In an era where many seem intent on making the most money possible, Katie Couric‘s story is a breath of fresh air. According to an article in Page Six, the former anchor of The CBS Evening News from 2006 – 2011 made the personal decision to cut her CBS salary by $1 million during her third year as anchor. She made the decision to do so after hearing that her staff might be losing their jobs due to impending budget cuts.
According to Couric’s agent Alan Berger in the book Powerhouse: The Untold Story of Hollywood’s Creative Artists Agency by Jim Miller, the cuts would include staff of all levels, “from senior-level producers to young associate producers — all key contributors to the production of the daily newscast.” Upon learning this news from then-CBS News president Sean McManus, Couric decided to take matters into her own hands.
But the anchor insisted “on two conditions,” Berger says in the book — “the money would be directly used to pay for her staff so that they would not be terminated,” and that “this would be done quietly and with no public or private acknowledgment or announcement about her gesture.”
This is a noble move from the longtime television news personality, one that few were aware of up until now. One can only hope that other TVNewsers would consider taking a page out of Couric’s book if they were to ever to experience an unfortunate situation similar to this.