports appeared regularly and she was named contributing anchor. She remained at Today for fifteen years with co-host Matt Lauer
and NBC News until May 31, 2006, when she announced that she would be going to CBS
to anchor the CBS Evening News, becoming the first solo female anchor of the "big three" weekday nightly news broadcasts.
While at NBC, Katie Couric occasionally filled in for Tom Brokaw
on NBC Nightly News. From 1989-1993, Couric also filled in for Maria Shriver
on the Sunday Edition of NBC Nightly News and for Garrick Utley
on the Saturday Edition of NBC Nightly News.
Couric hosted or worked on a number of news specials, like Everybody's Business: America's Children in 1995. Similar entertainment specials were Legend to Legend Night: A Celebrity Cavalcade in 1993, and Harry Potter: Behind the Magic in 2001. Couric has also co-hosted the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games
. She has broadcast with Bob Costas
, beginning with the 2000 Summer Olympics
. She did not co-host the 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
in Turin, Italy because of a scheduling conflict with a live taping of Today. Brian Williams
co-hosted with Bob Costas instead.
Couric has interviewed many international political figures and celebrities during her career, including Presidents Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter
, George H. W. Bush
, Bill Clinton
and George W. Bush
, and First Lady Barbara Bush. John F. Kennedy Jr. gave Couric his first and last interviews. Couric has won multiple television reporting awards through her career, including the prestigious Peabody Award
for her series Confronting Colon Cancer. Couric has also interviewed former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
, Senator Hillary Clinton (her first television interview), Harry Potter
author J.K. Rowling, and Laura Bush
.
On May 28, 2008, Couric made a return visit to Today since leaving almost two years to the very day back on May 31, 2006. She made this appearance alongside her evening counterparts, NBC Nightly News
' Brian Williams
& ABC
World News
' Charles Gibson
, to promote an organization called Stand Up to Cancer
and raise cancer awareness on all three major television networks; ABC
, CBS
& NBC
. Couric, Gibson
and Williams
made appearances together on all three major network morning shows, first on CBS
's Early Show
, then on NBC
's Today and finally on ABC
's Good Morning America
.
Couric announced on April 5, 2006 that she would be leaving Today. CBS officially confirmed later the same day that Couric would become the new anchor and managing editor of CBS Evening News
with her first broadcast set for September 5, 2006. Couric would also contribute to 60 Minutes
and anchor prime time news specials for CBS. Couric would remain the highest-paid news anchor at $15 million per year.
Couric made her first broadcast as anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric on September 5, 2006. The program featured a new set, new graphics, and a new theme composed by prolific movie score composer James Horner
. The program also featured a voice-over from Walter Cronkite
. It was the first evening newscast to be simulcast
live on the internet
and local radio stations.
CBS heavily hyped Couric's arrival at the network, hoping to revive the evening news format, but there were suggestions that it backfired. Although there was much interest during her first week as anchor, CBS Evening News remained a distant third in viewership, behind ABC World News and NBC Nightly News
. While Couric improved over Bob Schieffer
, ABC's Charles Gibson
has since been widening World News' lead over Evening News.
The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric won the 2008 and 2009 Edward R. Murrow Award for best newscast. On March 29, 2009, Couric was awarded with the Emmy Governor's Award for her broadcasting career.
She has interviewed presidents, cabinet members, celebrities, and business executives around the world, including President Barack Obama
, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
, Former President George W. Bush
, Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
, John Edwards
just after their announcement that Mrs. Edwards' cancer had returned, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni
, Norah Jones
and Michael J. Fox
.
Couric led CBS News' coverage of the 2006 midterm elections, the 2008 Presidential election and conventions, and 2010 midterm elections. Couric was the first network anchor on the ground in Port au Prince after the 2010 Haiti Earthquake
. After the BP oil spill Couric anchored from the Gulf Coast weekly and brought much attention to the disaster. She reported from Cairo
's Tahrir Square during the Egyptian Revolution
in 2011. In April 2011, she led CBS News' coverage from London for the Wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleton.
Couric was the only solo female evening news anchor in the United States, until December 21, 2009, when she was joined by Diane Sawyer
, who succeeded the retiring Charles Gibson
for ABC World News. Couric and Sawyer were previous rivals as the hosts of Today and Good Morning America
, respectively.
On April 26, 2011, Couric confirmed in an interview with People magazine
that she would be leaving her anchor post at CBS Evening News when her contract expired on June 4, 2011. Katie Couric made her final broadcast in the CBS Evening News chair on Thursday, May 19, 2011.
correspondent and contributed six to eight stories a year for the program. Her most famous segment was the first interview with airline pilot Chesley Sullenberger
. She also interviewed Valerie Plame
, Robert Gates
and Michelle Rhee
for the program.
were a series of interviews Couric conducted with 2008 U.S.
Republican
vice presidential
nominee Sarah Palin
. They were recorded and broadcast on television in several programs before the 2008 U.S. presidential election
. Couric received the Walter Cronkite Award for Journalism Excellence for the interview.
Steve Schmidt
, McCain's senior campaign strategist and advisor, later reflected on the interview, saying "I think it was the most consequential interview from a negative perspective that a candidate for national office has gone through."
series, which aired across all CBS News
platforms. The first series, "CBS Reports: Children of the Recession," highlighted the pain suffered by the youngest of the Great Recession's victims. The series won the Columbia School of Journalism's Alfred DuPont Award for Excellence in Journalism. The second series, which aired in early 2010, was "CBS Reports: Where America Stands'.' which featured veteran CBS News
correspondents reporting on major issues facing the United States in the decade ahead with research by the CBS News Polling Unit.
Her first guest was Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck
. Subsequent interviews have included former Vice President Al Gore
, actor Hugh Jackman
, recording artist Shakira
, First Lady Michelle Obama
, and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman
, teen singer Justin Bieber
, actress Jane Lynch
, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres
, actor Daniel Radcliffe
, Bill Gates
, former White House
Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, New Orleans Saints
Quarterback Drew Brees
, and author Malcolm Gladwell
.
, based in New York. She will continue in this role even once her daytime talk show begins. Her first appearance on the network was a Sarah Jessica Parker
interview on Nightline
. Couric co-anchored coverage of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, alongside Diane Sawyer
, Christiane Amanpour
, Barbara Walters
, Elizabeth Vargas
, George Stephanopoulos
, and Robin Roberts
. Couric was hosting Today
on NBC
at the time of the attacks, and led CBS News
coverage of the 5th anniversary. Couric also guest co-hosted The View
and Live! with Regis and Kelly. Couric interviewed Lady Gaga
in primetime on Thanksgiving as part of A Very Gaga Thanksgiving.
announced that Couric signed a record $40 million dollar contract, and would begin hosting a daytime talk show for its Disney-ABC Domestic Television arm that would debut in September 2012. Couric would also contribute to ABC News
programming.
On August 22, 2011, it was announced that Katie Couric's talk show will be called Katie
, with airing of the first episode on September 6, 2012.
on either The Tonight Show or his short lived The Jay Leno Show
. Leno filled in for her on Today that same day. CNN
and the New York Daily News
noted that instead of using Leno's regular solid desk, "workers cut away the front of her desk to expose her legs while she interviewed American Idol
judge Simon Cowell
and Austin Powers
star Mike Myers
".
, she was the voice of news-reporter "Katie Current" in the U.S.
version of the film Shark Tale
. She also made a cameo appearance
as a prison guard at Georgia State Prison in Austin Powers in Goldmember
. She guest-starred as herself on the CBS sitcom Murphy Brown
in 1992 and in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace
in late 2002. On May 12, 2003, she traded places for a day with Tonight Show host Jay Leno
. Couric also co-hosted NBC's live coverage of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
from 1991 until 2005. Katie Couric delivered the graduation speech at Princeton University
on June 1, 2009. She also works with Carmen Marc Valvo
to help publicize the deadliness, yet preventability, of colorectal cancer. On May 16, 2010, Katie Couric received an honorary doctor of science degree
for her efforts in raising awareness of colorectal cancer and for her commitment to advancing medical research from Case Western Reserve University
, and later gave the university's 2010 convocation keynote address. In 2011, she gave the university commencement speech at Boston University
and was awarded another doctoral degree, Doctor of Humane Letters. She gave her speech amongst much fan-fare from the BU community, and her speech was not only touching but also inspirational and funny. She has also hosted a Sesame Street special, "When Families Grieve." The special, which aired on PBS on April 14, 2010, dealt with the issues that children go through when a parent dies.
On February 6, 2011, Couric guest-starred on the post-Super Bowl
episode of Glee
, playing herself interviewing Sue Sylvester after the cheer-leading team lost the championship. Sue sarcastically referred to Couric as "Diane Sawyer
" during the segment.
On April 12, 2011, Couric's first book titled The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives was published by Random House
. The book is a collection of essays compiled over the past year by Couric; contributors include New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
, Queen Rania of Jordan, and former Today show colleague Matt Lauer
. In an interview with The New York Times
, Couric said that a 2010 convocation keynote address she gave (refer to preceding paragraph) inspired her to come up with the book. To this end, all profits of the book will be donated to Scholarship America
.
Couric is also heavily featured in The Gregory Brothers
' series Auto-Tune The News. They mention this is due to her "outstanding" suitability for auto-tuning.
She is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
At University of Virginia, Katie was a member in the sorority Delta Delta Delta.
on-air in March 2000, and, according to a study published in 2003 in Archives of Internal Medicine
, could have inspired many others to get checked as well:
She also was very active in the National Hockey League
's Hockey Fights Cancer
campaign, appearing in some public service announcement
s and doing voice-over
s for several others. Couric is currently a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for the United States.
On October 7, 2005, as part of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
, Couric broadcast her own mammogram
on the Today show, in the hopes of recreating the "Couric Effect" around the issue of breast cancer
.
Her sister Emily Couric
, a Virginia
Democratic state senator, died of pancreatic cancer
at the age of 54 on October 18, 2001. Couric gave a eulogy at the funeral. She pointed out that it irritated Emily when people asked her if she was Katie Couric's sister. She told the mourners "I just want you to know I will always be proud to say 'I am Emily Couric's sister'." Couric has two other siblings, Clara Couric Bachelor and John M. Couric Jr.
Couric was the honored guest at the 2004 Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
fall gala. As the Guest of Honor for the inaugural American Cancer Society Discovery Ball, Couric was recognized for her leadership in increasing cancer awareness and screening.
In 2011, Couric became the Honorary National Chair of the National Parkinson Foundation
's Moving Day campaign, a grassroots campaign to spotlight Parkinson's disease
awareness on a national level. Couric's father died in 2011 at age 90 from complications due to Parkinson's disease.
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
, contributing to ABC World News, Nightline
Nightline
Nightline, or ABC News Nightline is a late-night news program broadcast by ABC in the United States, and has a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. It airs weeknights, usually for 31 minutes. Created by Roone Arledge, the program featured Ted Koppel as its main...
, 20/20
20/20
20/20 is an American "television newsmagazine", , broadcast on ABC since June 6, 1978. Created by ABC News executive Roone Arledge, the show was designed similarly to CBS's 60 Minutes but focuses more on human interest stories than international and political subjects...
, Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, This Week
This Week (ABC TV series)
This Week is ABC's Sunday morning political affairs program.The Sunday morning talk show has aired on Sunday mornings on ABC since 1981; the program is initially aired at 9:00 AM ET, although many stations air the program later, especially those in other time zones...
and primetime news specials. Starting on September 6, 2012, she will host Katie
Katie (talk show)
Katie is an upcoming syndicated talk show hosted by former CBS Evening News and Today anchor Katie Couric, and distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television. It is set to premiere in September 6, 2012 and will be owned by Couric herself. Katie won't be a news program, but it will cover news and...
, a syndicated daytime talk show produced by Disney-ABC Domestic Television. She has anchored the CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
, reported for 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
, and hosted Today and reported for Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
. She was the first solo female anchor of a weekday evening news program on one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks. Couric's first book, The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary was a New York Times best-seller.
Early life and career
Couric was born in Arlington, Virginia, the daughter of Elinor Tullie (néeMarried and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Hene), a homemaker
Homemaker
Homemaking is a mainly American term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping or household management...
and part-time writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, and John Martin Couric Jr., a public relations
Public relations
Public relations is the actions of a corporation, store, government, individual, etc., in promoting goodwill between itself and the public, the community, employees, customers, etc....
executive
Senior management
Senior management, executive management, or management team is generally a team of individuals at the highest level of organizational management who have the day-to-day responsibilities of managing a company or corporation, they hold specific executive powers conferred onto them with and by...
and news
News
News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...
editor
Managing editor
A managing editor is a senior member of a publication's management team.In the United States, a managing editor oversees and coordinates the publication's editorial activities...
at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the only major daily newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and its suburbs. The AJC, as it is called, is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta...
and the United Press in Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
Her mother was Jewish, but Couric was raised Episcopalian. Couric's maternal grandparents, Bert Hene and Clara L. Froshin, were the children of Jewish immigrants from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. In a report for Today, she traced her paternal ancestry back to a French
French people
The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...
orphan
Orphan
An orphan is a child permanently bereaved of or abandoned by his or her parents. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents is called an orphan...
who immigrated to the U.S. in the nineteenth century and became a broker
Broker
A broker is a party that arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller, and gets a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal...
in the cotton business.
Couric attended Arlington Public Schools
Arlington Public Schools
Arlington Public Schools is a public school division in Arlington County, Virginia. In 2010, there were 19,903 students, up from 18,715 a year earlier. In 2010, the students had come from more than 120 countries. There were 2,166 teachers....
: Jamestown Elementary, Williamsburg Middle School, and Yorktown High School and was a cheerleader. As a high school student, she was an intern at Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
all-news radio
All-news radio
All-news radio is a radio format devoted entirely to discussion and broadcast of news.All-news radio is available in both local and syndicated forms, and is carried in some form on both major US satellite radio networks...
station WAVA
WAVA
WAVA and WAVA-FM are Religious formatted broadcast radio stations. Both stations are licensed to Arlington, Virginia and serve the Washington, D.C. Metro Area. Both WAVA and WAVA-FM, as well as sister station WWRC, are owned and operated by Salem Communications.-External links:*...
. She enrolled at her father's alma mater, the University of Virginia
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia is a public research university located in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States, founded by Thomas Jefferson...
, in 1975 and was a Delta Delta Delta
Delta Delta Delta
Delta Delta Delta , also known as Tri Delta, is an international sorority founded on November 27, 1888, the eve of Thanksgiving Day. With over 200,000 initiates, Tri Delta is one of the world's largest NPC sororities.-History:...
sorority
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
sister. Couric served in several positions at UVA's award-winning daily newspaper, The Cavalier Daily
The Cavalier Daily
The Cavalier Daily is the fully independent student-run newspaper at the University of Virginia, founded in 1890. It is the oldest daily college newspaper in Virginia and the oldest newspaper in Charlottesville, Virginia...
. During her third year at UVA, Couric was chosen to live as Head Resident of The Lawn
The Lawn
The Lawn is a large, terraced grassy court at the historic center of Jefferson's academic community at the University of Virginia. The design shows Jefferson's mastery of Palladian architecture...
, the heart of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
's Academical Village. She graduated in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in English with a focus on American Studies
American studies
American studies or American civilization is an interdisciplinary field dealing with the study of the United States. It traditionally incorporates the study of history, literature, and critical theory, but also includes fields as diverse as law, art, the media, film, religious studies, urban...
.
Career beginnings
Couric's first job in 1979 was at the ABC News bureau in Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, later joining CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
as an assignment editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
. Between 1984 and 1986, she worked as a general-assignment reporter for WTVJ
WTVJ
WTVJ, virtual channel 6 , is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC television network, located in Broward County. WTVJ shares its TV studio and office facility with co-owned Telemundo station WSCV in Miramar, Florida, and its transmitter is located near Sun Life Stadium in north...
in Miami, Florida
Miami, Florida
Miami is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, the most populous county in Florida and the eighth-most populous county in the United States with a population of 2,500,625...
. During the following two years, she reported for WRC-TV
WRC-TV
WRC-TV, channel 4, is an owned and operated television station of the NBC television network, located in the American capital city of Washington, D.C...
, the NBC owned-and-operated station in Washington, D.C., work which earned her an Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
award and an Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
.
NBC
Couric joined NBC NewsNBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
in 1989 as Deputy Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
Correspondent. From 1989 to 1991, Couric was an anchor substitute and filled in for Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Gumbel
Bryant Charles Gumbel is an American television journalist and sportscaster. He is best known for his 15 years as co-host of NBC's The Today Show. He is the younger brother of sportscaster Greg Gumbel.-Early life:...
as host of Today, Jane Pauley
Jane Pauley
Margaret Jane Pauley is an American television journalist, and has been involved in news reporting since 1975...
, and Deborah Norville
Deborah Norville
Deborah Norville is an American television broadcaster and journalist. Since 1995 she has been host of the syndicated American television program Inside Edition...
as co-anchor of Today, Garrick Utley
Garrick Utley
Garrick Utley is an American TV journalist. He established his career reporting about the Vietnam War and has the distinction of being the first full-time television correspondent covering the war on-site.-Early life:...
, Mary Alice Williams
Mary Alice Williams
Mary Alice Williams is a former co-anchor of NBC's Weekend Today and a former anchor and news division Vice President on CNN....
, and Maria Shriver
Maria Shriver
Maria Owings Shriver is an American journalist and author of six best-selling books. She has received a Peabody Award, and was co-anchor for NBC's Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics. As executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of...
as co-host of Sunday Today, and John Palmer
John Palmer (TV journalist)
John Spencer Palmer is a former news correspondent for NBC News. He worked for the network over the course of 40 years, first from 1962 to 1990; and again from 1994 until his retirement in 2002...
, Norville, and Faith Daniels
Faith Daniels
Faith Daniels became nationally known for her role in anchoring some of America's most popular news and talk show programs....
as anchor of the former NBC News
NBC News
NBC News is the news division of American television network NBC. It first started broadcasting in February 21, 1940. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is...
program NBC News at Sunrise
NBC News at Sunrise
NBC News at Sunrise was an early morning news program produced by NBC News from 1983 to 1999. The program featured the top news headlines of the morning, sports and weather reports, and business segments. Many of the program's anchors also appeared on The Today Show...
. She also subbed for Daniels, Norville, and John Palmer as the news anchor on Today.
Today (1991–2006)
In 1989, Couric joined Today as national political correspondent, becoming a substitute co-host in February 1991 when Norville had a baby. Norville did not return and Couric became permanent co-anchor on April 5, 1991. In 1994, she became co-anchor of Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie CouricNow with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric
Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric both hosted Now with Tom Brokaw and Katie Couric. The show aired on NBC from 1993-1994. It was a newsmagazine based program. It was folded into another edition of Dateline NBC. Brokaw and Couric became contributing anchors to Dateline.-See also:*Rock Center with Brian...
—an evening time weekly TV newsmagazine
Newsmagazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published piece of paper, magazine or a radio or television program, usually weekly, featuring articles or segments on current events...
with Tom Brokaw—which was later canceled and folded into part of Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC
Dateline NBC, or Dateline, is a U.S. weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC. It previously was NBC's flagship news magazine, but now focuses on true crime stories. It airs Friday at 9 p.m. EST and after football season on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST.-History:Dateline is historically notable for...
, where her reports appeared regularly and she was named contributing anchor. She remained at Today for fifteen years with co-host Matt Lauer
Matt Lauer
Matthew Todd "Matt" Lauer . is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's The Today Show since 1997. He was previously a news anchor in New York and a local talk-show host in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond...
and NBC News until May 31, 2006, when she announced that she would be going to CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
to anchor the CBS Evening News, becoming the first solo female anchor of the "big three" weekday nightly news broadcasts.
While at NBC, Katie Couric occasionally filled in for Tom Brokaw
Tom Brokaw
Thomas John "Tom" Brokaw is an American television journalist and author best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982 to 2004. He is the author of The Greatest Generation and other books and the recipient of numerous awards and honors...
on NBC Nightly News. From 1989-1993, Couric also filled in for Maria Shriver
Maria Shriver
Maria Owings Shriver is an American journalist and author of six best-selling books. She has received a Peabody Award, and was co-anchor for NBC's Emmy-winning coverage of the 1988 Summer Olympics. As executive producer of The Alzheimer's Project, Shriver earned two Emmy Awards and an Academy of...
on the Sunday Edition of NBC Nightly News and for Garrick Utley
Garrick Utley
Garrick Utley is an American TV journalist. He established his career reporting about the Vietnam War and has the distinction of being the first full-time television correspondent covering the war on-site.-Early life:...
on the Saturday Edition of NBC Nightly News.
Couric hosted or worked on a number of news specials, like Everybody's Business: America's Children in 1995. Similar entertainment specials were Legend to Legend Night: A Celebrity Cavalcade in 1993, and Harry Potter: Behind the Magic in 2001. Couric has also co-hosted the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
. She has broadcast with Bob Costas
Bob Costas
Robert Quinlan "Bob" Costas is an American sportscaster, on the air for the NBC network since the early 1980s.-Early life:...
, beginning with the 2000 Summer Olympics
2000 Summer Olympics
The Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
. She did not co-host the 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony
The Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics was held on February 10, 2006 beginning at 20:00 CET at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin, Italy....
in Turin, Italy because of a scheduling conflict with a live taping of Today. Brian Williams
Brian Williams
Brian Douglas Williams is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004...
co-hosted with Bob Costas instead.
Couric has interviewed many international political figures and celebrities during her career, including Presidents Gerald R. Ford, Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
, George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
, Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, and First Lady Barbara Bush. John F. Kennedy Jr. gave Couric his first and last interviews. Couric has won multiple television reporting awards through her career, including the prestigious Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
for her series Confronting Colon Cancer. Couric has also interviewed former British Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
, Senator Hillary Clinton (her first television interview), Harry Potter
Harry Potter
Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by the British author J. K. Rowling. The books chronicle the adventures of the adolescent wizard Harry Potter and his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, all of whom are students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...
author J.K. Rowling, and Laura Bush
Laura Bush
Laura Lane Welch Bush is the wife of the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. She was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001, to January 20, 2009. She has held a love of books and reading since childhood and her life and education have reflected that interest...
.
On May 28, 2008, Couric made a return visit to Today since leaving almost two years to the very day back on May 31, 2006. She made this appearance alongside her evening counterparts, NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
' Brian Williams
Brian Williams
Brian Douglas Williams is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004...
& ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
World News
World News with Charles Gibson
ABC World News is the flagship daily evening program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting Company television network in the United States. Currently, the weekday editions are anchored by Diane Sawyer and the weekend editions are anchored by David Muir. The program has been...
' Charles Gibson
Charles Gibson
Charles deWolf "Charlie" Gibson is a former American broadcast television anchor and journalist. He was a host of Good Morning America from 1987 to 1998 and 1999 to 2006 and anchor of World News with Charles Gibson from 2006 to 2009....
, to promote an organization called Stand Up to Cancer
Stand Up To Cancer
Stand Up To Cancer is a charitable program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation established by media, entertainment and philanthropic leaders who have been affected by cancer. SU2C aims to raise significant funds for translational cancer research through online and televised efforts...
and raise cancer awareness on all three major television networks; ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
, CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
& NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
. Couric, Gibson
Charles Gibson
Charles deWolf "Charlie" Gibson is a former American broadcast television anchor and journalist. He was a host of Good Morning America from 1987 to 1998 and 1999 to 2006 and anchor of World News with Charles Gibson from 2006 to 2009....
and Williams
Brian Williams
Brian Douglas Williams is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004...
made appearances together on all three major network morning shows, first on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
's Early Show
The Early Show
The Early Show is an American television morning news talk show broadcast by CBS from New York City. The program airs live from 7 to 9 a.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday; most affiliates in the Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones air the show on tape-delay from 7 to 9 a.m. local time. ...
, then on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Today and finally on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
.
CBS Evening News (2006–2011)
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
with her first broadcast set for September 5, 2006. Couric would also contribute to 60 Minutes
60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
and anchor prime time news specials for CBS. Couric would remain the highest-paid news anchor at $15 million per year.
Couric made her first broadcast as anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric on September 5, 2006. The program featured a new set, new graphics, and a new theme composed by prolific movie score composer James Horner
James Horner
James Roy Horner is an American composer, orchestrator and conductor of orchestral and film music. He is noted for the integration of choral and electronic elements in many of his film scores, and for frequent use of Celtic musical elements...
. The program also featured a voice-over from Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...
. It was the first evening newscast to be simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
live on the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and local radio stations.
CBS heavily hyped Couric's arrival at the network, hoping to revive the evening news format, but there were suggestions that it backfired. Although there was much interest during her first week as anchor, CBS Evening News remained a distant third in viewership, behind ABC World News and NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
. While Couric improved over Bob Schieffer
Bob Schieffer
Bob Lloyd Schieffer is an American television journalist who has been with CBS News since 1969, serving 23 years as anchor on the Saturday edition of CBS Evening News from 1973 to 1996; chief Washington correspondent since 1982, moderator of the Sunday public affairs show Face the Nation since...
, ABC's Charles Gibson
Charles Gibson
Charles deWolf "Charlie" Gibson is a former American broadcast television anchor and journalist. He was a host of Good Morning America from 1987 to 1998 and 1999 to 2006 and anchor of World News with Charles Gibson from 2006 to 2009....
has since been widening World News' lead over Evening News.
The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric won the 2008 and 2009 Edward R. Murrow Award for best newscast. On March 29, 2009, Couric was awarded with the Emmy Governor's Award for her broadcasting career.
She has interviewed presidents, cabinet members, celebrities, and business executives around the world, including President Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton is the 67th United States Secretary of State, serving in the administration of President Barack Obama. She was a United States Senator for New York from 2001 to 2009. As the wife of the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, she was the First Lady of the...
, Former President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice
Condoleezza Rice is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
, John Edwards
John Edwards
Johnny Reid "John" Edwards is an American politician, who served as a U.S. Senator from North Carolina. He was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 2004, and was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 and 2008.He defeated incumbent Republican Lauch Faircloth in...
just after their announcement that Mrs. Edwards' cancer had returned, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni
Tzipi Livni
Tzipporah Malkah "Tzipi" Livni is an Israeli lawyer and politician. She is the current Israeli Opposition Leader and leader of Kadima, the largest party in the Knesset. Raised an ardent nationalist, Livni has become one of her nation's leading voices for the two-state solution. In Israel she has...
, Norah Jones
Norah Jones
Norah Jones is an American singer-songwriter and occasional actress.In 2002, she launched her solo music career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album Come Away With Me, which was certified a diamond album in 2002, selling over 20 million copies...
and Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox
Michael J. Fox, OC is a Canadian American actor, author, producer, activist and voice-over artist. With a film and television career spanning from the late 1970s, Fox's roles have included Marty McFly from the Back to the Future trilogy ; Alex P...
.
Couric led CBS News' coverage of the 2006 midterm elections, the 2008 Presidential election and conventions, and 2010 midterm elections. Couric was the first network anchor on the ground in Port au Prince after the 2010 Haiti Earthquake
2010 Haiti earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake, with an epicentre near the town of Léogâne, approximately west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital. The earthquake occurred at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.By 24 January, at least 52 aftershocks...
. After the BP oil spill Couric anchored from the Gulf Coast weekly and brought much attention to the disaster. She reported from Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
's Tahrir Square during the Egyptian Revolution
Egyptian Revolution
Egyptian revolution may refer to:* Egyptian revolution of 2011, a series of mass popular protests leading to the resignation of Hosni Mubarak* Egyptian revolution of 1952, led by Muhammad Naguib, Gamal Abdel Nasser, and the Free Officers Movement...
in 2011. In April 2011, she led CBS News' coverage from London for the Wedding of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Catherine Middleton.
Couric was the only solo female evening news anchor in the United States, until December 21, 2009, when she was joined by Diane Sawyer
Diane Sawyer
Lila Diane Sawyer is the current anchor of ABC News' flagship program, ABC World News. Previously, Sawyer had been co-anchor of ABC Newss morning news program, Good Morning America ....
, who succeeded the retiring Charles Gibson
Charles Gibson
Charles deWolf "Charlie" Gibson is a former American broadcast television anchor and journalist. He was a host of Good Morning America from 1987 to 1998 and 1999 to 2006 and anchor of World News with Charles Gibson from 2006 to 2009....
for ABC World News. Couric and Sawyer were previous rivals as the hosts of Today and Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
, respectively.
On April 26, 2011, Couric confirmed in an interview with People magazine
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
that she would be leaving her anchor post at CBS Evening News when her contract expired on June 4, 2011. Katie Couric made her final broadcast in the CBS Evening News chair on Thursday, May 19, 2011.
60 Minutes (2006–2011)
Couric was a 60 Minutes60 Minutes
60 Minutes is an American television news magazine, which has run on CBS since 1968. The program was created by producer Don Hewitt who set it apart by using a unique style of reporter-centered investigation....
correspondent and contributed six to eight stories a year for the program. Her most famous segment was the first interview with airline pilot Chesley Sullenberger
Chesley Sullenberger
Chesley Burnett "Sully" Sullenberger III is an American airline transport pilot , safety expert, and accident investigator from Danville, California...
. She also interviewed Valerie Plame
Valerie Plame
Valerie Elise Plame Wilson , known as Valerie Plame, Valerie E. Wilson, and Valerie Plame Wilson, is a former United States CIA Operations Officer and the author of a memoir detailing her career and the events leading up to her resignation from the CIA.-Early life :Valerie Elise Plame was born on...
, Robert Gates
Robert Gates
Dr. Robert Michael Gates is a retired civil servant and university president who served as the 22nd United States Secretary of Defense from 2006 to 2011. Prior to this, Gates served for 26 years in the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, and under President George H. W....
and Michelle Rhee
Michelle Rhee
Michelle A. Rhee is a public figure involved in the American education system. She was chancellor of the Washington, D.C. public schools from 2007 to 2010...
for the program.
The Palin interviews (2008)
The Sarah Palin interviews with Katie CouricSarah Palin interviews with Katie Couric
The Sarah Palin Interviews with Katie Couric were a series of interviews of the 2008 U.S. Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin conducted by CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric. They were recorded and broadcast on television in several programs before the 2008 US presidential election....
were a series of interviews Couric conducted with 2008 U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
vice presidential
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
nominee Sarah Palin
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin is an American politician, commentator and author. As the Republican Party nominee for Vice President in the 2008 presidential election, she was the first Alaskan on the national ticket of a major party and first Republican woman nominated for the vice-presidency.She was...
. They were recorded and broadcast on television in several programs before the 2008 U.S. presidential election
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
. Couric received the Walter Cronkite Award for Journalism Excellence for the interview.
Steve Schmidt
Steve Schmidt
Steve Schmidt is an American campaign strategist and public relations worker for the U.S. Republican Party. He specializes in political "message development and strategy"...
, McCain's senior campaign strategist and advisor, later reflected on the interview, saying "I think it was the most consequential interview from a negative perspective that a candidate for national office has gone through."
CBS Reports (2009–2011)
Couric was the lead reporter for two CBS ReportsCBS Reports
CBS Reports is the umbrella title used for documentaries by CBS News which aired starting in 1959 through the 1990s. The series sometimes aired as a wheel series rotating with 60 Minutes , as a series of its own or as specials. The program aired as a constant series from 1959 to 1971...
series, which aired across all CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
platforms. The first series, "CBS Reports: Children of the Recession," highlighted the pain suffered by the youngest of the Great Recession's victims. The series won the Columbia School of Journalism's Alfred DuPont Award for Excellence in Journalism. The second series, which aired in early 2010, was "CBS Reports: Where America Stands'.' which featured veteran CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
correspondents reporting on major issues facing the United States in the decade ahead with research by the CBS News Polling Unit.
@katiecouric (2009–2011)
Couric hosted a weekly, one-hour interview program on CBSNews.com. The launch of the webshow signaled that Couric would stay at CBS until her contracted expired in 2011.Her first guest was Fox News Channel host Glenn Beck
Glenn Beck
Glenn Edward Lee Beck is an American conservative radio host, vlogger, author, entrepreneur, political commentator and former television host. He hosts the Glenn Beck Program, a nationally syndicated talk-radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks...
. Subsequent interviews have included former Vice President Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
, actor Hugh Jackman
Hugh Jackman
Hugh Michael Jackman is an Australian actor and producer who is involved in film, musical theatre, and television.Jackman has won international recognition for his roles in major films, notably as action/superhero, period and romance characters...
, recording artist Shakira
Shakira
Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll , known professionally as Shakira , is a Colombian singer who emerged in the music scene of Colombia and Latin America in the early 1990s...
, First Lady Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...
, and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman
Thomas Friedman
Thomas Lauren Friedman is an American journalist, columnist and author. He writes a twice-weekly column for The New York Times. He has written extensively on foreign affairs including global trade, the Middle East, and environmental issues and has won the Pulitzer Prize three times.-Personal...
, teen singer Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber
Justin Drew Bieber is a Canadian pop/R&B singer, songwriter and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager...
, actress Jane Lynch
Jane Lynch
Jane Marie Lynch is an American comedian, actress and singer. She gained fame in Christopher Guest's improv mockumentary pictures such as Best in Show and is currently best known for playing the role of Sue Sylvester in the television series Glee...
, talk show host Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres is an American stand-up comedienne, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was also a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season....
, actor Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Jacob Radcliffe is an English actor who rose to prominence playing the titular character in the Harry Potter film series....
, Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
, former White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel, New Orleans Saints
New Orleans Saints
The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans, Louisiana. They are members of the South Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League ....
Quarterback Drew Brees
Drew Brees
Drew Christopher Brees is a quarterback for the New Orleans Saints of the National Football League. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He played college football at Purdue....
, and author Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell, CM is a Canadian journalist, bestselling author, and speaker. He is currently based in New York City and has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1996...
.
ABC News (2011-)
Couric is a Special Correspondent for ABC NewsABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
, based in New York. She will continue in this role even once her daytime talk show begins. Her first appearance on the network was a Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker is an American film, television, and theater actress and producer.She is best known for her leading role as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO television series Sex and the City , for which she won four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards...
interview on Nightline
Nightline
Nightline, or ABC News Nightline is a late-night news program broadcast by ABC in the United States, and has a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. It airs weeknights, usually for 31 minutes. Created by Roone Arledge, the program featured Ted Koppel as its main...
. Couric co-anchored coverage of the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, alongside Diane Sawyer
Diane Sawyer
Lila Diane Sawyer is the current anchor of ABC News' flagship program, ABC World News. Previously, Sawyer had been co-anchor of ABC Newss morning news program, Good Morning America ....
, Christiane Amanpour
Christiane Amanpour
Christiane Amanpour, CBE is anchor of ABC News's This Week and formerly chief international correspondent at CNN, where she worked for 27 years. She is a Board Member at the IWMF .-Early years:...
, Barbara Walters
Barbara Walters
Barbara Jill Walters is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. She has hosted morning television shows , the television newsmagazine , former co-anchor of the ABC Evening News, and current contributor to ABC News.Walters was first known as a popular TV morning news...
, Elizabeth Vargas
Elizabeth Vargas
Elizabeth Vargas is an American television journalist who is anchor of ABC's television newsmagazine 20/20 and ABC News Specials. She was previously an anchor of World News Tonight.-Early years:...
, George Stephanopoulos
George Stephanopoulos
George Robert Stephanopoulos is an American television journalist and a former political advisor.Stephanopoulos is most well known as the chief political correspondent for ABC News – the news division of the broadcast television network ABC – and a co-anchor of ABC News's morning news...
, and Robin Roberts
Robin Roberts
Robin Roberts may refer to:* Robin Roberts , American baseball player* Robin Roberts , Good Morning America anchor and former ESPN anchor...
. Couric was hosting Today
Today
Today may refer to:* Current events; see Portal:Current events* Present, the time that is perceived directly, often called now-Broadcast:* Today , a U.S...
on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
at the time of the attacks, and led CBS News
CBS News
CBS News is the news division of American television and radio network CBS. The current chairman is Jeff Fager who is also the executive producer of 60 Minutes, while the current president of CBS News is David Rhodes. CBS News' flagship program is the CBS Evening News, hosted by the network's main...
coverage of the 5th anniversary. Couric also guest co-hosted The View
The View
The View is an American talk show broadcast on the ABC as part of ABC Daytime. Created by Barbara Walters and Bill Geddie, who both also serve as the show's executive producers, the program features a panel of women as co-hosts...
and Live! with Regis and Kelly. Couric interviewed Lady Gaga
Lady GaGa
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta , better known by her stage name Lady Gaga, is an American singer and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, she primarily studied at the Convent of the Sacred Heart and briefly attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts before withdrawing to...
in primetime on Thanksgiving as part of A Very Gaga Thanksgiving.
Katie (2012-)
On June 6, 2011, ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
announced that Couric signed a record $40 million dollar contract, and would begin hosting a daytime talk show for its Disney-ABC Domestic Television arm that would debut in September 2012. Couric would also contribute to ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
programming.
On August 22, 2011, it was announced that Katie Couric's talk show will be called Katie
Katie (talk show)
Katie is an upcoming syndicated talk show hosted by former CBS Evening News and Today anchor Katie Couric, and distributed by Disney-ABC Domestic Television. It is set to premiere in September 6, 2012 and will be owned by Couric herself. Katie won't be a news program, but it will cover news and...
, with airing of the first episode on September 6, 2012.
Public image
Couric has been called "America's Sweetheart" largely due to her co-anchor role for 15 years on The Today Show. On May 12, 2003, Couric guest-hosted The Tonight Show with Jay Leno as part of a swap campaign, and had 45 percent more viewers than on other nights. She has been the only guest host used by Jay LenoJay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
on either The Tonight Show or his short lived The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show
The Jay Leno Show is an American comedy show created by and starring Jay Leno, that aired from September 14, 2009 to February 9, 2010 on NBC following the May 29, 2009 conclusion of Leno's first tenure as host of The Tonight Show...
. Leno filled in for her on Today that same day. CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
and the New York Daily News
New York Daily News
The Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
noted that instead of using Leno's regular solid desk, "workers cut away the front of her desk to expose her legs while she interviewed American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
judge Simon Cowell
Simon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
and Austin Powers
Austin Powers (film series)
The Austin Powers series is a series of action-comedy films written by and starring Mike Myers as the title character, directed by Jay Roach and distributed by New Line Cinema...
star Mike Myers
Mike Myers (actor)
Michael John "Mike" Myers is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film producer of British parentage...
".
Other work
In a media crossover to animated filmAnimation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
, she was the voice of news-reporter "Katie Current" in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
version of the film Shark Tale
Shark Tale
Shark Tale is a 2004 American computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation. In the story, a young fish named Oscar falsely claims to have killed the son of a shark mob boss to win favour with the mob boss' enemies and advance his own community standing...
. She also made a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as a prison guard at Georgia State Prison in Austin Powers in Goldmember
Austin Powers in Goldmember
Austin Powers in Goldmember is a 2002 American spy comedy film and the third installment of the Austin Powers series starring Mike Myers in the title role. The movie was directed by Jay Roach, and co-written by Mike Myers and Michael McCullers. Myers also plays the roles of Dr. Evil, Goldmember,...
. She guest-starred as herself on the CBS sitcom Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown
Murphy Brown is an American situation comedy which aired on CBS from November 14, 1988, to May 18, 1998, for a total of 247 episodes. The program starred Candice Bergen as the eponymous Murphy Brown, a famous investigative journalist and news anchor for FYI, a fictional CBS television...
in 1992 and in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace
Will & Grace
Will & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...
in late 2002. On May 12, 2003, she traded places for a day with Tonight Show host Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
. Couric also co-hosted NBC's live coverage of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, often shortened to Macy's Day Parade, is an annual parade presented by Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States along with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, and four years younger than...
from 1991 until 2005. Katie Couric delivered the graduation speech at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
on June 1, 2009. She also works with Carmen Marc Valvo
Carmen Marc Valvo
Carmen Marc Valvo is an American designer who specializes in evening-wear and high-end cocktail dresses for a line of the same name, which was founded in 1989...
to help publicize the deadliness, yet preventability, of colorectal cancer. On May 16, 2010, Katie Couric received an honorary doctor of science degree
Honorary degree
An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
for her efforts in raising awareness of colorectal cancer and for her commitment to advancing medical research from Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University
Case Western Reserve University is a private research university located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA...
, and later gave the university's 2010 convocation keynote address. In 2011, she gave the university commencement speech at Boston University
Boston University
Boston University is a private research university located in Boston, Massachusetts. With more than 4,000 faculty members and more than 31,000 students, Boston University is one of the largest private universities in the United States and one of Boston's largest employers...
and was awarded another doctoral degree, Doctor of Humane Letters. She gave her speech amongst much fan-fare from the BU community, and her speech was not only touching but also inspirational and funny. She has also hosted a Sesame Street special, "When Families Grieve." The special, which aired on PBS on April 14, 2010, dealt with the issues that children go through when a parent dies.
On February 6, 2011, Couric guest-starred on the post-Super Bowl
Super Bowl XLV
Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League champion for the 2010 season. The game was held at Cowboys Stadium in...
episode of Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
, playing herself interviewing Sue Sylvester after the cheer-leading team lost the championship. Sue sarcastically referred to Couric as "Diane Sawyer
Diane Sawyer
Lila Diane Sawyer is the current anchor of ABC News' flagship program, ABC World News. Previously, Sawyer had been co-anchor of ABC Newss morning news program, Good Morning America ....
" during the segment.
On April 12, 2011, Couric's first book titled The Best Advice I Ever Got: Lessons from Extraordinary Lives was published by Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
. The book is a collection of essays compiled over the past year by Couric; contributors include New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
, Queen Rania of Jordan, and former Today show colleague Matt Lauer
Matt Lauer
Matthew Todd "Matt" Lauer . is an American television journalist best known as the host of NBC's The Today Show since 1997. He was previously a news anchor in New York and a local talk-show host in Boston, Philadelphia, Providence and Richmond...
. In an interview with The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Couric said that a 2010 convocation keynote address she gave (refer to preceding paragraph) inspired her to come up with the book. To this end, all profits of the book will be donated to Scholarship America
Scholarship America
Scholarship America is a Minnesota-based American philanthropic organization that assists communities, corporations, foundations and individuals with fundraising, managing and awarding scholarships to students...
.
Couric is also heavily featured in The Gregory Brothers
The Gregory Brothers
The Gregory Brothers are an American musical group who characterize their music as "Country & Soul, Folk & Roll". Members include Michael Gregory on drums and vocals, Andrew Rose Gregory on guitar and vocals, Evan Gregory on keys and vocals, and Sarah Fullen Gregory on bass and vocals...
' series Auto-Tune The News. They mention this is due to her "outstanding" suitability for auto-tuning.
She is currently a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
At University of Virginia, Katie was a member in the sorority Delta Delta Delta.
Personal life
Couric married Jay Monahan in 1989. She gave birth to her first daughter, Elinor Tully "Ellie" Monahan, on July 23, 1991; her second daughter, Caroline "Carrie" Couric Monahan, was born on January 5, 1996. Jay Monahan died of colon cancer in 1998 at the age of 42; as a result, Couric is a spokeswoman for colon cancer awareness. She underwent a colonoscopyColonoscopy
Colonoscopy is the endoscopic examination of the large bowel and the distal part of the small bowel with a CCD camera or a fiber optic camera on a flexible tube passed through the anus. It may provide a visual diagnosis and grants the opportunity for biopsy or removal of suspected...
on-air in March 2000, and, according to a study published in 2003 in Archives of Internal Medicine
Archives of Internal Medicine
The Archives of Internal Medicine is a peer-reviewed medical journal published twice a month by the American Medical Association. The Archives of Internal Medicine was established in 1908 and covers all aspects of internal medicine, including cardiovascular disease, geriatrics, infectious disease,...
, could have inspired many others to get checked as well:
Katie Couric's televised colon cancer awareness campaign was temporarily associated with an increase in colonoscopy use in 2 different data sets. This illustrates the possibility that a well-known individual can draw attention and support to worthwhile causes.
She also was very active in the National Hockey League
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league of 30 franchised member clubs, of which 7 are currently located in Canada and 23 in the United States...
's Hockey Fights Cancer
Hockey Fights Cancer
Hockey Fights Cancer is a charitable initiative of the National Hockey League and the National Hockey League Players Association dedicated to raising money and awareness toward cancer research...
campaign, appearing in some public service announcement
Public service announcement
A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...
s and doing voice-over
Voice-over
Voice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
s for several others. Couric is currently a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for the United States.
On October 7, 2005, as part of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
National Breast Cancer Awareness Month
Breast Cancer Awareness Month is an annual international health campaign organized by major breast cancer charities every October to increase awareness of the disease and to raise funds for research into its cause, prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure...
, Couric broadcast her own mammogram
Mammography
Mammography is the process of using low-energy-X-rays to examine the human breast and is used as a diagnostic and a screening tool....
on the Today show, in the hopes of recreating the "Couric Effect" around the issue of breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
.
Her sister Emily Couric
Emily Couric
Emily Couric was a Virginia Democratic state senator from Charlottesville.Couric was born to Elinor Couric, a homemaker and part-time writer, and John Martin Couric, a public relations executive and news editor at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the United Press in Washington, D.C....
, a Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
Democratic state senator, died of pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
at the age of 54 on October 18, 2001. Couric gave a eulogy at the funeral. She pointed out that it irritated Emily when people asked her if she was Katie Couric's sister. She told the mourners "I just want you to know I will always be proud to say 'I am Emily Couric's sister'." Couric has two other siblings, Clara Couric Bachelor and John M. Couric Jr.
Couric was the honored guest at the 2004 Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation
The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation is a charitable organization dedicated to multiple myeloma, an incurable but treatable blood cancer, which afflicts over fifty thousand Americans alone...
fall gala. As the Guest of Honor for the inaugural American Cancer Society Discovery Ball, Couric was recognized for her leadership in increasing cancer awareness and screening.
In 2011, Couric became the Honorary National Chair of the National Parkinson Foundation
National Parkinson Foundation
The National Parkinson Foundation , founded in 1957, is a national organization whose mission is to improve the quality of care for people with Parkinson's through clinical research, education and outreach on Parkinson’s disease....
's Moving Day campaign, a grassroots campaign to spotlight Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease
Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...
awareness on a national level. Couric's father died in 2011 at age 90 from complications due to Parkinson's disease.
External links
- Katie Couric's Huffington Post Blog Page
- Katie Couric at FameGame.com
- Katie Couric Debuts On CBS
- Katie Couric's CBS News Bio
- Katie Couric on The Colbert Report from March 22, 2007
- When Families Grieve Sesame Street special hosted by Katie Couric
- Membership Roster at the Council on Foreign RelationsCouncil on Foreign RelationsThe Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...