Not only did Katie Couric grace the pages of Harper's Bazaar this month, but she made it onto Washingtonpost.com, as well--wearing four-inch stilettos.
Both articles focused on Couric's ability to appear sensibly sexy in her Harper's Bazaar photo shoot, which pictures her wearing fabulously fashionable clothing that many serious anchorwomen wouldn't dare don for a nightly newscast.
As the Washington Post article states, her designer duds are a far cry from the "news-anchor cliche of Crayloa-colored blazers," turning "fashion into power" in the photos.
Fact is, as eloquent as both the articles are, without pictures of Couric looking absolutely fantastic, far less readers would have taken notice.
The pictures of Couric with kohl rimmed eyes and form-fitting clothing essentially make the package complete, and tell the story of a empowered career chaser.
For all of those who scoffed at the idea of Couric stepping outside of the anchorwoman uniform with a, "I'll believe it when I see it," here's the living proof.
And in case you are still doubt Couric's awesome-ness, here's her interview with Lil Wayne. Yes. Lil Wayne.
*Photo courtesy of Harper's Bazaar
"Ima gansta Miss Katie..." Yes, that interview was great! She does a good job of keeping her professionalism when interviewing Weezy, who seems so out of the "news journalism relm."
ReplyDeleteBut back to the pictures. I totally agree that the pictures are what draws the audience to the article. My favorite picuture is the one where she is standing atop two televisons. Even though she is wearing a simple black suit, she has that "high-fashion" appeal that is attractive to younger audiences. Furthermore, by posing differently in each photo, she shows her diversity and personality my means of imagery rather than by speech (broadcasts) or text (journalistic writing).
Where was the photo gallery? There was one photo on the Harper's site, and the video, and then the small collection of four or so photos on the Post's. Is that the one you're highlighting?
ReplyDeleteHow do those photos correspond to what we discussed in class?
And, these photos raise another point (in a completely different direction). Should Katie Couric be doing fashion shoots? Does it hurt credibility? Can she be a successful journalist and a star? Or, does one somehow require the other?
I am highlighting the photo slideshow in the Washington Post article. The Harper's Bazaar article did not have a photo slideshow.
ReplyDeleteWe discussed the concept of photo slideshows telling the bulk of a story in class, and as I said in the blog post, I truly believe these photos do that. The articles are nearly irrelevant. What was said in the actual text of the articles could have been conveyed simply in picture captions. The articles, after all, are stories about the photos.
Furthermore, I don't think there need to be dozens of photos in a slideshow for the photo slideshow to show a progression/a "beginning to end" concept. This slideshow very clearly has a progression--from Couric's new persona "proclimation" as a fashionista and a journalist (standing on top of the TVs wearing designer clothing), to her reaffirmation of her place as a serious career woman (sitting at her desk in her office), to the dual concepts in action (attending the White House Correspondent Dinner in a designer dress).
As far as being a successful journalist and a star, I think Couric walks a delicate tight rope that others before her have not been able to. Bad examples of journalists gone fame-hungry include Bill O'Reilly, who had the potential to do good journalistic work but instead turned to becoming a talking head who was more interested in shocking people then informing them. Anderson Cooper borderlines on a bad example, as well--his trademark tight, black tee-shirts while reporting on serious issues such as Katrina and Haiti have been the subject of much debate.
A good example and someone who draws similarities to Couric is Christiane Amanpour, who also did an interesting shoot for Harper's Bazaar sometime in Summer 09 (don't quote me on that date--I can't quite remember when/where it was). Here's the Amanpour link:
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/fashion-articles/christiane-amanpour-headline-fashion-0809