If Katie Couric Wants To Host A Debate She's Going To Have To Pay For It Herself

Why hasn't CBS anchor Katie Couric hosted a presidential debate during this campaign? According to a piece in today's New York Observer, the network doesn't want to drop the cash it would take to put something together. CBS News President Sean McManus takes some valuable time away from futzing with the disaster that is The Early Show to dispute the contention, noting that the stars were aligned against Couric all along: McManus notes that the W.G.A. strike happened, the network's political director went on maternity leave, the DNC wouldn't agree to CBS' innovative (and dirt cheap) in-house debate plan, scheduling difficulties intervened, a small dog snuck into the studio and peed on one of the plugs, causing chaos, etc., but television insiders remain skeptical. "Either the network is fundamentally dedicated to spending the money, or they're not. If you're really dedicated to bumping your news to another level, you host a debate. But there's either no interest or no follow-through," says one. Ironically, that's a pretty good description for viewer response to The CBS Evening News itself.

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