CBS and its DEI-infused News Race and Culture Unit came under the microscope recently after “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil interviewed author Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Dokoupil was forced into a Mao struggle session with his bosses after colleagues complained that Dokoupil pushed Coates too hard on the anti-Israel slant of his latest book.
During the interview, Dokoupil also asked Coates whether he believed Israel even had a right to exist at all.
That was apparently too much for the powers that be.
The Free Press reports,“During its editorial meeting on Monday at 9 a.m.—the morning of October 7—the network’s top brass all but apologized for the interview to staff, saying that it did not meet the company’s ‘editorial standards.’ After being introduced by Wendy McMahon, the head of CBS News, Adrienne Roark, who is in charge of news gathering at the network, began her remarks by saying covering a story like October 7 “requires empathy, respect, and a commitment to truth.”
The New York Post reported that Dokoupi was forced to apologize for doing journalism.
An insider told The Post, “Tony said he regretted putting his colleagues in that position especially the ones overseas and in danger.”
Ex-CNN anchor Lemon addressed the controversy on his YouTube show and ripped the network for embarrassing its anchor.
He posits that instead of treating Dokoupil so poorly, corporate leaders should have praised the interview as an example of “good journalism.”
Lemon said, “CBS should have responded, saying this is good journalism and this will spark another conversation and this is what we do at CBS News instead of, like, embarrassing their anchor and doing a whole DEI, you know, thing.”
He added, “They could have handled it in the best way. They could have had the conversation out in the open with the very people who were doing it and then others.”
“Why are the inmates running the asylum?”
Lemon said that it is possible to listen to internal criticism and yet still stand by its anchor.
“[What ]you do is say, ‘this is great. This is what journalism is supposed to be. It’s not supposed to be perfect.’”
“Sometimes it’s messy. Conversations are messy, and often times, in those messy conversations, you come to a consensus. Otherwise, if you’re afraid to have those conversations and you over-censor them, then you get nothing. What’s the point?”
“Stay out of it and let the journalists do the journalism,” he added.
