In the UK, the person who has the equivalent of Katie Couric's job is called a "newsreader". That's what the job is: to read the news.

Let's face it, the requirements are to have good TV presence, be able to read a Teleprompter well, and look good doing it. Ms. Couric's background is as a TV entertainer, she isn't a journalist, but she's fully qualified for the job, which has little to do with journalism.

So, while the network looks stupid for shipping the slimmed-down photo, I'm not going to get all offended for Katie. This is just show business.

First, let me say that I think that this is indeed standard practice, and with both men and women - removing wrinkles, correcting color issues, smoothing lines, and reducing weight. Usually, I'll agree, not to this extent with someone who you see on TV all the time but, hey, it happens. For better or for worse. But that's not where I'm going with this. An early comment:

Katie Couric is not fat! Were she to lose as much weight as they depicted her to lose, she would be underweight. Period.

Bull. The USA is home to some of the most overweight people in the world. I'm not saying that this is good or bad in general, but it is a fact and I suggest that anyone who disputes it travel pretty much anywhere else for a few weeks, then come back home and look around.

Katie could probably stand to lose a few pounds. So could most of us. So could I, and I've lost about 70 so I know a little about what I'm talking about. She's not obese by any stretch, but she's probably overweight, like most of America. She is certainly a "normal" weight, but that doesn't mean its her "ideal" weight.

However, because a) we're so used to seeing overweight people, and b) most of us don't like to admit that we're overweight too, its easy to rationalize that overweight is the new "ideal healthy" weight, and that people who are fit or in shape are "anorexic," sick, or unhealthy.

Most people don't realize just how much of their body weight is excess until they start to lose weight and shape up. Hell, in my loss I don't think I ever thought I had more than 20 pounds between my current and ideal weights, and I'm still carrying a healthy amount of body fat on me. Is she a reasonable weight as pictured? Yeah, probably. Would she be unhealthy if she got into better shape until she looked like the second picture? Nowhere near it.

http://img82.imageshack.us/my.php?image=couricmorphpr9.swf&width=1024

What with her shoving a colonoscopy camera up her ass on national TV. Oh it's all for a good cause and 'shit' but please let's not worry too much about anyone taking her that seriously.

I don't buy the excuse that the photo department regularly does this. Do they regularly photoshop Bob Schieffer? Lesley Stahl? Andy Rooney? I bet they know the difference between a network news anchor or reporter and an actor. I wouldn't be surprised if Katie wanted the photo altered and now that the cat's out of the bag, the photo department is taking the blame.

As this admittedly middle-aged and now, distressingly paunchy guy know, Katie is just fine as she is. What's more, just because she did a morning show for years doesn't mean she isn't smart.

The problem is in the entertainment-news machine.

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the network news has become so "viewized" except for fox's combination of right wing resentment and allegedly hot babes that I suspect the alteration was done more for the benefit of the female audience.

There's a crisis in American journalism right now. That's how we ended up in Iraq. It's not really about gender. Journalists are bending reality all over the place, by erasing unwanted pounds from the news, not just the newscasters.

Here's my latest favorite example. You can always find a reason to mock and abuse the so-called news media in this country when you read NORML news and see what doesn't get covered.

For example, Alzheimer's disease is a terrible illness that devastates families and imposes a horrific financial and emotional burden on Americans, right?

So you'd THINK the press would jump up and down when science reveals a potent weapon against this illness, one that seems able to relieve the symptoms and halt progression of the disease.

So can anyone remember this story being reported last week?

Cannabinoid May Halt Alzheimer's Progression, Study Says

August 17, 2006 - La Jolla, CA, USA

La Jolla, CA: THC inhibits the formation of amyloid plaque, the primary marker for Alzheimer's disease (AD), far more effectively than approved medications, according to preclinical data to be published in the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.

Investigators at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California reported that THC inhibits the enzyme responsible for the aggregation of amyloid plaque in a manner "considerably superior" to approved Alzheimer's drugs such as donepezil and tacrine.

"Our results provide a mechanism whereby the THC molecule can directly impact Alzheimer's disease pathology," researchers concluded. "THC and its analogues may provide an improved therapeutic [option] for Alzheimer's disease [by]... simultaneously treating both the symptoms and the progression of [the] disease."

It wasn't reported anywhere. The media didn't pick it up at all. This news was silenced.

Obviously the reason why journalists don't ever cover these kinds of stories is -- they don't want to project some kind of pro-marijuana image to the public. So they're Photoshopping the truth away by just not reporting it.

I think it's dreadful that they Photoshopped Katie Couris but this goes in line with the way they give people market-researched news, specially prepared to send the right message to the right demographic, as opposed to just trying to report the truth, even when it conflicts with their desire to send a particular message.

This is about way more than gender. I worry that making it about gender keeps the full problem of American journalism from being addressed.

Maybe some people were shocked about this Katie Couric story. Not me. I'm way more shocked about the Alzheimer's story, because that's actually more important to more people in a more dire and desperate way.