Everyone from that wizard-browed Andy Rooney to our own talking heads in Salt Lake City have piled on with their opinions 'bout Katie and her ability (or not) to read the nightly news in a properly authoritative way.

The topic puddled along gender lines, with men casting doubt on Couric and women happy she's getting a shot. Thirty years ago, critics thought Western civilization would crumble when Barbara Walters joined ABC's Harry Reasoner as the first female evening news anchor. And we're still having this discussion. Wow.

American critics have sputtered about Couric's goofy "Today Show" antics (dressing up like SpongeBob SquarePants, swing dancing with Tim McGraw) and "lightweight" interviews, though everyone seems to be on board with appreciating her fine legs. They seem to think this all detracts from her ability to follow the words on a teleprompter.

One of my favorite stories on Couric's coup came out of Toronto, from Canadian Press reporter John Mckay. Mckay reported that pioneering Canadian women, much like Couric, have climbed their way up from jobs as far-flung news correspondents and assignment editors. He interviewed some of Canada's top female broadcasters. Only a couple of them got catty about their sister to the south.

Mostly, they recalled their own early career hurdles. Wendy Mesley, who co-hosts the CBC's "Marketplace," told Mckay she remembers a Toronto radio-station boss who refused to air her taped interviews. A woman's voice, he said, "just isn't authoritative."

Mesley's reaction: "Of course not, if you've never heard one."

Rebecca Cressman co-hosts a morning radio talk show on KUTR-AM 820 with composer Kurt Bestor. She has been a news director for KBYU radio and television.

"For 15 years, Katie Couric covered every angle of American life from politics to health to child abuse to marriage to education. Did I leave anything out? And just because she's laughed with celebrities, this is supposed to undermine the fact that she's grilled politicians? I don't buy it."

As I said, there's a little gender split.

We've heard few female anchor voices on the four networks; more on cable. But the skepticism surrounding Couric's promotion is a rerun. Ken Verdoia, director of program production for KUED-TV Channel 7, says until women get more than "little bites and pieces" of serious TV anchor work, we'll never know their true ability.

It takes faith from network executives - think the quarter-century careers of Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings. And Jennings had two turns at anchorman before he finally "took" with the public. Verdoia reminds me the late ABC star was kicked back to correspondent status early in his career because he was considered too young, too pretty and, therefore, lacking credibility.

"If Katie can withstand short-term criticism, she will do the job," he says. "Her real test will come when some world event really hits the fan. Will she look into that camera and not just read the news, but hold this hurricane of events so it makes sense to viewers and bonds them to her?

"But that takes commitment, and commercial network executives have the attention span of a 5-year-old on cupcake day in kindergarten."

As for all those wistful wishes for another Cronkite, Chet Huntley or Brinkley, get over it. Technology has changed, and so have expectations. It's 2006. A kindly uncle figure in tortoiseshell eyeglasses does not necessarily equal a news authority.

As for a woman with a pair of good legs, a good brain and killer confidence? Go, Katie.

hmullen@sltrib.com