CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil told his assembled colleagues that he regretted the dispute over his fiery interview with a pro-Palestinian writer, saying it could have left some of them in danger.
Network bosses criticized the CBS Mornings host for bringing his “bias” to the screen after he told bestselling author Ta-Nehsi Coates that his essays on Palestinians “wouldn’t be out of place in an extremist’s backpack.” “.
Chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford was among the stars who defended Dokoupil on Monday, insisting that journalists were “obliged to question” controversial opinions.
But sources admitted the network remained deeply divided on the issue after another “tearful” staff meeting on Tuesday, where Dokoupil addressed his colleagues for the first time.
“Tony said he was sorry for putting his colleagues in that position, especially those who are overseas and in danger,” said one of the New York Post.
CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil (right) criticized author Ta-Nehisi Coates (left) for “delegitimizing” Israel’s right to exist.
CBS newsgathering and editorial president Adrienne Roark sharply criticized Dokoupil in a staff meeting for failing to check his “biases and opinions at the door.”
Coates was invited on the show to talk about his new book ‘The Message’, a collection of essays based on his conversations with Palestinians living in Israel and the West Bank.
Dokoupil, whose ex-wife and children live in Israel, accused him of undermining the country’s right to exist and demanded to know why pro-Israel voices were not included.
“The contents of that section would not be out of place in an extremist’s backpack,” he told his guest.
‘Why leave aside the fact that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it? Why leave out the fact that Israel deals with terrorist groups that want to eliminate it?
Coates insisted that there was no shortage of pro-Israel voices in the American media and that he was trying to tell “those stories I haven’t heard.”
Dokoupil doubled down, stating that people who read ‘The Message’ will come away believing that Israel is a horrible place that should not exist.
“What I wrestled with throughout this book, what is it that particularly offends you about the existence of a Jewish state that is a safe Jewish place and not any of the other states that exist?” he asked. .
‘If Israel has a right to exist, and if your answer is no, then I guess the question is why do Palestinians have a right to exist?
‘Why do 20 different Muslim countries have the right to exist?’
Co-hosts Gayle King and Nate Burleson remained silent during the six-minute exchange, and some staffers expressed anger at remaining tight-lipped.
Jan Crawford, the network’s chief legal correspondent, led Dokoupil’s defense and said she didn’t see why his questioning of Coates’ stance on Israel was a problem.
Coates responded: ‘There is nothing that offends me in a Jewish state. I am offended by the idea of states built on ethnocracy, no matter where they are located.
‘I would not want a State in which any group of people establishes their citizenship rights based on their ethnic origin. ‘Either apartheid is right or it is wrong. It’s really very simple.
“I am against a state that discriminates against people on ethnic grounds.”
Coates appeared on CBS Mornings to talk about his new book ‘The Message’, a collection of essays, including one about his visit to Palestine.
Co-hosts Gayle King and Nate Burleson remained silent during the six-minute exchange, and some staffers expressed anger at Tuesday’s meeting that they continued to keep their mouths shut on the matter.
Dokoupil had a private meeting with the couple on Monday before CBS News chief Wendy McMahon and president of content development Adrienne Roark rallied the staff to take him over the coals.
“We will continue to hold people accountable,” Roark said. “But we will do it objectively, which means checking our biases and opinions at the door.”
He said the interview did not “meet our editorial standards” and added that “the issue has been addressed and will continue to be in the future.”
But some staff were furious that the Jewish journalist was criticized for doing his job.
“It feels like we’re criticizing one of our presenters in a somewhat public setting on this call for not meeting editorial standards, I’m not even sure what,” Crawford said at the meeting.
‘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 acknowledges, I understand that as journalists we are obliged to challenge that worldview so that our viewers can have that access to the truth or a story. more complete, a more balanced story.
“And, to me, that’s what Tony did.”
But a CBS employee told the Post that the acclaimed author should not have been allowed on the network to air pro-Palestinian views and accuse Israel of apartheid.
“This is more of a failure of CBS News to read books and evaluate whether they should promote them,” he added.
“I think Tony did what every good journalist is supposed to do: make sure both sides are represented in an argument.”
And Coates himself came to Dokoupil’s defense on Tuesday, insisting: “I really don’t have a problem with a difficult interview.”
“I knew when I wrote it that I would be confronted,” he said. Democracy now.
‘Was he rude? Was it aggressive? “I can’t really go into that, it’s not something I think about too much,” he added.
“However, the question I would ask is how often, in any major news organization, do you see someone who is a defender of the Israeli state project be confronted in that way?”