Photo: Courtesy of ABC.
If there's one thing you can say about Internet journalism, it sure doesn't pay as well as the old-school stuff. Even Katie Couric, former anchor at CBS Evening News, is taking a pay cut, according to TMZ. Hers is pretty steep, too. At CBS, Couric brought in annual salary of $15 million. In her new position of global anchor at Yahoo!, she'll reportedly get less than half that, at $6 million annually. TMZ notes that during her time with ABC, Couric's company was paid $20 million, but not all of that went to her.
Couric's talk show, Katie, has not been canceled, though it's been in a precarious situation for the last few months. In addition to less-than-hopeful ratings, Couric's attitude and vision for the show was apparently not compatible with some of the show's staff. "She has a complete and utter disdain for the audience she needs to appeal to," a former employee told The Hollywood Reporter in October. (She's also faced criticism that her show is too expert-driven, rather than fueled by human-interest stories — but that doesn't always mean good journalism.) Even if the show doesn't get canceled, Couric's new Yahoo! gig is only part-time.
You gotta get that money where you can. Welcome to the club. (TMZ)