Tony Dokoupil is transferring from mornings to evenings at CBS Information.
Dokoupil, at the moment the co-host of “CBS Mornings,” has signed a brand new deal to take over as anchor of “CBS Night Information.” His new function was introduced Wednesday.
The information division’s signature program is returning to a solo anchor format after pairing John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois over the final yr. Each Dickerson and DuBois are departing CBS Information later this month.
The appointment of Dokoupil doesn’t level to a serious change in route on the program. Dokoupil, who has been with CBS Information since 2016 after three years at NBC, turned co-host at CBS Mornings in 2019.
Bari Weiss, the just lately appointed editor in chief at CBS Information, reportedly expressed a need to herald an out of doors title, together with Bret Baier, the Washington-based anchor at conservative-leaning Fox Information. CNN’s Anderson Cooper was additionally mentioned internally, however he selected to signal a brand new cope with his community. Baier’s present deal at Fox Information runs via 2028.
“We dwell in a time by which many individuals have misplaced belief within the media. Tony Dokoupil is the individual to win it again,” Weiss mentioned in a press release. “That’s as a result of he believes in old fashioned journalistic values: asking the laborious questions, following the information wherever they lead and holding energy to account. Individuals hungry for equity will see that on show evening after evening.”
The Free Press, the digital information web site co-founded by Weiss and bought by Paramount, vigorously defended Dokoupil final yr when he was on the heart of controversy over an aggressive on-air interview he performed with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates final yr.
Dokoupil was admonished in an editorial assembly for a way he questioned Coates about his new ebook, “The Message,” which examines the Israel-Gaza battle. CBS Information management mentioned on the decision that the interview didn’t meet the corporate’s editorial requirements after receiving quite a few complaints from staffers.
A recording of the assembly was posted on the Free Press web site.
“It’s journalists like Tony Dokoupil who’re an endangered species in legacy information organizations, that are wilting to the pressures of this new elite consensus,” the editors of the Free Press wrote on the matter.
Shari Redstone, the previous majority shareholder in CBS Information mum or dad Paramount, additionally publicly expressed her assist for Dokoupil on the time. She mentioned CBS Information executives made “a nasty mistake” of their dealing with of the matter. Each executives who led the editorial name, Wendy McMahon and Adrienne Roark, are not with the community.
