Ladies and gentlemen, the next Walter Cronkite:

Miss USA Rachel Smith tells us she wants to get into journalism, but something tells me she won’t be applying to the “CBS Evening News.” “I always wanted to be a reporter — maybe some TV. Who knows? Some serious news — but some modeling, too,” she said at the Women in Entertainment Empowerment Network event last week. “I just don’t want to end up like Katie Couric. I want people to take me seriously.” Ouch! (Couric’s rep later responded: “If she continues to offer such profound insight, she will not have to worry about anyone taking her seriously.”)