Katie Couric and Co. have decided that her personal safety is less important than saving the flagging ratings of the CBS Evening News. Couric will travel to Iraq starting today to do on-the-ground reporting, according to Variety, despite the fact that a CBS employee was killed there only days ago, and fellow network anchor Bob Woodruff was brutally bombed while there over a year ago. Couric has scoffed at anchors going on location before, but her presence in this case has secured high-level access and interviews for the newscast. The goal is to be there in advance of the release of U.S. General David Petraeus's report on the status of Iraq's recovery. She'll begin by doing field research (she'll travel well outside the safe Green Zone in Baghdad) and then start reporting live after Labor Day. In the meantime she'll be replaced on the newscast by the Early Show anchors Russ Mitchell and Harry Smith. Ratings are sure to spike with Katie there, but knowing her critics, will it be attributed to her cojones? Or the fact that there'll finally be a pair of them in the main chair again?

CBS Sending Couric to Iraq, Syria [Variety]
Related: Alas, Poor Couric [NYM]