Tony Dokoupil’s arrival in his new role has been anything but quiet.
Within his first week, he released a detailed plan for his approach to the position, made a veiled criticism of his revered predecessor Walter Cronkite, experienced an unforeseen first show heavily focused on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and shared an awkward video featuring people struggling to say his name correctly.
If the goal is to generate attention for a struggling television institution, Dokoupil has certainly achieved that. However, it remains to be seen if it is the right kind of attention.
The 45-year-old Dokoupil, a “CBS Mornings” host since 2019, now holds the position once filled by Cronkite, Dan Rather, Katie Couric, Scott Pelley, and Norah O’Donnell. His tenure was scheduled to begin Monday with a nationwide tour, but his inaugural broadcast unexpectedly took place on Saturday instead.
During Cronkite’s final year as anchor in 1980, the “CBS Evening News” was the top-rated program among the three major networks, drawing an estimated 27 to 29 million viewers nightly. The broadcast is now consistently in third place. With modern news consumption habits, its average audience of 4.04 million people last year was just over half the viewership of ABC’s broadcast with David Muir.
‘The press missed the story’
In video and written statements shared last week, Dokoupil expressed his intention to regain the trust in traditional media that many people have lost.
“On too many stories, the press missed the story,” he stated. “Because we’ve taken into account the perspective of advocates, and not the average American, or we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites, and not enough on you.”
He promised viewers that “you come first. Not advertisers. Not politicians. Not corporate interests. And, yes, that does include the corporate owners of CBS. I report for you.”
The specific instances where Dokoupil believed “elite” analysis led the country wrong were not specified. CBS reported that he broadcast from Miami on Tuesday, starting his national tour a day behind schedule, and was unavailable for further comment.
He also outlined five “simple values” for the newscast. Four are relatively uncontroversial: “we work for you,” “we report on the world as it is,” “we respect you,” and “we respect tradition, but we also believe in the future.”
The fifth value, “We love America,” also appears straightforward but sparked significant online discussion. Many commentators expressed suspicion that it indicated a push by Dokoupil’s boss, Free Press founder, to shift the news division’s focus further to the right. The Daily Beast labeled Dokoupil as CBS’s “MAGA-coded anchor.”
In her Substack column American Crisis, press critic Margaret Sullivan wrote that loving America requires no apology, though the meaning depends on how it is defined.
“Then again, I think we may have a different definition of how journalists can show their patriotism,” Sullivan said. “No American flag pins on lapels are necessary. No jingoistic headlines about illegal raids are welcome. And, please, no fawning interviews of people in powerful positions.”
Should news really be a daily conversation?
Half of Dokoupil’s weekend premiere was dedicated to his interview with Hegseth, who remained for two commercial breaks. Such a lengthy one-on-one interview is uncommon for a program designed to summarize the day’s major events, especially on a busy news day, and critics gave the anchor mixed reviews, suggesting he could have challenged the defense secretary more vigorously.
CBS’s access to the Trump administration was evident in Tuesday’s Miami broadcast, which featured an interview with the Homeland Security Secretary. The program concluded with a segment on Secretary of State.
“For Rubio’s hometown fans, which are many around here in Miami, it is a sign of how Florida, once an American punchline, has become a leader on the world stage,” Dokoupil said at the end of the newscast. “Marco Rubio, we salute you. You’re the ultimate Florida man.”
Columbia University journalism professor Bill Grueskin took issue with Dokoupil’s description of the show as a daily conversation about “where we are as a country and where we are going.”
Grueskin posted on X: “News is not a ‘daily conversation.’ News is news. If you want a daily conversation, go to your local coffee shop.”
Dokoupil’s remarks appear to reflect a sentiment expressed by his boss, Weiss, upon her appointment last fall: “On the one hand, an America-loathing far left. On the other, a history-erasing far right. These extremes do not represent the majority of the country, but they have increasing power in our politics, our culture and our media ecosystem.”
Tim Graham, director of media analysis for the conservative Media Research Center, told The Associated Press he sees encouraging indications that Dokoupil will hold politicians from both parties accountable. His organization has long argued that CBS News has a left-wing bias.
Sean Spicer, Trump’s first White House press secretary, is more doubtful. He views Dokoupil’s introduction as a marketing effort to distance him from his recent years co-hosting the morning show with Gayle King.
“It’s an attempt to gaslight people into thinking that he wasn’t already a part of this institution,” said Spicer, who is launching his own political news program, “The Huddle,” on streaming services this week.
Dokoupil’s comment about Cronkite was in response to a viewer who wrote, “I grew up on Cronkite. Too bad CBS has lost its shine. But good luck to you anyway.”
The new anchor replied: “I can promise you that we’ll be more accountable and more transparent than Cronkite or anyone else of that era.”
This statement upset admirers of the newsman once known in polls as “the most trusted man in America.”
“I knew Walter Cronkite. I was his producer,” said Tom Bettag, a University of Maryland journalism professor and longtime news executive who worked with Cronkite during his final two years as anchor. “Walter Cronkite would have never said something so self-serving.”
The second signal of Dokoupil’s reference to Cronkite
Whether intentional or not, Dokoupil sent another message. Cronkite is not viewed as a hero by many conservatives who remember him as the leading symbol of a left-leaning news establishment.
Another promotional video, which showed Dokoupil in New York’s Grand Central Terminal asking people to pronounce his name (do-KOO’-pil), highlighted how few people recognized the CBS News chief anchor. It is highly unlikely Cronkite would have attempted such a stunt, but he would undoubtedly have been recognized.
Drawing on his extensive experience in television news, Bettag advised giving Dokoupil time.
“I definitely think it’s way too early to make a judgment on how he’s going to be, and I wish him all the luck in the world,” he stated. “CBS needs him to succeed. It was a lousy start and some missed opportunities, but that should not be the final judgment.”