Katie Couric

Journalist

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The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

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About

About this interview

In her one-hour interview, Katie Couric discusses her path from desk assistant at ABC News to desk anchor at CBS News. She details her love of writing and how she became interested in journalism while in college, and shares the tales of her not-so-glamorous debuts as an on-camera reporter for CNN in Washington, D.C. and as an anchor for the WTVJ local news in Miami. Despite these setbacks, Couric recounts how she persisted and proceeded to anchor the news at WRC in Washington, D.C., to work at the NBC News Washington Bureau, and subsequently, to co-host Today. She speaks of her experience on Today and on transitioning to CBS Evening News, and describes what it means to her to be the first sole, female news anchor. Karen Herman conducted the interview on June 18, 2010 in New York, NY.

All views expressed by interviewees are theirs alone and not necessarily those of the Television Academy.

"I think every time that someone's tried to push me down it's just made me say, 'you know I'm not going to take that; I'm going to prove them wrong…' It just made me want to improve and get better and in hindsight that was such a gift, because when I was given opportunities, I had worked so hard and gained so much experience that I was actually ready for those positions. So in a weird way, it actually served me very, very well to have people kind of say, 'you're not that good.' It made me want to prove them wrong and in the process I got a lot better."

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Highlights

Katie Couric on her debut as an anchor at WTVJ Miami

01:08

Katie Couric on getting hired for Today

04:51

Katie Couric on what she learned from Today

02:07

Katie Couric on transitioning from Today to CBS Evening News

04:51

Katie Couric on authenticity

01:02

Full Interview

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Chapter 1

On her childhood and early influences

On wanting to be a journalist; on her college years and working at ABC News after college

On working at CNN and on local reporting at WTVJ in Miami

Chapter 2

On her rise to national prominence

On Today

On moving on to do CBS Evening News with Katie Couric

Shows

CBS Evening News with Katie Couric

Katie Couric on transitioning from Today to CBS Evening News

04:51

Katie Couric on changes she wanted to make at CBS Evening News

03:56

Katie Couric on being criticized for her role as anchor of CBS Evening News

01:21

Gilligan's Island

Katie Couric on getting hired for Today - she was more of a "Mary Ann" than a "Ginger"

00:44

Peter Pan

Katie Couric on television shows she enjoyed during her childhood

01:02

Today

Katie Couric on getting hired for Today

04:51

Katie Couric on her first day on Today

01:40

Katie Couric on what she learned from Today

02:07

Topics

Criticism of TV

Katie Couric on being criticized for her role as anchor of CBS Evening News

01:21

Historic Events and Social Change

Katie Couric on feeling like most of the women at ABC News were in subservient positions

01:37

Representation on Television

Katie Couric on feeling like most of the women at ABC News were in subservient positions

01:37

Women

Katie Couric on feeling like most of the women at ABC News were in subservient positions

01:37

Katie Couric on what being a female journalist means to her

02:39

Katie Couric on becoming the first solo female news anchor

01:22

Katie Couric on why a solo female news anchor may not work for some people

01:43

Katie Couric on wanting a solo female anchor to be an accepted norm on television

00:26

Professions

Anchor

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Katie Couric on her first experience as an anchor at WTVJ Miami

01:08

Katie Couric on lessons learned from being an anchor on Today

02:07

Journalists & News Producers

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Katie Couric on lessons learned from being an anchor on Today

02:07

Genres

News and Documentary

Katie Couric on her first experience as an on-screen reporter and CNN President Reese Schonfeld's reaction

02:04

Katie Couric on her debut as an anchor at WTVJ Miami

01:08

Katie Couric on her rise to working on Today and anchoring CBS Evening News

23:23

People

Bryant Gumbel

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Katie Couric on her first day on Today

01:40

Katie Couric on wanting an equal partnership with Bryant Gumbel as anchors of Today

02:01

Carl Bernstein

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Katie Couric on telling ABC Washington Bureau Chief Carl Bernstein that she was leaving for CNN

00:51

Deborah Norville

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Katie Couric on getting hired for Today

00:44

Frank Reynolds

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Katie Couric on her first post-college job as a desk assistant at ABC News

00:39

Garrick Utley

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Katie Couric on covering the release of Nelson Mandela with journalist Garrick Utley

00:48

Jane Pauley

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Katie Couric on getting hired for Today

00:44

Katie Couric on wanting an equal partnership with Bryant Gumbel as anchors of Today

00:48

Jeff Zucker

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Katie Couric on how Jeff Zucker helped her find the right tone for her stories

00:10

Reese Schonfeld

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Katie Couric on her first experience as an on screen reporter and CNN President Reese Schonfeld's reaction

02:04

Sam Donaldson

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Katie Couric on her first post-college job as a desk assistant at ABC News

02:24

Tim Russert

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Katie Couric on how her political reporting caught the eye of Washington Bureau Chief Tim Russert

03:25