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Katie Couric is the new face of Yahoo News

Couric's switch from broadcast TV news to the web marks a new chapter in digital journalism.
Written by Kirsten Korosec, Contributor
Katie Couric is heading over to Yahoo News as the company's new "global anchor," a move that's been in the works for months and that marks a historic shift within the media industry.
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer made the official announcement Monday in a blog post, although it was reported as early as Friday over at All Things D. Couric will start her new job at Yahoo News sometime in early 2014, Mayer wrote.
Couric will still be connected to ABC. She will still do syndicated show, "Katie," although it's unclear if it will be renewed, reported All Things D. Even if it's not renewed, Couric and ABC News will still be indirectly. Yahoo and ABC News have had a partnership since October 2011.
Couric is the latest high-profile reporter to leave what would once be considered a pinnacle media position for a job at a website. Megan Liberman former deputy news editor of the New York Times was hired in September as the editor-in-chief of Yahoo News. A month later, the company wooed David Pogue, the columnist, best-selling author and TV host, to expand and lead consumer tech coverage at Yahoo News. And last week, the company beefed up its journalism cred by hiring Matt Bai, former chief political correspondent for the New York Times magazine, as its national political columnist. 
Sure, Yahoo News has incredible traffic. It's the No. 1 news site with some 82 million unique visitors last month, according to a news release from ABC News. But even with that kind of visibility, it's notable that folks who were well-established in the old guard media have made the leap over to new media. Not long ago, a move from the New York Times to a website would be considered a risk, and one likely to kill your career.
The hires also illustrates Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's more recent push to boost the company's content.

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com

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