Angry CBS News Staffers Denounce Choice of Pro-Israel Journalist Tony Dokoupil To Anchor Evening News: Report

CBS News’s reliably liberal staffers are fuming over the decision to name one of the network’s morning co-hosts, Tony Dokoupil, to be the new anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” according to a new report.Mr. Dokoupil’s promotion represents a major reversal from how CBS News’ previous top executives treated Mr. Dokoupil last year after left-wing staffers complained internally about his interview with the best-selling author Ta-Nehisi Coates about his anti-Israel book, “The Message.” At the time, the morning show host was reprimanded during a staff meeting by the then-head of head of editorial and newsgathering, Adrienne Roark, who said the interview did not meet the network’s standards.But now that CBS News is under new management, Mr. Dokoupil is getting a promotion to anchor the network’s flagship nightly news program, and some network staffers are not happy and are leaking their displeasure to veteran media reporter Justin Baragona of the Independent. One staffer told the Independent that Mr. Dokoupil is a “mediocre straight white man” who got the job because his views on Israel are aligned with CBS News’ new editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss, a staunch supporter of Israel.“It’s an insult to the storied news giants who came before him,” the staffer said.Another staffer complained that Ms. Weiss has the “full power of CBS News, including its deep pockets entirely in her hands,” and chose Mr. Dokoupil instead. Several reports had indicated that Ms. Weiss was looking to bring on big-name personalities from other networks, such as Fox News’s Bret Baier or CNN’s Anderson Cooper, to host the “Evening News.” But those hosts are paid vastly more by their current employers than CBS News could afford, making any conversations a non-starter.It had been widely expected that CBS News’s new management would try to revamp the “Evening News” after Skydance’s acquisition of Paramount. Earlier this year, after ousting anchor Norah O’Donnell because she made too much money, CBS News unveiled a new format for the news program that featured an unusual dual-anchor format — hosted by relatively low paid hosts, John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois. The format was developed by the former executive producer of “60 Minutes,” Bill Owens, at the direction of the former president of CBS News and Stations, Wendy McMahon. Ms. McMahon and Mr. Owens were forced out last spring over their disagreements with Paramount’s handling of President Trump’s lawsuit against CBS over its editing of Vice President Harris’s October 2024 interview with “60 Minutes.”The new format for the “Evening News,” which focused less on breaking news and more on evergreen stories, quickly flopped, and ratings plunged. For the week of November 28, the “Evening News” averaged 4.26 million viewers, while NBC’s “Nightly News” drew in an average of 6.24 million. And ABC’s “World News Tonight” took first place with an average of 8.27 million viewers. With the writing on the wall, Messrs. Dubois and Dickerson both recently announced their departures.The decision to name Mr. Dokoupil as the anchor of the “Evening News” – which was widely expected – has clearly rankled the left-wing staff at CBS News, who are still upset about his interview with Mr. Coates. During that exchange, Mr. Dokoupil pressed Mr. Coates on his anti-Israel language that he said sounded like it would be “in the backpack of an extremist” and asked why his book did not mention the threats Israel faces.Staffers complained about the interview to the Race and Culture unit, which was created during the “racial reckoning” in 2020 to review the “tone, content, and intention” of stories related to race. The team was different from other race-focused units at other news organizations in that it had a role in screening and passing judgment on content within CBS News.The Race and Culture did not find an issue with Mr. Dokoupil’s questions, but instead with his tone, even though observers such as the Washington Post called the exchange “calm” and “heartfelt.”During an editorial meeting on the first anniversary of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, which was secretly recorded and leaked to the Free Press, the then-head of editorial and newsgathering at CBS News, Adrienne Roark, said that the Coates interview did not meet the network’s editorial standards.At the time, the non-executive chairwoman of Paramount, Shari Redstone, publicly threw her support behind Mr. Dokoupil and said that the CBS News executives had made a “mistake.” She also took the morning show host out to lunch. Another staffer told the Independent, “Tony violated protocol with his interview with T’Coates [sic] and got embarrassed when it went viral for the wrong reasons. He pouted and was protected by Shari Redstone and now Bari.”“How unoriginal to give the job to a mediocre straight white man who can’t ask a tough question unless it aligns with his own personal agenda,” another reporter complained. While staffers complained that Mr. Dokoupil allegedly violated CBS News’s standards — despite the defense from Ms. Redstone and the Race and Culture unit only taking issue with his “tone” — he is the only figure to remain at the network after the incident.Ms. Roark announced her resignation in February, after less than a year on the job, and the Race and Culture unit was disbanded in October amid layoffs.The anonymous sniping at Mr. Dokoupil appears to be part of a well-known practice at CBS News where staffers make anonymous leaks to friendly news outlets to damage individuals they do not like — even if it embarrasses their network. Such comments have been widely expected as the new owners of CBS News have pledged to clean up the network’s left-wing bias, leading to speculation that staffers would try to obstruct the changes. CBS News did not respond to the Sun’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Angry CBS News Staffers Denounce Choice of Pro-Israel Journalist Tony Dokoupil To Anchor Evening News: Report

Angry CBS News Staffers Denounce Choice of Pro-Israel Journalist Tony Dokoupil To Anchor Evening News: Report

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