Kudos to USA Today’s Peter Johnson for taking readers behind the scenes of Monday’s junket with Katie Couric the way no other media reporter has:

“Looking tanned, Couric was friendly but businesslike during a 20-minute session reminiscent of a movie junket, in which stars plop themselves on a couch in a hotel room as entertainment reporters are ushered in and out.

Only this was in a CBS News conference room, it’s not entertainment and Couric follows in the footsteps of CBS News legends such as Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite and Eric Sevareid.

‘It certainly was a controlled situation, more like you would see for a celebrity than a journalist,’ said Dave Bauder, an Associated Press TV reporter.

Couric didn’t object when one of two publicists present (one hired by Couric, another by CBS) abruptly announced ‘last question’ as the end of USA TODAY’s allotted 20 minutes approached.”

Read the rest…