Maybe “Winging It” Isn’t Working

Following up on “Does Couric Read Her Scripts?,” a former Today staffer writes to TVNewser:

“Couric’s stock in trade under Today was to act just like the general population: Be disinterested. It’s a booking producer’s job to pre-interview someone coming in for an interview, to see their movie, read their book and to produce a detailed bio on that person, create a list of good questions and get it to Katie, Matt, Ann or Al. Matt and Ann pored through these Executive Summaries and would try to read at least some of the book, see the Electronic Press Kit or get some kind of exposure to what the interviewee was all about…

Katie was different. She would ‘wing it.’ She couldn’t be bothered to read the summaries or even the list of good questions that were sent to her in advance of the interview. She would frequently ask questions that did not pertain to anything in the interviewee’s background and we’d make her look intelligent in the edit room.”

> Update: 11:55am: “This notion that Katie ‘wings it’ for interviews is absurd,” a CBS producer responds. “Katie prides herself on her preparation for everything, especially for interviews… And she’s a sponge. I’m always amazed at her ability to retain every piece of research she’s read. As for questions, Katie always insists on seeing a suggested list in advance and goes through them with me prior to the interview…”