"All summer long," Couric, says, "people have been asking me, how will you sign off at the end of your broadcast? I’ve racked my brain, and, so far, nothing has felt right." Couric then introduces a montage of famous anchor sign-offs–"Courage," "Good night and good luck," "Stay classy, San Diego"–and concludes that she’s opening up her online mailbox for suggestions from viewers.
OK, I’m vastly oversimplifying the network-news business here, but other than picking out a suit, getting to makeup on time, and identifying the red light on the camera, there are not that many must-dos on the first-night-of-anchoring checklist other than coming up with a signoff. Was this summer really so busy?
I suspect, of course, that Katie Couric is smarter than all of us, and that the viewer-participation thing is part of a strategy that will lead her to the top of the ratings. Who knows? It still seems like a cop-out. But that’s life in the new-media world of participatory journalism: cop-outs and brilliant strategy are often the same.
Here’s where I should come up with a great overarching wrap-up for tonight’s liveblog, but I’ll take a page from Katie and let you write it yourself. Good night, and good luck.