On the evening of what should be a landmark moment — a “60 Minutes” election special w VP Harris airs Monday night — CBS News suddenly finds itself embroiled in l’Affaire Dokoupil, in which a new senior executive had to explain why the tone taken by one of the news division’s rising stars was inappropriate.
CBS News executives on Monday told staffers that a recent interview conducted by Tony Dokoupil on “CBS Mornings” failed to meet the network’s editorial standards, a decision that has spurred some pushback.
Dokoupil last week interviewed author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates about his new book “The Message.” The segment raised eyebrows both among viewers and internally, because it progressed into a tense back-and-forth as Dokoupil grilled Coates on whether his writing expressed antipathy toward Israel.
The Free Press published a recorded conversation from CBS News’ daily editorial meeting, during which Adrienne Roark, recently named president of editorial and newsgathering, told staffers that “there are times we have not met our editorial standards.” She told employees that the situation “has been addressed, and it will continue to be in the future.”
CBS News declined to comment.
Dokoupil took a tough time at the interview’s start, noting that the book “would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.”
“Why leave out that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it?” he asked, adding; “Why not detail anything of the First and the Second Intifada, the cafe bombings, the bus bombings, the little kids blown to bits? And is it because you just don’t believe that Israel in any condition has a right to exist?”
Dokoupil has increased his profile at CBS News, first gaining a foothold at the morning show, then getting assignments to cover important breaking-news moments on the ground. He recently began co-hosting a third hour of “CBS Mornings” that is streamed live and aired on some of CBS’ biggest stations. “CBS Mornings” has always positioned itself as an alternative to breezier presentations from NBC’s “Today” and ABC’s “Good Morning America,” but an argument could also be made that the exchange between Dokoupil and Coates had all the trappings of something that might appear on cable news, not a venerable CBS News broadcast.
At least one staffer came to Dokoupil’s defense. “It sounds like we are calling out one of our anchors in a somewhat public setting on this call for failing to meet editorial standards for I am not even sure what,” said Jan Crawford, a veteran correspondent. She added: “When someone comes on our air with a one-sided account of a very complex situation, as Coates himself acknowledges that he has, it’s my understanding that as journalists we are obligated to challenge that worldview so that our viewers can have that access to the truth or a fuller account. A more balanced account.”
More discussion around the issue is expected to take place at CBS News in coming days.
Source Agencies
