Philip Seib, a former TV newsman who is now professor of journalism and public policy at the University of Southern California, believes larger media forces might be standing between Couric and success at the anchor desk.
"I am somewhat sympathetic," Seib says. "I think she has been caught up in the desperate efforts of TV news to try to retain audience through an ill-considered meshing of solid journalism and mush that has no true constituency. I think Couric is knowledgeable about the world, and if she were allowed to do a harder-edged newscast, she might fare better."
Some retired and current network news executives declined to comment altogether because of the volatility of what one called the "will-she/won't-she-stay" story line that has yet to be resolved.
For her part, Couric, who has a five-year contract, says she is going to stay at CBS and try to make it work: "I have no plans to leave. I want to do the best job I possibly can for CBS News. I care about our newscast and my colleagues, and I have no plans to split," she says.
For his part, Kaplan, whose pedigree stretches back to the celebrated ABC World News With Peter Jennings, says the network is staying with Couric.
"A lot of people like to write about, 'Well, she'll leave here,' or 'She'll leave there,' but that's never been an issue here," he said in a separate interview last week. "Our management's been completely behind her, and the correspondents and the producers are completely behind her. And she has worked her tail off."
There is one other piece of news that Kaplan and Couric say they've been buoyed by this summer: their program winning the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award as best newscast. Beyond the validation, the award carries a particular meaning for employees at CBS, where the ghost of the iconic newsman still seems to haunt the halls, more than four decades after his death.
"It's not always easy when you feel like you're being attacked, when you can't win for losing at times," she says. "But I do think quality really prevails, if we just stay focused and continue to do really good work. It was really wonderful when we got the Edward R. Murrow Award for best newscast. It was sort of like, you know, just look at our show and don't look at my hair."
