CBS Is Embarrassing Itself

Network staffers and insiders are so far unimpressed with Tony Dokoupil’s “embarrassing” debut as the new CBS Evening News anchor, raging about the program’s “MAGA” pivot and all agreeing that Dokoupil is practicing “journalism malpractice” by spouting pro-Trump propaganda. “It’s state TV,” one network staffer declared.

 Dokoupil embarrassed himself further this week by sucking up to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and regurgitating right-wing propaganda about the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Discussing Rubio’s role in the abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and the administration’s widely criticized rhetoric about taking over Greenland, Dokoupil's use of AI-generated memes lionizing Rubio generating considerable mocking by most observers.  “Marco Rubio, we salute you,” Dokoupil said in one of his most pathetic exchanges. “You’re the ultimate Florida man.”

On the same edition of the program, Dokoupil reported on the fifth anniversary of Trump supporter’s January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. But instead of accurately stating the facts of the story, he portrayed the Trump administration’s revisionist history of the riot as merely the other side of the story. “President Trump today accused Democrats of failing to prevent the attack on the Capitol, while House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries accused the president of ‘whitewashing it,’” Dokoupil said.  "High-profile CBS News staffers were aghast when Dokoupil's brief mention of the Jan. 6 anniversary was a both-sides mess,” CNN’s Brian Stelter reported on Wednesday,

The perennially third-place show is already racked by internal chaos, which included last-minute changes by Weiss and the optics of Dokoupil using a private plane to bounce from city-to-city on a “Live From America” tour.  The network’s initial debut plans had to be scrapped due to the invasion of Venezuela and capture of deposed leader Nicolás Maduro. 

Dokoupil’s pro-administration propaganda is part of CBS News’ right-wing restructuring under new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, a conservative activist.  Late last year, CBS recently came under widespread criticism after it abruptly shelved a “60 Minutes” report on the Trump administration’s use of a notorious prison in El Salvador.

Weiss has also worked to purge the networks standards department.

Democrats have warned CBS’ parent company, Paramount, that it will likely become the subject of investigations under a Democratic House majority after Paramount chose to pay Trump a multimillion-dollar bribe near the beginning of his new term. The network settled a frivolous lawsuit brought by Trump, and soon after, the administration approved a merger between Paramount and Skydance.

CBS also chose to cancel “The Late Show,” hosted by longtime Trump critic Stephen Colbert.

With the recently installed Dokoupil leading the network’s key news show, the content already sounds more like the right-wing rantings of Fox News than the historic journalism the outlet was known for.  Walter Cronkite must be rolling over in his grave.