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Katherine Anne "Katie" Couric (born January 7, 1957) is an American Media Personality who became well-known as co-host of NBC 's ''Today'' . In 2006, she made a highly publicized move from NBC to CBS, and on September 5 , 2006 she became the first woman to solo-anchor of the weekday evening news on one of the three traditional U.S. broadcast networks ( ABC , CBS and NBC ). She currently serves as the anchor and Managing Editor of the '' CBS Evening News ,'' replacing Bob Schieffer on September 5 , 2006 . Schieffer served as the interim anchor following the departure of long time anchor and managing editor Dan Rather on March 9 , 2005 . BIOGRAPHY Early life In a report for ''The Today Show'', she traced her paternal ancestry back to a French orphan who immigrated to the U.S. in the nineteenth century and became a broker in the cotton business. Couric attended . She enrolled in the Sorority sister. Couric served in several positions at UVA's award-winning daily newspaper, '' The Cavalier Daily ''. During her third year at UVA, Couric was chosen to live as Head Resident of The Lawn , the heart of Thomas Jefferson 's academic village. She graduated in 1979 with a degree in American Studies . Television career Couric's reporting career began when she was hired by Stan Hooper as a desk assistant for the ABC News bureau in Washington, D.C. , later joining CNN as an assignment Editor . Between 1984 and 1986, she worked as a general-assignment Reporter for WTVJ in Miami, Florida . During the following two years, she reported for WRC-TV , an NBC station in Washington, D.C., work which earned her an Associated Press award and an Emmy . Couric joined '' NBC News '' in 1989 as Deputy Pentagon Correspondent. From 1989 to 1991, Couric as an anchor substitute and filled in for Bryant Gumbel as host of ''Today'' , Jane Pauley , and Deborah Norville as co-anchor of ''Today'', Garrick Utley , Mary Alice Williams , and Maria Shriver as co-host of Sunday ''Today'', John Palmer , Norville, and Faith Daniels as anchor of the former NBC News program NBC News At Sunrise . She also subbed for Daniels, Norville, and John Palmer as the news anchor on ''Today''. In 1990, she joined ''Today'' as national correspondent, becoming a substitute co-host in February 1991 when Norville had a baby. Norville never returned and Couric became permanent co-anchor on Thursday, April 5 , 1991 . In 1992, she became co-anchor, of "NBC Now" an evening time weekly TV Newsmagazine with Tom Brokaw, which was later canceled and folded into part of '' Dateline NBC '', where her reports appeared regularly and she was named contributing rockstar. She remained at Today and NBC News until May 31 , 2006 , when she announced that she would be going to CBS to anchor the CBS Evening News , becoming the first solo female anchor of any of the "big three" weekday nightly news broadcasts. Previously female NBC anchors Jessica Savitch , Jane Pauley , and Connie Chung , ABC News anchor Carole Simpson and Elizabeth Vargas, and CBS News anchor Susan Spencer had worked solo on weekend duty newscasts. Elizabeth Vargas also did solo duty on weekday nightly news broadcasts following the departure of the injured Bob Woodruff. Katie Couric has filled in for Tom Brokaw on ''NBC Nightly News''. Couric has also filled in for Garrick Utley on the Sunday Edition of ''NBC Nightly News'' from 1989 to 1992, and also for Maria Shriver on the Saturday Edition of ''NBC Nightly News'' in 1989. Couric hosted or worked on a number of news specials. ''Everybody's Business: America's Children'', in 1995 was one example. Similar "specials" of a commercial nature were ''Legend to Legend Night: A Celebrity Cavalcade'' in 1993, and ''Harry Potter: Behind the Magic in 2001 ''. Couric has also co-hosted the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games . She has broadcast with Bob Costas , beginning with the 2000 Summer Olympics . She did not co-host the 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony in Turin, Italy because of a scheduling conflict with a live taping of Today Show . Brian Williams co-hosted with Bob Costas instead. Couric has interviewed many international political figures and celebrities during her career, including Presidents Gerald R. Ford , Jimmy Carter , George H. W. Bush , Bill Clinton and George W. Bush , and First Lady Barbara Bush . John F. Kennedy Jr. gave Couric his first and last interviews. Couric has won multiple television reporting awards through her career, including the prestigious Peabody Award for her series ''Confronting Colon Cancer''. Couric has also interviewed British Prime Minister Tony Blair , Senator Hillary Clinton (her first television interview), Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling , and First Lady Laura Bush . Move to CBS Couric announced on April 5 , 2006 (her 15th anniversary as permanent co-host of ''Today''), that she would be leaving the show, despite a 20 million dollar a year salary offer. “I wanted to tell all of you out there … that after listening to my heart and my gut, two things that have served me pretty well in the past, I will be leaving Today at the end of May." she said. “I really feel as if we’ve become friends through the years”. Couric appeared emotional at times as she made the announcement on Today. “Sometimes I think change is a good thing,” she said. “Although it may be terrifying to get out of your comfort zone, it’s very exciting to start a new chapter in your life".http://womendiary.net/2006/04/06/katie-couric-leaving-nbc-for-cbs/ CBS officially confirmed later the same day that Couric would become the new anchor and managing editor of the '' CBS Evening News With Katie Couric '' with her first broadcast set for September 5 , 2006 . Couric would also contribute to '' 60 Minutes '' and anchor primetime news specials for CBS. Couric would remain the highest-paid news anchor at $15 million per year.http://www.cbscorporation.com/news/prdetails.php?id=463 Many criticized the move by CBS to promote Couric to the broadcast chair. The criticism was centered around Couric's lack of experience in hard journalism and credentials necessary to be a sole anchor of the ''CBS Evening News'', when compared to previous anchors such as Dan Rather and Walter Cronkite , who was named in multiple viewer polls "The Most Trusted Man in America".3 Beginning in 2005 and through 2006, the Today program faced increasing competition from '' Good Morning America '', which became more popular when Robin Roberts joined Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer, as co-hosts. Thus, she had a very small choice: either get finally defeated by Good Morning America and stay on the show or take the risk and go on the CBS Evening News where she gambled that she would be successful.4 On was injured in Iraq in May while Katie Couric was still co-hosting at '' The Today Show ''. , 2006 ]] and featuring a voice over from , 2006 the program placed first in weekly ratings. However, Couric's second week as anchor pulled in a close margin between rival ''NBC Nightly News'' with CBS's 7.9 million viewers compared to NBC's 7.3 million viewers for the week of September 11 – September 15 , 2006 . (Couric fell to third place on September 11 , 2006 for that particular day with NBC, and ABC respectively taking first and second place, yet CBS remained at first place for the remainder of week.) By , 2007 . As of the first week of May 2007, the viewership of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric was the lowest since at least 1987.Nielson Media ratings issued Tuesday 5/8/2007. Public image Other work In a media crossover to Animated Film , she was the voice of news-reporter "Katie Current" in the U.S. version of the film '' Shark Tale ''. Most foreign versions use a different voice, but she is still credited. She also made a Cameo Appearance as a prison guard at Georgia State Prison in '' Austin Powers In Goldmember ''. She guest-starred as herself on the NBC Sitcom '' Will & Grace '' in late 2002 . On May 12 , 2003 , she traded places for a day with ''Tonight Show'' host Jay Leno . Couric also co-hosted NBC's live coverage of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade from 1991 until 2005. Personal life Couric married Jay Monahan in , 2003 ), inspired many others to get checked as well:
She also was very active in the National Hockey League 's Hockey Fights Cancer campaign, appearing in some Public Service Announcement s and doing Voice-over s for several others. Couric is currently a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for the United States. On October 7 , 2005 , Couric broadcasted her own Mammogram on the ''Today'' show, in the hopes of recreating the "Couric Effect" around the issue of Breast Cancer . October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.http://nbcumv.com/release_detail.nbc/news-20051006000000-moreonquottoday.html Emily Couric , a popular Virginia Democratic state senator and Katie's sister, died of Pancreatic Cancer at the age of 54 on October 18 , 2001 , after a battle with the disease. Couric was quite close to her sister and gave a eulogy at the funeral. She pointed out that it irritated Emily when people asked her if she was Katie Couric's sister. Katie told the mourners "I just want you to know I will always be proud to say 'I am Emily Couric's sister.'" Couric has two other siblings, Clara Couric Batchelor and John M. Couric Jr. Celebrity news, such as '' trumpeter Chris Botti , but they reportedly broke up in February 2005. She was previously and has intermittently been linked with multi-millionaire TV producer Tom Werner , whose home base of California has reportedly proved problematic for the New York -based Couric. Couric was the honored guest at the 2004 Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation fall gala.http://www.multiplemyeloma.org/events/8.06.20.html CONTROVERSIES In March 2007, Couric drew fire from several critics and the American public after an interview with U.S. presidential candidate John Edwards and his wife Elizabeth Edwards , which aired on ''60 Minutes'' just days after Elizabeth announced that she had incurable cancer. Critics of the interview assert that Couric crossed the line when she asked a series of questions second-guessing Edwards' decision to continue his presidential campaign. She was also criticized by journalists for repeatedly preceding her questions with phrases such as "some People Have Said..." . Dozens of people chimed in on the CBS News website, with many questioning Couric's right to ask such questions, since she herself kept her job at ''The Today Show'' after her husband, Jay, died from cancer in 1998. ''60 Minutes'' producers have defended Couric's interview, saying that she asked the questions people are talking about. The American Cancer Society has reportedly received a handful of calls about the issue. In another of her April 2007 "Katie Couric's Notebook" columns, she made claims about Barack Obama studying at a "radical madrasa, or Koranic school."http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2007/04/11/couricandco/entry2673784.shtml After a lot of outrage, the column was later heavily edited to state that the rumours were "later disproved."http://mediamatters.org/items/200704130003 Originally the comments read: "rumors his campaign denied, declaring that Obama is now a practicing Christian."http://digg.com/politics/Katie_Couric_Repeats_Lies_and_Smears_Obama_Video In July 2007 , July 2007.CNN reporter Jeanne Moos reported on July 9 , 2007 that the reason Couric was irritated was that "sputum" had been inserted into the script after she rehearsed it; reading it for the first time live on air she mispronounced the word. This is the context for her slapping Cipriano on the arm and instructing him to warn her before putting words "like that" (that might be mispronounced) into her script. Moos also demonstrates what the slapping incident looked like (see: http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2007/07/09/moos.couric.slap.affl). FOOTNOTES EXTERNAL LINKS
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