When Katie first left the Today show to anchor the CBS Evening News in 2006, ratings began a steady decline. Katie was blamed, and it really looked like she was going to be fired in the spring of 2008. Now, however, she is more popular than ever, and that is thanks (at least in part) to her interview with Ms. Palin.

Governor Palin has accused Katie of "exploiting" her, but in last week's LA TImes Couric responded to this claim: "I felt bad about that, because I have been very circumspect about the whole thing. So I don't really understand what she meant." Even though we think Sarah Palin is full of shit, there is no denying that Couric's ratings went up because of the interview. During the last five weeks, her program has been up 7%, and during the inauguration week, Katie was hard at work interviewing Michelle Obama and covering the inauguration ceremonies.

Couric also has some new projects in the works. She has teamed up with Susan Zirinsky, CBS news producer, for several different shows. In an article that somewhat condescendingly begins: "How about a big hand for the little lady?", today's The Washington Post discusses Couric's most recent "exclusive" project. Last night, Couric headed up a special edition of the "CBS Evening News," where she was "very much the activist-anchor":

Couric reported Part 1 of an "exclusive" shocker series about domestic violence committed against spouses and girlfriends by troops returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. She gave this troubling story not "a woman's touch" but the attention of a good reporter. The segment was labeled "Katie Couric Investigates" to help raise her profile even higher.

Although The Washington Post speculates on the role of the "woman's touch," writer Tom Shales makes it clear that Couric is such a benevolent presence because of "16 years of goodwill" and her role as "Americas sweetheart" (which, one could argue, is by definition a woman's position- one that would certainly contribute to the myth of a "woman's touch").

Weirdly enough, Couric is also going to be a big part of the Grammy Awards this year. She is to host an hour-long prime-time special featuring "freestylin' interviews" with the likes of Justin Timberlake and Lil Wayne, airing February 4th. In an interview with the Observer Zirinsky explains her new found appreciation for the self-proclaimed feminist anchor: "She's a powerhouse. The more venues we can have her on, letting Katie be Katie, the better it plays for us." Although the whole discussion of a "woman's touch" is somewhat irksome, it is great to see a network let Katie be Katie, and celebrate her hard-won position among what is typically a bit of a boy's club. Couric has shown America that she can be a serious reporter, and we will now see whether she can hold her own with Lil Wayne. Our money's on Katie.

Good News, at Last [Washington Post]
A Newswoman's Journey to the Anchor Seat [Washington Post]
Not-So-Suddenly Susan! [The New York Observer]
CBS Puts Its Prime Time in the Service of Couric [New York Times]
Katie Couric in no hurry for change [LA Times]

Related: Katie Couric Flies Her Feminist Flag

Couric is asked, as she is seemingly always asked, about sexism. She says:

We’re still in a place in our society where sexism is more palatable than racism. It’s not as repugnant to people. There is still a mentality that you can make jokes about how someone’s hot or a babe, and about gender roles, in a way that is completely taboo vis-à-vis race.

This is what many of you said during the primaries, but I think there is kind of a huge difference between remarking on my attractiveness and hanging a noose on someone's doorway. As in, one may or may not be sexist, but the other would scare the fuck out of me and I don't even come from a cultural history where my ancestors might have been hanged by angry mobs because of their skin color. Still, it's a fair point and I like that it's being said that sexism is too acceptable, but we sort of all really need to stop with the -ism oneupsmanship.

She's then asked about the sexism she herself has faced, and answers:

It might be because of my background—that I did a morning show and that people didn’t necessarily think I was a serious person. You know, I am sort of outgoing and friendly, and I think some people think that is incongruous with being serious and intelligent. So I think there may be all sorts of reasons, and that a lot of it is conditioned and behavioral.

I think this is totally true. If you're short, you're taken less seriously. If you're not a prick to everyone, it's because you're not smart enough to be. If your voice isn't deep enough, you don't have the needed gravitas for the role. And, in every one of these circumstances, women are either biologically designed to be shorter and have higher voices and, generally speaking, strongly socially conditioned to be nice as a social lubricant. That doesn't have anything to do with our intellectual abilities.

But the best part, for me, is when she's asked if she's a feminist.

Oh yeah. I am. I am. I feel very strongly that women should have equal opportunity. I believe strongly in civil rights. I don’t want to get into too much else.

That "too much else" is, of course, the issues that feminists generally champion, from reproductive rights to specific policy changes to achieve equality (like, say, the Ledbetter pay equity legislation that Obama promised), so it's disappointing that Couric isn't willing to take a risk and state her personal beliefs. But in a day any age when too many people are scared to even call themselves feminists, having Katie Couric say that she is one is a pretty good step in the right direction.

"I'm Not An Idiot, You Know?" [Portfolio]

Related: Reversing Discrimination [New York Times]
Will Obama Legislate Away the Lilly Ledbetter Decision? [Wall Street Journal]