Katie Couric stares out at us from the cover of a recent CBS magazine Couric exuding confidence and superiority, but she also radiates sexuality.
Although entrusted with the responsibility of conveying national and international world events on the evening news, Couric is portrayed not as a news anchor, but also an entertainer, personality, and celebrity.
In our consumer-driven culture, televison news is subsumed by the renown, eminence, stardom, popularity, and notability of individuality. In this configuration, Couric is not a journalist -- she is a way for CBS to bring in more viewers for its advertising base. Therefore, the criticism here must be aimed at how news personalities are used not only becuase they are good at delivering the news, but also because people identify with them.
Since Couric is considered by corporate media as a product that can be sold, her identity, look, style, and personality are presented or packaged to engender in viewers a para social relationship. Images play a critical role in the promotion of TV news personalities. Since human beings are motivated by the need to feel a sense of belonging to something, images reenforce the emotional and pyschological connections made between observer and observed. Parasocial relationships descibe how viewers form and imaginary bonds with the star by identifying with them in some way.
The editors of CBS Watch had a clear agdenda when they selected the pictures and designed the layout on Couric -- an agenda that was motivated more on playing to Couric's appeal as an object of desire.