CBS News Determines That Tony Dokoupil’s Interview With Ta-Nehisi Coates Did Not Meet Editorial Standards

  Rassegna Stampa, Social
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CBS Mornings co-anchor Tony Dokoupil is currently under the public microscope for an interview that CBS News executives have now said did not meet the network’s editorial standards. The interview and the network’s response to it has inspired debate inside and outside of CBS over the last few days.

The inciting incident was Dokoupil’s conversation with author Ta-Naheisi Coates on CBS Mornings last Thursday. Coates appeared on the morning show to promote his new book The Message, which explores three global conflicts, including the one that caught DoKoupil’s attention—the current situation in Israel following last year’s Oct. 7 attacks. 

“I have to say when I read the book, I imagine if I took your name out of it… the content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist,” Dokoupil said to Coates at the start of their conversation, adding: “Why leave out that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it? Why leave out that Israel deals with terror groups that want to eliminate it?”

“There is no shortage of that perspective in American media,” Coates said in response, noting that he wanted to provide a viewpoint that is not commonly shared. (Dokoupil has previously said that his ex-wife and two children live in Israel.)

Clips from the occasionally tense interview later went viral on social media, with some voices criticizing Dokoupil’s approach, while others came to his defense.

During an editorial call on Monday, CBS News executives Wendy McMahon and Adrienne Roark were asked about the interview by network journalists who sources say expressed concerns about potential bias. McMahon and Roark indicated that the segment had been reviewed by the network’s standards and practices and race and culture units and subsequently determined that it did not meet CBS News’ editorial standards.

According to remarks from the call obtained by The Free Press, Roark said: “We will still ask tough questions. We will still hold people accountable. But we will do so objectively, which means checking our biases and opinions at the door.”

The Free Press also reported that CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford spoke up in Dokoupil’s defense, saying: “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. And, to me, that is what Tony did.”

On Monday, Puck’s Dylan Byers reported that CBS News plans to have an all-staff meeting about the interview that will be moderated by a mental health expert, a DEI strategist, as well as trauma trainer Dr. Donald Grant.

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