Help for Katie -- and the viewers

After the hype and the curiosity seekers (me included) viewed the first week of shows, the CBS betwork's news broadcast is back in third place. (I could have done that at 1/15 of what Ms. Couric is making.) I thought it was a wee-bit fluffy for my liking and I particularly didn't care to hear that she had daughters and was therefore curious about a vaccine for cervical cancer. One critic gives her a few months to right the ship, another thinks she'll have five years to get on top. Not that I was asked to provide free advice, but here goes:

• Can the gimmicks, er features. The freeSpeech segment is lame. John Chancellor, after he gave up the anchor chair at NBC News, provided engaging commentary every few days. In today's overheated partisan environment perhaps a number of commentators across the political spectrum can provide analysis of the day's events throughout the week.
  
• Hard news. It seems that all of the network news operators watch the cable outlets and assume that their viewers have too. (If they did, they wouldn't be watching!) What's wrong with providing a daily summary of what happened during the day? I stopped watching network news when it became obvious that after ten minutes they went into canned features. After hearing Robert Bazell of NBC News talk about some wonder drug "still being tested but looks promising" for the hundreth time -- I stopped watching.
  
• Focus outside Washington. What I find frustrating, and I don't think I'm alone, is the coverage of national news. It seems to be the Republicans and Democrats are trying to score points at the other's expense -- rather than leading -- during the daily news cycle. How is the public bettered? If they haven't done anything in DC other than call each other names -- drop it.
• Teasers. You've got 22 minutes, make the most of it. Don't tell me what's coming up next -- I expect it to be news.
  

The suits at CBS decided to spend a fortune on Ms. Couric with a big advertising scheme -- her mug is plastered on every bus in NYC. This is a by-gone 1970's approach. (Recall when Ms. Barbara Walters also bolted from the Today program to co-anchor ABC's nightly news show?) Rather than focusing on who provides the news, the network (and the viewers) would have been better served by a focus on what is making news.