In Princeton Address, Couric Rips Palin, Limbaugh

(NEWSER) - Katie Couric didn't want to diss Sarah Palin when grilled by a New York Post reporter, but she did let slip that the Alaska governor "should keep her head down and learn about governing." Couric, whose interview with Palin during the presidential campaign opened up the candidate to a deluge of criticism, added—too late—that she "didn't want to judge." More»

(AP) - After 2 years of stories about bad ratings and an uncertain future, Katie Couric is in the news for a positive reason, the AP reports—her work. Her CBS Evening News interviews with Sarah Palin, Joe Biden, and John McCain have brought the broadcast unprecedented buzz even though, as the New York Times reports, the ratings payoff has been modest at best. More»

What happened to 'gravitas,' he wants to know

(NEWSER) - Former Today show anchor Bryant Gumbel was "embarrassed" when NBC named Sarah Palin co-host for a day last week. Hosts “used to be judged not just on their popularity, but the extent to which they were capable of interviewing someone or reporting on a situation, or able to have a degree of gravitas," Gumbel grumbled to Newsweek media critic Howard Kurtz. "Now that's secondary to being popular.” Kurtz characterized the choice of the "disastrous VP nominee" as a way to "poke fun at her know-nothing image while sprinkling some celebrity stardust on Matt Lauer and the gang" at Today. More»

Former governor happy to poke fun at herself

(NEWSER) - Sarah Palin kicked off her Today stint this morning by reading a newspaper on screen, as co-host Matt Lauer joked, "Oh, man, she's doing her homework!" Lauer had already teased Palin about that issue—a reference to her 2008 interview with Katie Couric in which she couldn't name any newspapers she read—yesterday. It was the first in a series of quips proving Palin has no problem poking fun at herself, Politico reports:

• After coming out from behind the newspaper, Palin shared a story from yesterday: "Oh geez, Matt. The nicest lady in the world, she stopped me, asked me where I was heading. I said 30 Rock and she said, 'Oh honey, I told you, Tina Fey is here.'"

'Game on,' vows Today co-host

(NEWSER) - Katie Couric and Sarah Palin again go mano a mano this morning in a manufactured media war, and Palin's looking to win this round in her debut as co-host of the Today show . With Couric guest-hosting the competition over at Good Morning America, Matt Lauer razzed Palin yesterday by asking if she's been reading any newspapers to prepare. " Oh, here we go ," Palin responded; but she seemed unfazed, later telling Breitbart News, "Game on. We’re 'going rogue' and infiltrating some turf for a day." More»