The "new harder edge" of the CBS Evening News, "led by" Rick Kaplan, "affirms what many had long argued, that CBS's plan to reinvent the evening news with a softer, more stylized focus under [Katie] Couric was going in the wrong direction," Media Life Magazine says.

However: "Kaplan isn't entirely chucking the Couric makeover. There's still the Couric voice and take on stories, and some of the bubble. She's still Katie Couric, and the network is busy promoting her as a personality."