Can Couric increase CBS ratings

Katie Couric replaced Dan Rather as the CBS Evening news anchor in 2006, the ratings have been on the decline ever since. In his article "Now the News: Couric Still Isn't One of the Boys," New York Times Correspondent Bill Carter, gives reasons why Couric will never be as good as former anchors. Former anchors that he lists include: Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, and Peter Jennings.

Carter cites several reasons why Couric will never measure up to these aforementioned giants of broadcast journalism. These reasons include: she is younger, she is a woman, she is more of a celebrity than a journalist, and she gained respect because of her winning personality rather than her journalistic ability.

CBS hired Couric to attract a younger audience. Instead they seem to be driving away their previously loyal viewers, rather than attracting new younger viewers.

"Instead of emphasizing how to keep the loyal audience, they wanted to go after new viewers. But their not going to get them. Yes, the loyal audience is older, but they're not about to die. They have another 20 or more years to live," former ABC correspondent Judy Miller.

The reasons for the decline in viewership according to a Project for Excellence in Journalism survey, at either the anchor or the what the new stories are handled. The top factor seems to be how comfortable the audience is with the anchor.

Carter alleges that their will be more problems with this in the future, not only for Katie Couric but other new anchors as well. As the old have retired, ratings have been on the decrease.

FOIA Amended.

Through our discussions in class about FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) I have realized how essential it is to our open, democratic government. I began sifting through new sites to see if any updates had been made to it, since its creation in 1967.

According to, "Freedom of Information Reform Bill Passes Senate," an article on the National Security Archive Web site, a bill concerning FOIA was passed by the Senate, in August. This bipartisan bill was proposed earlier in the year by Democrat Senator of Vermont Patrick Leahy and Republican Senator of Texas John Cornyn. The bill was put on hold by Arizona Senator Jon Kyl. A similar bill was passed in the House of Representatives in March of 2007. The bill (S.849) was passed by a unanimous vote, with the amendments that Senator Kyl made to it. The bill made a number of changes to FOIA, including:

• Requests that take longer than 10 days will be tracked.
  
• Agencies must accurately report to Congress.
  
• An ombudsman office in the National Archives to mediate conflicts.
  
• The purpose of FOIA will be spelled out.
  
• Incentives will be offered to encourage agencies to process requests promptly.
  

The bill is somewhat of a response to an audit, known as the Knight Open Government Survey, made by the National Security Archive, that was released in July of 2007. The survey found that FOIA requests in some agencies have been pending for up to 20 years. The survey made it very clear that changes needed to be made, and that FOIA needed to be better enforced. Time will tell if legislation will improve the timeliness of responses to FOIA requests.

Senate Judiciary Committee Aproves Shield Law Bill

Yesterday, the Associated Press released an article on the First Amendment Center Web site, "Senate Panel Endorses Shield Law", which discusses a shield law bill that has been approved to go to the Senate floor. This bill will protect journalists from being forced to reveal their sources, especially in federal court. The Judiciary Committee, in a vote of 15-2 sent this bill to floor of the Senate, where it will be debated and either adopted or discarded.Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the house of representatives, told Associated Press editors that she hopes to bring a similar bill before the house, to be voted upon before the end of this year.

"This is fundamental to our democracy and fundamental to the
security of our country." Pelosi said.

Opponents of the bill, namely the members of the Bush Administration, fear that a national shield law would be a threat to national security. The Administration fears that this law would impede intelligence agents from tracing threats to national security. This bill creates a conflict of interest between supporters of the shield law and the Bush Administration. Supporters of this bill include many new companies, the Associated Press included.

The bill does have exemptions to the protection that is offers. For instance, this law wouldn't apply when it involves the issue of terrorism. Journalists could still be forced to reveal their sources in certain circumstances.

This shield law, if passed, would give journalists the must needed protection that they need. Journalists would in turn be able to protect their sources, without running the risk of going to jail. This shield law would be a great help to journalists, however its protection is not absolute.