Felix Gillette writes in the New York Observer about CBS anchor Katie Couric missing out on moderating a debate during this primary season.
Gillette notes that Couric is one of the only high profile anchors yet to host a debate. “How did the highest-paid anchor on evening television get upstaged by Brian Williams, Brit Hume, Charles Gibson, Wolf Blitzer, Tim Russert, George Stephanopoulos, Campbell Brown, Chris Wallace, Natalie Morales and on and on?” asks Gillette.
But, according to the official explanation from CBS, Couric, “was the victim of circumstance.”
Gillette writes about a proposed audience-free debate, that the DNC shot down in 2007.
“We thought a more intimate setting without a crowd was a way to do it,” said CBS News president Sean McManus in the article. “We were trying to make it an opportunity for the candidates to speak to themselves, with Katie as a facilitator more so than as a moderator.”
Later, the debate scheduled for December 10 was canceled because of the WGA strike.
But with the Democratic primary still far from decided, there may be more chances for CBS and Couric. A CBS spokesperson tells TVNewser, “We continue to look for debate opportunities that make sense for CBS.”