Are you one of millions who wish the old broadcast networks were more balanced in their political reporting? Well, both NBC and CBS seem to have an answer for you: tough luck!

CBS's decision to name Katie Couric as Dan Rather's permanent replacement on the CBS Evening News, and NBC's choice of Meredith Vieira to replace Couric on Today, both indicate a defiant attitude toward viewers fed up with the media elite's insular liberal approach to the news.

There's no doubt both women share a liberal perspective. Vieira, who's probably less familiar to viewers, is a one-time correspondent on CBS's 60 Minutes who now co-hosts ABC's daytime The View, where a panel of women share their opinions on a whole host of issues. Vieira has never hid her disdain of conservatives in general and the war in Iraq in particular, even bragging in 2004 about how she marched in an anti-war rally: "I'm still so upset about this war!"

Of course, there's no rule that a talk show host must be neutral – most aren't. But Vieira is now stepping into a role that requires a fairer approach, and her frequent outbursts have left her hopelessly compromised. When she interviews Condoleezza Rice, for example, the Secretary of State will know Vieira once said about President Bush's Iraq policies: "Everything's been built on lies. Everything! I mean the entire pre‑text for war." When the subject is the death penalty, Today viewers will know Vieira is loudly against it: "I don't believe in it, I don't believe in it."

For her part, Couric's specialty during her 15 years on Today has been to cuddle up to controversial liberals with softball interviews. Hillary Clinton is one of Katie's favorites, and Couric's elevation to the anchor chair is undoubtedly good news for Mrs. Clinton's presidential ambitions. It's impossible to imagine Katie getting really tough with Hillary, whom she sees as a fellow feminist trailblazer. "Do you think the American people are not ready for someone who is as accomplished and career‑oriented as Hillary Clinton?" she admiringly asked the future First Lady back in 1992.

Couric also seems to adore Jimmy Carter, telling Carter he was "considered one of the world's foremost statesmen….Your reputation has been bolstered tremendously since you left office. How does that make you feel?"

When House Democrats chose Nancy Pelosi as their new leader in 2002, Couric cheered on air: "You go, girl!" And, in the midst of the Iraq Oil-for-Food scandal, she empathized with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan: "You literally have the weight of the world on your shoulders," then tossed this softball: "Are you angry that the United States has not been more supportive of the U.N.?"

Couric isn't as fond of conservatives. She famously opened one show in 1999 by falsely quoting Reagan biographer Edmund Morris: "Good morning. The Gipper was an airhead!" Morris actually wrote that President Reagan was "an apparent airhead," and later told Couric she got it wrong: "He was a very bright man." As for Reagan's presidency, Couric suggested to William F. Buckley that "greed and materialism was the norm then, and that social ills were largely ignored, and therefore only worsened as a result of that neglect."

After the murder of Matthew Shepard in October 1998, Couric blamed Christian conservatives: "The tragic beating of the college student in Wyoming has some activists in this country saying there is a climate of anti-gay hate that's been fostered by a provocative advertising campaign by the political right in this country."

Couric touts Europe's nanny states as a model. After a report on France's mandatory 35-hour work week, Couric was giddy: "So great, that young mother being able to come home at 3:00 every day….The French, they've got it right, don't they?" In 2002, she worried that American athletes might be too patriotic during the Winter Olympics, fretting that "sometimes, the international community can interpret that as arrogant nationalism."

For years, the broadcast networks have been losing viewers fed up with "news" that reflects a narrow Manhattan liberalism while disdaining mainstream American conservatism. The elevation of Katie Couric and Meredith Vieira will do nothing to assuage those concerned about the skewed perspective of an out-of-touch liberal media. Instead, the networks seem committed to churning out more of the same slanted coverage that has cost them so dearly.