Couric Listens, but Who Will Watch? By David Carr NY Times Published: July 17, 2006
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/17/business/media/17carr.html MINNEAPOLIS is just the kind of place that Katie Couric had in mind when she decided to go on a six-city listening tour to build anticipation for her fall debut on the CBS Evening News. A well-read place with a virulent streak of civic-mindedness, Minneapolis is one of those middle places where news is discussed, consumed and analyzed. And, although Ms. Couric had never previously found a reason to visit, Minneapolis is a splendid place to live if you disregard that six months a year you need to wear a spacesuit against the cold. She even made a pilgrimage to the statue of Mary Richards, the hat-throwing newswoman played by Mary Tyler Moore the implication being that Ms. Couric is going to make it after all. So what did she hear? We dont know for sure, because reporters were not among those handpicked including many local notables and functionaries to listen to all the listening in a private room of the new Minneapolis public library. In spite of the lack of access, or perhaps precisely because of it, there were a few bumps in the séance of Minnesota Nice. Matt Bartel, a blogger for the local MNspeak.com, who had been invited, posted from his BlackBerry that he was in the audience. Press agents for WCCO television, the local CBS affiliate, came up and asked for his reporters notebook. After some negotiations, according to The Star Tribune and Mr. Bartel, they settled on confiscating his pen, for what that was worth when you realize that they left him still in possession of his BlackBerry. Regardless of what she learns on her listening tour, Ms. Courics engagement with new media could use a little work. (To everyones relief, the pen was returned after the event.) FORTUNATELY Ms. Couric, I was in Minneapolis for the week, so I was able to help CBS out with a listening tour of my own in the local self-serve laundries, restaurants and bars. Give or take the dozens of people who declined to talk to me Minnesotans are famously proud of their humility I found some very encouraging news for Ms. Couric. It turns out that people here, all kinds black, white, young, old, liberal and, well, liberal adore her. And why not? She is, by all accounts and evidence, funny, smart, nice and pretty. But there was also some discouraging feedback: many of the younger people I asked about Ms. Couric or the evening news responded as if I were an archaeologist inquiring about a quaint custom dating back centuries. Unless Ms. Couric was planning on setting herself on fire every night, few people thought they could find a way to be home at 5:30 in the evening (Central Standard Time) to gather around the television set. Chris Campanella, who works at a nightclub in downtown Minneapolis, had stopped by Elis Bar and Grill on Hennepin Avenue to work his way through a plate of chicken wings. He dropped the kind of quote that should warm the cockles of every corner office at CBS headquarters. I have no problem with her doing the news, he said, She is smart and informed, with a well-known history of being a quality reporter. There is a world of reasons to try it. Network news has been too masculine for too long. You know, Rather, Jennings and Brokaw. Still, Mr. Campanella, who seemed pretty smart and well informed himself, had no idea that Dan Rather had been nudged out, that Tom Brokaw had retired or that Peter Jennings had died. But then, that may be part of what is driving Ms. Courics ascension and her listening tour. Millions of people who have not watched the evening news in years will tune in come September, and even those who are there to check hair and make-up may find something relevant enough to stick around on the following nights. Tom Madryga, a local trucker who was doing his laundry in southwest Minneapolis, will stop by for a look, even though he has already made up his mind on Ms. Couric. I dont care for her. Shes too liberal for me, he said. But I will be watching in the beginning, because Im curious just like anybody else. It seems like a big jump to me. A few machines away, Liz Post, who runs a personal shopping business, was hustling to get through a few more loads. She lives in a news-interested household and is looking forward to a new reason to watch a form that has changed little in decades. Maybe they will stop repeating the same story over and over, she said. Maybe they have to do that, but it is pretty dumbed-down to begin with. Its like, I get it, lets move on. At the Dunn Brothers coffee shop a few doors away, Bill McGill hes more an Economist magazine man than a TV watcher displayed a shocking level of cynicism about the shocking level of cynicism that he says he thinks is driving the listening tour. Its clear she came for show, said Mr. McGill, who owns an executive search firm. She isnt going to use what she has learned, its just soft promotion. It seems very much like what a politician would do. There may be a reason for that. Ms. Courics personal publicist, Matthew Hiltzik, organized Hillary Rodham Clintons listening tour when she was considering running for the Senate in New York. But it is worth recalling that Ms. Clinton, who seemed to start from a very deep hole, got off to a remarkably productive, popular start once she was elected. Ms. Courics tour which also had stops in San Diego, San Francisco, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver and Tampa, Fla. left some wondering who was listening to whom. How can regular people participate in something they only read about the day after? said Patrick Lopez de Victoria at the coffee shop, giving the item about the visit in the daily paper a loud flick with his finger. If they wanted regular people, they should have held a public event on the Nicollet Mall or the Mall of America. Leon Trawick, a lawyer from Minneapolis who stopped in for a drink at J. D. Hoyts, a steakhouse in downtown Minneapolis, said the opinions he was interested in seeing expressed should be on the newscast itself. Africa is a mess, the Middle East is blowing up, but I dont see any teeth in any of these stories, he said. People are already informed. You have to give me something more tell me what you think the truth is to expect me to take the time to tune in network news. It is clear that the battle that Ms. Couric will be confronting this fall is less uphill than up against a wall one composed of real-time data that leaves very few stones unturned by the end of the day. I like her. I watched her this morning, said Stephen Paul, an investment banker who was at the bar at J. D. Hoyts, warming up for dinner. I have Bloomberg, CNN and all of the information coming at me over the Internet every day. By the time I get home, I pretty much know what I need to know and could use a little peace and quiet. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
