Who Can Do It? Katie Can!
So, Katie Couric's ratings aren't as stellar as hoped. What can be done to help our favorite national news anchor? Although nobody asked me, I do have a few suggestions for revamping that time-old tradition of the evening news:
1. Don't summarize the top stories. By the time the program appears, we've all read the day's top stories on yahoo.com several times (in between slogging through our work-related emails). Instead, provide more insights into the day's most compelling event. Go beyond the usual two minute "just the facts" spiel. Ask real pundits to provide some context (and make sure the pundits are multi-generational). Relate the story to the viewers' lives.
2. Repeat the show through multiple media. We can't all gather round the dinner table at 6:30, so provide a feed on the Web or, at the very least, on the cable affiliate. Or, to keep advertisers throwing in the cash, broadcast an 11:30 version (Ted Koppel IS missed by some of us).
3. Become interactive. Invite regular Americans to upload their videotaped comments on the CBS News Web site and then play one or two of these comments each night -- provided they're intelligent comments. It's not 15 minutes of fame, but having your thoughts beamed across the country does have its appeal.
4. Forget the features. Yes, Katie knows that features played very well on Today, but back then KC had two hours to schmooze. In the condensed format, stick to the key story of the day and provide some very thoughtful reporting, which really means...
5. Don't dumb down content. Save the dumb stuff for all the "Insider" and "Access" reports that follow. Give us something interesting to chew on and maybe...just maybe...the evening news format can be resurrected.
