Katie Couric is a celebrity, so pretty much anything she does gets the attention of the media. But a widely-followed online site, Daily Beast, is calling her move to Yahoo as a global news anchor a pivotal event in the impending move away from traditional media toward digital media as our major source of news.
That move may be gradually taking place, but I just don't see the Katie Couric job move as THE pivotal event in that transition. People still tune to the networks, and also to the cable news channels, for reliable and up-to-the-minute information on big breaking stories.
Yahoo is probably hoping that Couric's likability and news credibility will draw online viewers to its site. I'm not so sure Katie is the one who will pull viewers. Toward the end of her run at Today on NBC, she was getting a bit tired. Her time as anchor at the CBS Evening News was hardly a big win for her or her reputation. To be fair, it may not have been all her fault, but she took a major hit in the public eye. And her syndicated show Katie has been struggling and may not be renewed for next year, even as her star at ABC News never seemed to rise to expectations.
So I just don't think Katie Couric is the one who will pull viewers to Yahoo for news. And the competition is stiff, as traditional news media have established their own online sites with breaking news and an array of reporters and anchors we know and respect.
A quick look around online and I found some pundits questioning the viability of Yahoo longterm as a relevant news site. Maybe I'm in the minority, although I don't think so, but when I look for news online, Yahoo is far from my first choice.