CBS News says interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates and Tony Dokoupil ‘did not meet editorial standards’
On the night of what was supposed to be a landmark event — a “60 Minutes” election special with Vice President Harris airs Monday night — CBS News suddenly finds itself embroiled in The Dokoupil casein which a new senior executive had to explain why the tone of one of the news department’s rising stars was inappropriate.
CBS News executives told employees Monday that a recent interview by Tony Dokoupil on “CBS Mornings” did not meet the network’s editorial standards, a decision that has sparked some backlash.
Last week, Dokoupil interviewed author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates about his new book ‘The Message’. The segment raised eyebrows both among viewers and internally as it culminated in a tense back-and-forth as Dokoupil questioned Coates about whether his writing expressed antipathy toward Israel.
The free press published a recorded conversation from CBS News’ daily editorial meeting in which Adrienne Roark, recently named president of editorial and newsgathering, told staff that “there are times when we have not met our editorial standards.” She told employees that the situation “has been addressed and will continue to be addressed in the future.”
CBS News declined to comment.
Dokoupil struggled at the beginning of the interview, noting that the book “wouldn’t look out of place in an extremist’s backpack.”
“Why leave out the fact that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it?” he asked, adding; “Why not describe in detail the First and Second Intifadas, the cafe bombings, the bus bombings, the little children being shot to pieces? And is it because you simply do not believe that Israel has a right to exist under any circumstances?”
Dokoupil has raised his profile at CBS News, first gaining a foothold on the morning show and then being given assignments to cover major news moments on the ground. He recently began co-hosting a third hour of “CBS Mornings,” which is streamed live and broadcast on some of the major CBS stations. “CBS Mornings” has always positioned itself as an alternative to lighter presentations of NBC’s “Today” and ABC’s “Good Morning America,” but a case could also be made that the exchange between Dokoupil and Coates had all the hallmarks of something that could seem on cable news, not on a venerable CBS News broadcast.
At least one staffer came to Dokoupil’s defense. “It sounds like we’re calling one of our presenters out in a somewhat public setting for not meeting editorial standards, because I’m not even sure what,” said Jan Crawford, a veteran correspondent. She added: “When someone comes on our broadcast with a one-sided account of a very complex situation, as Coates himself acknowledges he has done, I understand that as journalists we have an obligation to challenge that worldview so that our viewers could have that. access to the truth or a fuller story. A more balanced account.”
More discussion on the issue is expected to take place at CBS News in the coming days.
