Cbs Evening News Anchor Tony Dokoupil Opens Up About Bari Weiss, David Ellison And The On-air Joke He Regrets

CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil has spoken retired astir his narration pinch Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss and Paramount CEO David Ellison arsenic nan network’s rebranding continues to look scrutiny. He maintained that he tin workout independence, while drafting a comparison betwixt eroding media spot and nan “yogurt industry.”

Dokoupil, 45, took complete nan flagship evening broadcast successful December, conscionable weeks aft Weiss assumed CBS News’ apical editorial role. The activity shakeup followed Ellison’s acquisition of Paramount, CBS’s genitor company.

Since then, Weiss has vowed to toggle shape nan storied network, promising “comprehensive and fair” sum and a turnaround successful sagging ratings driven by “viral” moments. Critics, however, reason nan displacement has tilted sum successful favour of nan Trump management — an allegation she has denied, moreover arsenic Ellison’s ties to nan president tie attention.

Dokoupil, a erstwhile greeting show big and nan poster kid of Weiss’ overhaul, has recovered himself astatine nan halfway of nan controversy. In a caller question and reply pinch The Wall Street Journal, he offered his broadside of nan story.

The anchor said he has wide latitude to situation his boss, who has described herself arsenic a “radical centrist” and embraced nan moniker “Zionist fanatic.”

“When it comes to Bari Weiss, she’s nan editor successful chief, she runs a 9 a.m. gathering and has tons of ideas,” he said. “When we for illustration nan idea, we usage it. If we don’t and if it doesn’t activity for our show, we don’t.”

He besides maintained that Ellison — who precocious hosted President Trump for a backstage dinner arsenic Paramount sought federal support to get Warner Bros. Discovery — has ne'er interfered successful his editorial decisions.

“I’ve ne'er met David Ellison,” Dokoupil said. “He’s ne'er had a remark astir my show. He’s ne'er called maine to kick astir coverage. If he tried to, it wouldn’t person an impact.”

One personification who does power him, Dokoupil said, is his wife, MS NOW analogous Katy Tur.

“If there’s immoderate whiff of fakery aliases capacity aliases inauthenticity, my beautiful woman will fto maine cognize astir it,” he said. “And I’ll get backmost to reality.”

His remarks travel arsenic critics person accused him of uncritically carrying retired Weiss’s directives and showing on-air bias, peculiarly successful sum of nan Trump management and Israel.

According to The New York Times, successful January, Weiss personally rewrote his first-ever on-air script astatine nan past minute. The conception past unraveled owed to a teleprompter malfunction. “First day, large problems here,” he told viewers.

In February, aft nan U.S. launched its warfare against Iran, Dokoupil interviewed Douglas Murray, a salient blimpish commentator and outspoken protagonist of Israel — a booking that reportedly raised concerns astir blurring nan statement betwixt sentiment and consecutive news.

In different broadcast, he aired a lighthearted conception connected Secretary of State Marco Rubio and a activity of memes astir him. At nan close, he said: “Marco Rubio, we salute you. You’re nan eventual Florida Man.”

He later told nan Journal nan remark was intended arsenic a joke — but said he would not repetition it.

Those incidents, on pinch others, have sparked pushback among immoderate successful nan newsroom. Earlier this year, aggregate existent and erstwhile CBS News staffers torched Dokoupil successful a Vanity Fair article, calling him a “useful idiot” who is “deeply lacking successful self-awareness.”

A web spokesperson defended him, describing Dokoupil arsenic “an exceptional talent and knowledgeable journalist,” while dismissing nan study arsenic based connected “old and mendacious rumors.”

Despite nan criticism, Dokoupil said he remains focused connected reshaping nan broadcast, telling nan Journal: “The ngo is to effort to alteration nan people of history astatine this peculiar broadcast.”

He pointed to declining nationalist spot successful mainstream media, a interest Weiss has besides raised.

“I deliberation each publicity has a spot problem,” he said. “If we’re nan yogurt industry, and 70% of group didn’t spot yogurt, it would beryllium a crisis. I deliberation it’s a situation for journalism.”

CBS Evening News continues to way its competitors, though ratings roseate 3 percent twelvemonth complete twelvemonth successful May, according to nan Journal, citing Nielsen data.