Longtime journalist Katie Couric, the first woman to be the solo anchor of a nightly news broadcast, told Yahoo Finance in a recent interview that she opposes "canceling people" over controversial views because it impedes the social progress born out of open conversation.

In wide-ranging remarks on the MeToo movement, Couric said there's no "magic wand" that will do away with workplace discrimination against women, characterizing the politics surrounding the issue in recent years as a seesaw between reform and pushback.

"What happens is there's progress, and then there's a backlash; there's progress, and then there's a backlash," says Couric, the former host of "Today" and "CBS Evening News."

"I think having open and honest conversations — and not canceling people because they say the wrong thing, or not rejecting them out of hand because of the way that they see things, they're probably products of their own environments — is a really important component to leveling the playing field for everyone," she adds.

Cancel culture, a term often used to describe public conversation in which people stigmatize opponents for their views, has become a lightning rod for public figures from Republican lawmakers to comedian Dave Chapelle.

Some cultural critics, like former HuffPost reporter and podcast host Michael Hobbes, contend that the phrase "cancel culture" lacks coherent meaning because individuals invoke it to describe disparate circumstances, ranging from firings to suspensions on social media.

Speaking to Yahoo Finance on Jan. 11, Couric made the comments before the sudden resignation last week of CNN Worldwide President Jeff Zucker, whose romantic relationship with a senior executive was discovered during an investigation that had resulted in the previous firing of star anchor Chris Cuomo.

Couric worked with Zucker at NBC when he served as executive producer on "Today" in the mid-2000s. Another former colleague at "Today," co-host Matt Lauer, was fired in 2017 due to inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.

Couric, who released a memoir in October entitled, "Going There," said deep-rooted workplace gender discrimination will endure. But people should continue to speak openly about the problem as a means to address it, she said.

"You can't just wave a magic wand," she says. "There are so many factors contributing to this imbalance of power that have been entrenched in our society for decades, if not centuries."