TVSpy
As CBS News laid off dozens of staffers this week, Harper’s Bazaar promoted a video of CBS’s highest profile staffer doing a glamorous photo shoot and answering questions about what makes the duPont award-winning journalist feel sexy. In hindsight, Katie Couric would probably agree that the timing could have been better.
While CBS News defends Couric’s right to her $15 million/year salary, the “Evening News” anchor may be facing a public backlash. Nick Denton, the founder of Gawker Media, summed up the situation on Thursday, tweeting, “Katie Couric poses while CBS News burns.” Couric’s relationship to the CBS layoffs even reached the White House as press secretary Robert Gibbs fielded an unexpected question from WorldNetDaily correspondent Lester Kinsolving about whether Couric should share some of her salary to save the jobs of CBS News employees.
As Couric’s salary and her continued presence in third place in the ratings receives a growing amount of scrutiny, the Los Angeles Times wonders if the photoshoot is actually a calculated attempt for Couric to emphasize her value, both to CBS and other potential employers. “With her show still lingering in third place in the network evening news ratings race, and her contract with CBS up next year, could this be Couric angling for an out?” the LA Times asks.
Still, it’s difficult to see what her potential suitors would glean from the Harper’s shoot and interview. One sample quote: “I always feel sexiest when I’m in a little black dress with a really great pair of shoes. High heels of course.”