More airtime for Couric = less for other women

Broadcasting & Cable reports that in the six weeks since Katie Couric has taken over the anchor’s chair, female reporters and correspondents on the CBS Evening News have recevied 40% fewer assignments.

Under [outgoing anchor Bob] Schieffer, stories filed by women averaged 5.8 minutes each night; under Couric, that average has dropped to 3.0 (the average for men is the same, at 10.1 minutes). Medical correspondent Elizabeth Kaledin has been replaced by Jon LaPook.

Maybe Kaledin wouldn’t agree to the Photoshop diet? Writes B&C:

Couric has risen to the top network news spot. But so far, it seems, her rising tide has not lifted her sisters’ boats.

Ignore, momentarily, the icky phrase, “lifted her sisters’ boats”… I don’t know enough about broadcast news to say for sure, but I think the blame for this rests just as much (or moreso) on the producers as it does on Couric. Honestly, I’m not surprised that they’ve cut down other women’s roles (at least in front of the camera) now that Couric holds the most prominent post. Wouldn’t want anyone confusing the CBS Evening News with Lifetime, after all. Gotta downplay the chick factor.
It got me wondering if something similar happens when women rise to positions of prominence at magazines. There’s really no noticible uptick in the number of female staffers and writers, but has anyone ever thought to track whether the numbers actually go down when a woman takes charge? It’s a depressing thought, but I’d be curious to know.