Response to Couric

Gloria Steinem, a founder of The Women's Media Center, has the following words in response to Katie Couric's recent move:

By leaving a safe haven, taking a pay cut, and risking the harsh spotlight of being a "first," Katie Couric has already given women an example of strength.

Critics may say she just doesn't want to get up so early anymore, or shouldn't be hiding her legs behind a news desk, or doesn't have "gravitas" -- the intellectual word for testicles - but my bet is they will be examples of bias in future journalism.

I think she will give us back what we haven't had since Walter Cronkite -- a trusted messenger who conveys the human meaning of the news - and that she will also expand the definition of news beyond those few stories heard everywhere. After all, her reporting single-handedly increased testing and lowered mortality for a major form of cancer; an experience one doesn't forget.

One thing is sure, women and girls will have their first vision of a female network anchor who is an authority on her own. Since we learn by example, there is no telling where that iconic image may lead.