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Aug 29 2007 8:39AM EDT

Katie's Death-Defying PR Stunt

For Katie Couric, the risk of getting torn apart by an EFP in Iraq has receded in the face of another danger: being forever known as the woman who demanded $15 million from CBS and delivered bupkis in return.

After a year of being the only major anchor who hasn't traveled to Iraq, Couric has announced plans to travel there, with a swing through Syria for good measure, and the calculation behind that announcement couldn't be more transparent.

Days away from the one-year anniversary of her start at CBS Evening News, Couric is still running a distant third in the ratings race, with the show down double digits in viewership from where it was before she took over.

The announcement also came on the very day Ed Klein's unflattering bio of Couric hit bookstores, although advance publicity for the book started weeks ago.

Before she got to CBS, Couric said she probably wouldn't be reporting from Iraq, citing the very real danger of getting killed and her responsibility to her two daughters.

She took a certain amount of criticism for that declaration, and quickly qualified it, but it was an eminently defensible stance: For an anchor who only plans on spending a few days in the country, going to Iraq is less about seeing than being seen. Doing a stand-up in the Green Zone doesn't give the viewer any extra insight. It's a stunt.

I'm stepping into my colleague Jack Flack's territory here, but it seems to me Couric and CBS would benefit more from tactics like this if they were just a little bit more subtle about their motives.

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