Tuesday marks the four-year anniversary of Katie Couric's assumption of the anchor chair for the CBS Evening News on Tuesday, September 5, 2006. To commemorate the occasion, the Media Research Center has assembled Perking Up for Liberal Spin, a profile in bias of Couric's top forty biased quotes from her four years at CBS.
Marking her one-year anniversary, a September 2007 MRC Media Reality Check, New Network, Same Old Biased Katie, noted: "In her first year at the helm of the CBS Evening News, Katie Couric has perpetuated the bias problem that eroded CBS's credibility under Dan Rather." The three years that followed were no exception, as Couric actively promoted liberal figures and causes, while disparaging conservatives. From cheering on Barack Obama's campaign and presidential agenda to smearing Arizona's immigration law or opposition to the Ground Zero mosque, she has maintained her long journalistic record of liberal slant.
Couric's biased reporting has not been a hit with the broadcast's shrinking audience, during the week of August 16, 2010, the network news program tied it's all-time ratings low, slipping below five million viewers.
Here are some bias highlights of Couric behind the anchor desk:
-Ground Zero Mosque = American Values
"There is a debate to be had about the sensitivity of building this center so close to Ground Zero. But we can not let fear and rage tear down the towers of our core American values."
— Katie Couric on Ground Zero mosque for "Katie Couric's Notebook" on Couric & Co. blog, August 23, 2010.
-Shaking Pom-Poms for Obama
"You're so confident, Mr. President, and so focused. Is your confidence ever shaken? Do you ever wake up and say, 'Damn, this is hard. Damn, I'm not going to get the things done I want to get done, and it's just too politicized to really get accomplished the big things I want to accomplish'?"
— Couric in an exchange with Obama shown on CBS's The Early Show, July 22, 2009. [Video/audio (0:22): WMV | Mp3]
-Arizona's Immigration Law = Cops Gone Wild
"Tonight, Arizona's controversial new immigration law. Police will now be able to make anyone they choose prove they're here illegally. It triggers demonstrations by both sides and a warning from President Obama."
— Couric at the top of the April 23, 2010 Evening News. [Video/audio (0:12): WMV | Mp3]
-ObamaCare Can't Come Soon Enough
"Once again, we begin tonight with the battle over health care reform, but this time, we're not starting at a town meeting. Tonight, we're going to show you why many believe reform is desperately needed. These are just some of the tens of thousands of Americans who need health care but have no insurance or not enough of it, and they're lining up at a free makeshift clinic in Los Angeles."
— Couric opening the August 13, 2009 Evening News.
