Why Couric has flopped as anchor of Evening News

Jon Friedman of Marketwatch recently has analysis of humorist Patricia
Marx's correlations that Katie Couric's poor ratings are due to her being
female.

"Powerful women can't win in the press even if they
are the press. She can't be too much of a lightweight --
or a heavyweight. She wants to look good, but if she
does she's a glamour girl who has no credibility."

It bothers me how much the media focus on high profile females' looks. I don't
care what Hillary Clinton or Condi Rice wears or their new haircut! I want to
hear about what their foreign and domestic (not in the head of the household
affairs kind of way) policies are.

As for female news anchors, the same thing applies. Couric's job is to give the
public the news and not to be critiqued on the color of her lipstick. During one
of my undergrad classes, an intern who worked at a local news station said during
class that viewers often wrote in to critique the female anchors lipstick or hair.
She also said that the small station brought in a professional make-up artist to
teach the anchors how to apply make-up.

I can think of a lot more useful ways for a small local news station to use their money
than to pay for make-up techniques. How about paying someone to come in to teach
them how to conduct good interviews that ask tough questions of community leaders
or research skills that will improve their storytelling abilities? Oh no, I am sorry I can't
listen to what you have to say because your hair is kind of messy and your lipstick is
the wrong color for your skin tone.