CBS getting nervous about Couric ratings and Free Speech Segment

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/

Couric's Decline "Has Provoked A Strong Sense Of Unease Internally"
The falloff of Katie Couric's audience since her CBS Evening News debut "has provoked a strong sense of unease internally, according to newsroom employees. Many are alarmed that the program isn't faring better, especially after a massive marketing push this summer that included radio spots and bus ads," Matea Gold reports.

More: "Some of the staff have privately expressed concerns about changes to the broadcast, particularly a segment called 'Free Speech,' a platform for opinions from around the country."

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-et-evening11oct11,0,1370802.story

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Some of the staff have privately expressed concerns about changes to the broadcast, particularly a segment called "Free Speech," a platform for opinions from around the country.

Last week, executive producer Rome Hartman received strong protests from the newsroom after airing a commentary by Brian Rohrbough, the father of a student slain at Colorado's Columbine High School in 1999. In addressing recent school shootings in Colorado and Pennsylvania, Rohrbough said the public schools have taught students in a "moral vacuum" by emphasizing evolution and keeping religion out of the classroom.

Critics complained the opinion piece was not relevant to the current tragedies, especially since the most recent shooting happened at an Amish school.

Hartman, who said he was surprised by the topic Rohrbough chose to address, said he nevertheless didn't believe it would have been "in keeping with the spirit of the segment" to ask him to change the piece.

The executive producer called the feedback from newsroom employees "a very healthy conversation." Although the intense scrutiny of the broadcast's performance is "a little bit distracting" for staffers, Hartman said, the mood internally was upbeat. "It's a little frustrating that people treat what is our beginning as if it was some kind of end. These things take a long time to change."