That break from Katie Couric plagiarism scandal sure was fun while it lasted! But there goes Jon Friedman, pulling us away from the Virgina Tech shootings to revisit the case of the ripped off Katie Couric's Notebook. And not only can Jon-Jon not leave well enough alone – that's, uh, sorta our job – he gets the whole "news anchor as a star" thing horribly wrong.

Opines Friedman:

Chalk it up to CBS for, once again, not understanding that a network can't "brand" a news star, as if the individual was an automobile or a diet soda. Marketing campaigns are suitable for movie stars and bigger-than-life people that the public fantasizes about.

When a network tries to shove an anchor down our throats, we feel like they are playing us for suckers. Let the anchor's work speak for itself. NBC does that, and it's why Brian Williams has been No. 1 in the ratings for most of his tenure. ABC does it too, and that's why Charles Gibson is gaining fast on Williams.

But CBS continues to promote Couric as if she was on the same level as its prime-time stars, Charlie Sheen and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

All of which must come as a surprise to CNN, which has dumped endless millions into promoting Anderson Cooper, shoving him down our throats, all in exchange for … lower ratings than John Roberts.

Ahem.

Friedman might have a point.