5 months ago
As Tony Dokoupil gears up to return nan reins of CBS Evening News connected Jan. 5, he has released a New Year’s Day connection pledging transparancy and restoring spot successful bequest media, and promising independency from politicians and firm interests.
“You travel first,” Dokoupil says successful his video message. “Not advertisers. Not politicians. Not firm interests. And, yes, that does see nan firm owners of CBS [Paramount Skydance]. I study for you.”
Dokoupil was confirmed past period arsenic nan adjacent CBS Evening News anchor nether caller editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. He succeeds John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, who announced their departures aft little than a twelvemonth anchoring nan broadcast.
Weiss has travel nether harsh disapproval astir precocious over her determination to propulsion a planned 60 Minutes segment highly adjacent to its aerial day connected nan Trump administration’s deportation of migrants to a harsh situation successful El Salvador. The analogous connected nan story, Sharyn Alfonsi, slammed nan determination successful a memo to colleagues, calling it “political” and a lawsuit of firm interference.
Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison besides faced scrutiny for settling a Trump suit complete a anterior 60 Minutes interview and making promises of balanced coverage.
You tin publication Dokoupil’s complete connection and spot nan video below.
A batch has changed since nan first personification sat successful nan Evening News chair. For me, nan biggest quality is this: group don’t spot america for illustration they utilized to.
And it’s not conscionable us. It’s each bequest media.
I get it. I’ve been proceeding astir it from conscionable astir everybody, for much than 20 years, arsenic I’ve traveled America connected assignment. My mom’s neighbors successful West Virginia. My ain neighbors successful New York City. Thousands of conversations successful between.
Sometimes they want to talk to maine astir our sum of NAFTA aliases nan Iraq War. Other times, it’s astir Hillary Clinton’s emails aliases Russiagate. Or much recently, COVID lockdowns, Hunter Biden’s laptop aliases nan president’s fittingness for office.
The constituent is that connected excessively galore stories nan property missed nan story. Because we’ve taken into relationship nan position of advocates and not nan mean American. Or we put excessively overmuch weight successful nan study of academics aliases elites, and not capable connected you.
I cognize this because, astatine definite points, I person been you. I person felt that measurement too. I person felt for illustration what I was seeing and proceeding connected nan news didn’t bespeak what I was seeing and proceeding successful my ain life. And that nan astir urgent questions simply weren’t being asked.
So here’s my committedness to you arsenic agelong arsenic I beryllium successful this chair: you travel first. Not advertisers. Not politicians. Not firm interests. And, yes, that does see nan firm owners of CBS.
I study for you.
Which intends I show you what I know, erstwhile I cognize it and really I cognize it. And erstwhile I get it wrong, I’ll show you that too. It besides intends I’m going to talk to everybody, and clasp everyone successful nationalist life to nan aforesaid standard. And because I became a journalist to talk to people. I emotion talking to group astir what useful successful this country, what doesn’t, and not only what should change, but nan bully ideas that ne'er should.
I deliberation telling nan truth is 1 of them.
Hold maine to it.
