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In her first interview since reports emerged that she’d be exiting her role as the CBS Evening News anchor, Katie Couric told reporters at the TV critics press tour that she was not leaving early.

“We have no plans to part company anytime soon. There were a lot of speculative pieces that I think got, quite frankly, spun out of control.”

Rumors were rampant in the spring that Couric would be out of the anchor’s seat after the election. President of CBS News Sean McManus also dismissed the reports, saying: “I can say, and I have said, it's not true.”

Couric remains committed to doing her best for the 5-million plus viewers who tune in to CBS News: “I spend every day really focused on doing the best job I can, enjoying my colleagues, and coming up with new and creative ideas for how we can make the 'CBS Evening News' better.”

In a lighter moment during the satellite interview with the CBS News honchos, newsman Bob Schieffer showed he's in the know when he joked, “Jon Stewart is my inspiration. I want to be Jon Stewart when I grow up.”

Schieffer had been posed a question about what he thought of people getting their news from “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report.”

He said, “I love both of those broadcasts. But, you know, I think you probably ought to look at a couple of other things too if you're going to get a full dose of news, as it were.”

****** Victor Balta and Tracy Phillips are blogging live from the TV critics press tour. What do you want to know about your favorite shows? Let us know. Click here to ask about your favorite TV shows!

Message Edited by Tracy_Phillips on 07-19-2008 05:37 PM