Kaplan has also served as executive producer for Walter Cronkite, Peter Jennings, Ted Koppel, Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, and Christiane Amanpour.
In 2007, he replaced Rome Hartman as the executive producer of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.
Kaplan repeatedly clashed with CNN anchor Lou Dobbs and was presumed responsible for his abrupt departure from the network in 1999.
[5] On April 20, 1999, CNN was covering President Clinton's speech in Littleton, Colorado, following the Columbine High School massacre.
A few days later, Dobbs announced that he was leaving the network to start a website devoted to astronautical news.
[8] Kaplan was named executive producer of the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric in March 2007.
[citation needed] Kaplan has taught a series of journalism classes every semester since 1993 at the University of Illinois College of Communications in Urbana–Champaign.
[9] In 1999 Kaplan received an honorary Doctor of Letters from The University of Illinois, his alma mater.