"That studies have shown that more people are getting up earlier, they're getting their news earlier. They're getting less sleep, getting up at earlier hours"
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Couric’s sentence is a small masterclass in broadcast-era anxiety trying to sound like neutral data. The phrase “studies have shown” functions as a credibility shield, a way to baptize a cultural shift as fact before anyone asks: which studies, and who benefits from the conclusion? In journalism, especially TV news, “the numbers say” often means “the market is moving and we need to move with it.”
The repetition is the tell. “Earlier” lands three times, almost comically insistent, like a producer’s notes turned into prose: audiences are awake, so the show must be, too. It’s less an observation than a justification for pre-dawn programming and the relentless expansion of the news day. By pairing “getting their news earlier” with “getting less sleep,” Couric smuggles in a moral tension: this habit is widespread, maybe necessary, but also vaguely unhealthy. She doesn’t scold; she normalizes. That’s the subtext of modern news consumption in a nutshell: you’re tired, but you’re informed, and the machine will keep feeding you because you keep showing up.
Context matters here. Couric’s career straddles the moment when morning television became a lifestyle anchor and then began competing with smartphones that never clock out. Her line reads like a snapshot of that pivot: a legacy-news figure acknowledging that “morning” isn’t a time slot anymore, it’s a behavior pattern. The intent isn’t just to report a trend; it’s to validate a new rhythm of attention that journalism helped create and now must chase to survive.
The repetition is the tell. “Earlier” lands three times, almost comically insistent, like a producer’s notes turned into prose: audiences are awake, so the show must be, too. It’s less an observation than a justification for pre-dawn programming and the relentless expansion of the news day. By pairing “getting their news earlier” with “getting less sleep,” Couric smuggles in a moral tension: this habit is widespread, maybe necessary, but also vaguely unhealthy. She doesn’t scold; she normalizes. That’s the subtext of modern news consumption in a nutshell: you’re tired, but you’re informed, and the machine will keep feeding you because you keep showing up.
Context matters here. Couric’s career straddles the moment when morning television became a lifestyle anchor and then began competing with smartphones that never clock out. Her line reads like a snapshot of that pivot: a legacy-news figure acknowledging that “morning” isn’t a time slot anymore, it’s a behavior pattern. The intent isn’t just to report a trend; it’s to validate a new rhythm of attention that journalism helped create and now must chase to survive.
Quote Details
| Topic | Good Morning |
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