Entertainment · TV & Streaming · 5 hrs ago
Katie Couric’s 2000 colonoscopy was a first for morning television
In 2000, Katie Couric had a colonoscopy on live morning television, in what was described as a first for the format.
The TODAY segment aired on March 7 and showed Couric preparing for the procedure and meeting her doctor at a hospital.
She wanted to raise awareness of colon cancer after her husband, Jay Monahan, died of the disease in 1998.
Couric drank a solution to clean her colon before the exam, which was carried out while she was sedated.
The doctor said the examination was normal.
The National Institutes of Health later found that colonoscopy rates rose after the campaign, with the increase sustained for nine months after accounting for broader trends.
The broadcast showed how television could bring attention to colon cancer screening, and TODAY is revisiting the segment as it marks its 75th anniversary.
Katie Couric underwent a colonoscopy in a segment that aired on TODAY on March 7, 2000, in what NBC News described as a first for morning television.
Couric wanted to raise awareness about colon cancer after her husband, Jay Monahan, died from the disease in 1998.
The National Institutes of Health said in 2003 that colonoscopy use increased after Couric’s campaign.
The NIH analysis found that a higher postcampaign rate was sustained for nine months.
- Who
- Katie Couric underwent the procedure. Her husband, Jay Monahan, had died of colon cancer.
- What
- Couric’s colonoscopy was televised on TODAY. NBC News described it as a first for morning television.
- When
- The segment aired on March 7, 2000.
- Where
- On TODAY; the procedure took place at a hospital.
- Why
- Couric wanted to raise awareness about colon cancer after her husband died from the disease in 1998.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Jay Monahan died from colon cancer.
Couric’s colonoscopy segment aired on TODAY.
The National Institutes of Health reported increased colonoscopy use after Couric’s campaign.
Couric celebrated the segment on TODAY.
- Air date
- March 7, 2000
- Program
- TODAY
- Reason for campaign
- Jay Monahan died from colon cancer in 1998
- Reported impact
- Higher postcampaign colonoscopy rate sustained for 9 months
- Report source
- National Institutes of Health, 2003
What people are saying
The number of colonoscopies performed ... after Ms. Couric’s campaign increased significantly.
Katie Couric’s televised colon cancer awareness campaign was temporally associated with an increase in colonoscopy use in 2 different data sets
It’s as clean as a whistle. This is a perfectly normal examination, up to this point
I’m not sure I’d order it at a restaurant