Wit & Attitude Quote by Katie Couric

Couric is defending a kind of public enthusiasm that polite media culture often treats as tacky: the sign-wavers, the squealing crowd, the people visibly performing their fandom. She’s naming a familiar irritation among her peers ("a lot [of] people I know") and then pivoting to a more generous read, suggesting that what looks like noise to insiders can function as a doorway for everyone else.

The line works because it’s a quiet rebuke of gatekeeping without sounding sanctimonious. By admitting the annoyance first, she aligns herself with the skeptical, media-savvy viewer who prides themselves on not being easily impressed. Then she flips the frame: those signs aren’t just clutter; they’re proof of presence. They say, "We’re here, we belong in the picture". That’s an inclusivity that doesn’t come from policy language or brand mission statements, but from bodies in a crowd claiming space in a broadcast that might otherwise feel remote and elite.

Contextually, Couric’s career sits inside the machinery that turns civic life and spectacle into television. Morning shows, live events, political coverage: they all rely on the optics of community, even when that community is messy and performative. Her comment reads like a journalist noticing the soft power of participation - that mass waving isn’t merely background; it’s a democratic aesthetic. It invites viewers at home to feel less like consumers of a show and more like potential entrants into it, which is exactly what live TV wants, and exactly what media cynicism often forgets.