In a book coming out in September titled The News Sorority, author Sheila Weller claims that CBS News anchor Katie Couric once made a snide remark about rival Diane Sawyer’s technique in getting stories. The incident involved Sawyer landing an interview with a 54-year-old woman who had just given birth to twins. When Couric heard about it, she allegedly remarked, “I wonder who she blew this time to get it.”
The book is a tell-all about three of the most powerful female newscasters in television today: Couric, Sawyer and CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. It details the careers of these women and the bitter rivalries that some of them encountered in their rise to the top. None of the respected newscasters end up blemish-free in the book, but several stories were revealed about Couric’s career that painted her in unfavorable light.
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Her controversial move to CBS News after years on NBC’s TODAY was also discussed in the book. Couric earned $15 million when she made the switch, but was also much talked about when she did so. Couric reportedly reacted to the controversy by comparing herself to Hillary Clinton. “Katie deeply related to Hillary; she felt she was being pummeled as the first female anchor just like Clinton was being pummeled as the first major female presidential candidate,” Weller wrote.
She also claimed in the book that Couric had bullied co-host Ann Curry while they were both on TODAY. She described one tactic of Couric’s to throw Curry “off balance,” which was to criticize “Ann’s clothing choices just before they went on air.”
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Couric, Sawyer and Amanpour as well as their representatives declined to make a comment about the book. However, a source close to Couric reportedly told The Hollywood Reporter, “It’s sad that the author and her PR team continue to alienate their target audience by relying on classic anti-feminist caricatures, tabloid-like misrepresentations and outright falsehoods about these three extraordinary women.”
