On September 30th, anti-Israel author Ta-Nehisi Coates sat down for what turned out to be a spirited six-and-a-half-minute interview on CBS Mornings, during which co-anchor Tony Dokoupil challenged some of the claims made in Coates’ new book, “The Message.”
The book contains several essays about some of Coates’ travels, with the longest one being about his trip “to Palestine.” It was claims made in that essay that Dokoupil zeroed in on for closer examination during their exchange:
“I have to say, when I read the book, I imagine if I took your name out of it, took away the awards, the acclaim, took the cover off the book, publishing house goes away, the content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist,” Dokoupil said.”So then I found myself wondering, why does Ta’Nehisi Coates, who I’ve known for a long time, read his work for a long time, very talented, smart guy, leave out so much? Why leave out that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it? Why leave out that Israel deals with terror groups that want to eliminate it? Why not detail anything of the first and the second Intifada, the café bombings, the bus bombings, the little kids blown to bits. Is it because you just don’t believe that Israel in any condition has a right to exist?” the CBS anchor continued.
Perhaps because Coates’ word is viewed as sacrosanct by woke leftists in the media, academia, and beyond despite his deeply flawed logic on issues like reparations, eruptions began almost immediately in the CBS newsroom, with tensions boiling over a week later during an editorial call:
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.”
After quoting extensively from the CBS News handbook, she said, “We will still ask tough questions. We will still hold people accountable. But we will do so objectively, which means checking our biases and opinions at the door.”
Listen to portions of that call below (starts at around the :45 mark):
Presumably, the “bias” accusations stem from the fact that, according to the New York Post, Dokoupil is “a convert to Judaism whose ex-wife lives in Israel along with their two children.”
But back to the Monday call, one brave member of the news team, Jan Crawford, spoke up in defense of Dokoupil, correctly pointing out that asking tough questions and challenging the premises of people in positions of influence and/or power is what reporters are supposed to do:
“I don’t even understand how Tony’s interview failed to meet our editorial standards… I thought our commitment was to truth. When someone comes on our air with a one-sided account of very complex situation—which Coates himself acknowledges that he has—it’s my understanding that as a journalist we are obligated to challenge that worldview, so that our viewers can have access to the truth and can have a more balanced account…””… And that is what Tony did. He challenged Coates’ one-sided worldview, Coates got to respond. It was civil… I don’t see how we can say that it failed to meet our editorial standards…. Tony prevented a one-sided account from being broadcast on our network about a deeply complex situation that completely was devoid of history or fact. As journalists, that’s what we have an obligation to do.”
But the powers that be at CBS News would not be swayed. In response to the uproar, they invited a DEI expert, Dr. Donald Grant, to come in and soothe ruffled feathers. But that idea soon got nixed after social media sleuths discovered some rather eye-opening posts from Grant:
Originally, CBS News had invited a self-described “mental health expert, DEI strategist, and trauma trainer” named Dr. Donald Grant to moderate a conversation on the issue in an all-staff meeting on Tuesday. That plan was scrapped after old social media posts from Dr. Grant surfaced—including one where he referred to South Carolina senator Tim Scott as “Uncle Tim” (a reference to “Uncle Tom”) and another of him describing a possible second Trump term as “MAGAcide” and the “death of a nation.” Seems like just the guy you should call when you want to smooth things over. (A source close to the drama told The Free Press that the network was “humiliated by his Instagram.”)
The Free Press went on to report that the Tuesday staff meeting still went on but that there was yelling and tears involved:
One source familiar with the proceedings suggested it was a “shit show,” with various employees “yelling.” Shawna Thomas, the show’s executive producer, was in tears. So was Dokoupil.
There was an open debate in the meeting about whether it is “fair to talk about whether Israel should exist at all.” There are some people at CBS who think that “Israel’s existence as a state should be part of fair conversation,” said one CBS source. Can you imagine journalists having that conversation about any other country?
And as it turns out, in addition to Crawford, Dokoupil has more defenders, including those in very high places:
Shari Redstone, the chair of CBS parent company Paramount Global, said Wednesday that CBS leadership made a “bad mistake” with their handling of “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil’s contentious interview last week with author Ta-Nehisi Coates.
[…]
“I think Tony did a great job with that interview. I think he handled himself and showed the world and modeled what civil discourse is. He showed that there was accountability, that there is a system of checks and balances, and frankly, I was very proud of the work that he did,” Redstone said Wednesday during a panel at Advertising Week in New York.
Redstone also argued that the situation was “not handled correctly” by the CBS News higher-ups and said that “something needs to be done,” though she didn’t specify exactly what.
Reactions:
The full interview is below for anyone who wants to watch it and form their own opinions on how it went down:
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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