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Many CBS News employees aren’t thrilled with the editor in chief Bari Weiss Describing Tony Dokoupil as the next anchor of the network’s flagship nightly newscast cbs morning host as an “average straight white man” who only got the job because his views coincided with Weiss’s pro-Israel stance.
A CBS News reporter said, “It’s an insult to the famous news veterans who came before him.” Independent,
After weeks of speculation about who would lead CBS Evening NewsDokoupil, who had been stuck in third place for years and targeted for a reboot since Weiss was hired in October, was handed the job this week and is scheduled to take over in the new year. status news first reported On going to the weekend of Dokopil.
Although the decision has been made, the network does not plan to make a staffing announcement on Tuesday. Independent Have you learnt. However, CBS News officially announced that former ABC News reporter Matt Gutman has joined the network as chief correspondent and fill-in anchor.
Independent CBS News has reached out to representatives for Weisz and Dokoupil.
Dokopil, who has co-hosted cbs morning Since 2018, Weiss became the frontrunner for the job held by Walter Cronkite and Dan Rather after her desire to bring in a high-profile name from an outside network.
Shortly after being hired by Paramount head David Ellison, who had also purchased his “anti-woke” digital media outlet The Free Press, Weiss hired CNN mainstay Anderson Cooper and Fox News chief political anchor Brett Baier. potential candidates to take over CBS Evening NewsHe also contacted Fox News anchor Dana Perino is a vocal fan of Joe Weiss and The Free Press.
However, both Baier and Perino are tied to multi-year deals with the conservative cable giant. Cooper, who told colleagues he had no interest in taking the job, finally signed a contract extension With CNN.
Meanwhile, the two co-anchors who joined CBS Evening News The duo announced in January that they were leaving the show and the network amid a search for a new face of the program, amid the ratings-challenged broadcast’s latest reboot.
John Dickerson, who spent 16 years with CBS and previously served as its anchor face the nation, Revealed in October That he was leaving at the end of the year. Last week, his colleague Maurice Dubois also announced that he was exiting the show and CBS News with his last broadcast on December 18.
Both DuBois and Dickerson had publicly ended the show before the holidays, putting pressure on Weiss and CBS News president Tom Sibrowski to make a decision as quickly as possible.
Although the former CBS Evening News Anchor Norah O’Donnell – who was actively lobbying Weiss to get her old job back – and newly hired correspondent Matt Gutman were possible candidates, with Dokoupil always being the preferred choice. according to New York PostCBS News did it “Melee” To sign Dokoupil in recent days CBS Evening News Contract after Dubois’ resignation.
Dokoupil, meanwhile, had emerged as Weiss’s favorite even before she set foot in the CBS newsroom.
he bought it last year controversy broke out With his controversial and offensive interview with renowned author Ta-Nehisi Coates on the subject of Palestine and Israel. At one point in the tense morning interview, the anchor tells Coates that this is his book Message “Wouldn’t be out of place in an extremist’s bag.”
Dokoupil was immediately admonished by CBS News executives Wendy McMahon and Adrienne Rourke – neither of whom are now with the network – because Violation of the network’s editorial standards With interview. Weiss, who describes herself as a “Zionist fundamentalist,” and the free press defended vigorously docpuoil in a series of articles reprimanding the CBS News host at the time.
A CBS source said, “There are some people at CBS who think that ‘Israel’s existence as a state should be part of a fair conversation.’ written in one piece“Can you imagine journalists having conversations like this about another country?”
Since Weiss’s installation as the top editorial voice of CBS News, Dokoupil has conducted an exclusive interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which was largely arranged by Weiss.
network employees who spoke Independent noted that it was “not shocking” that Dokopil had climbed up CBS Evening News Perch led by Weiss, noting that they keep an eye on the war in Israel and Gaza.
“Tony’s pro-Israel leanings are exactly what Bari wants. She likely caught Ellison’s attention after she used leaked audio from a CBS editorial meeting about Tony’s vulgar, off-script, xenophobic interrogation of Ta-Nehisi Coates last year,” said the CBS News reporter.
“He has clearly been rewarded evening News The throne,” the reporter said, before sarcastically talking about the program’s declining viewership. “Although, some might argue that it’s like a toilet seat now.”
According to another network employee, “It was surprising how Bari had all the power of CBS News, including its deep pockets,” yet she was only able to “come to terms” with Dokoupil as the new anchor. Paramount and Alison Just launched a $108 billion hostile takeover bid Warner Bros.’s Discovery which, if successful, would involve merging CNN with CBS News.
At the same time, the employee reported that Dokopil had previously told him cbs morning Colleagues said he had no interest in jumping into nighttime broadcasting, noting that it was “a job he didn’t even want.”
A CBS News insider took issue with Dokoupil’s violation of editorial standards in becoming the face of the network’s flagship evening newscast within a year.
Of course, Weiss has also recently complained That the network’s standards and practices team has “too much power” and sees no point in keeping them to itself. On top of that, during a Recent round of brutal layoffsThe network’s acclaimed race and culture unit – which was to be transformed into a standards unit – was disbanded.
The insider referenced, “Tony violated protocol in his interview with T’Coats and was embarrassed when it went viral for the wrong reasons. He got yelled at and was protected by Shari Redstone and now Bari.” The former chairwoman of Paramount and her support of Dokopil“Dragging an entire news organization under the bus,”
While other network employees and insiders complained that Dokoupil’s ascension under Weiss suggests that “Bibi supporters” now have “absolute reign to change the narrative on Israel”, they also suggested it was part of an anti-diversity effort by the network.
except for weez An outspoken DEI critic and alison promise of CBS News has come under criticism after the Trump administration got rid of diversity hiring policies at the network as part of the Paramount-Skydance merger. Only women are being fired as on-air personalities — half of whom are people of color — during its last round of layoffs.
“It’s all about protecting Israel and punishing the POC,” the CBS News insider said.
“How unnatural it is 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,” the network reporter declared, adding, “It’s an insult to the veteran news veterans who came before him.”