A controversial interview last week on CBS Morning did not meet the network's editorial standards.
That was a message CBS News brass shared with staff in an editorial meeting Monday.
Last week's interview saw CBS Morning co-host Tony Dokoupil talks with author Ta-Nehisi Coates about his new book The messagewho passionately argues that Israel's treatment of Palestinians is immoral and should be condemned.
The interview was contentious, but civil, with Dokoupil asking Coates pointed questions such as: “Why leave out the fact that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it?” and comments like, “I have to say, when I read the book, I imagine if I took your name off it, took away the awards, the acclaim… the contents of that section wouldn't be out of place in an extremist's backpack.” .
Not surprisingly, given the high emotional stakes of anything involving Israel and Palestine, the interview garnered a strong reaction online and within CBS News, with some arguing that the tough questions were warranted, and others that Dokoupil's personal views were a factor.
Ultimately, the tone of Dokoupil's interview was what warranted a response from CBS News executives Wendy McMahon and Adrienne Roark, who head newsgathering. Executives told CBS staff that the interview did not meet the network's editorial standards.
“We will still ask tough questions. We will continue to hold people accountable. But we will do it objectively, which means checking our biases and opinions at the door,” Roark told staff, according to a recording of the meeting published by Bari Weiss' The free press (It's worth noting that Weiss, a former New York Times columnist, has made the mainstream media a frequent target of his enterprise). It's also worth noting that the comments came on October 7, the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attacks, a case of extraordinarily unfortunate timing.
Ultimately, the executives also received pushback from CBS chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford, who said, “It appears we are calling out one of our anchors in a fairly public context for this call for failing to meet editorial standards why, I'm not even sure what.
“I thought our commitment was to the truth. And when someone goes on air with a one-sided account of a very complex situation, as Coates himself admits he has done, I understand that as journalists we are obligated to challenge that worldview so that our viewers can have access to the world. truth or a fuller account, a more balanced account,” Crawford continued. “And, to me, that's what Tony did.”
Coates himself was later questioned by Mehdi Hasan about the CBS interview, with the author replying: “I was a little surprised, and then I realized what was happening, I was in a fight.
“So it was just there, you know, like a pop quiz, but I had studied,” he continued.