Ahead of their blockbuster interview with Kamala Harris, CBS News has been thrown into chaos over Tony Dokoupil’s tense interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates about the author’s anti-Israel views in his new book.
Dokoupil accused Coates of being an “extremist” during a tense broadcast about his latest release, “The Message” on CBS This Morning.
CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon reportedly dragged Dokoupil — who converted to Judaism and whose ex-wife and children live in Israel — over the coals, claiming he “did not meet editorial standards for impartiality.”
But Jan Crawford, a legal analyst for the network, called out CBS for their treatment of the anchor.
“I don’t even understand how Tony’s interview didn’t meet our editorial standards… I thought our commitment was to the truth,” Crawford said.
CBS News has been thrown into chaos following Tony Dokoupil’s (pictured right) tense interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates (pictured left) about the author’s anti-Israel views in his new book
“If someone comes on our broadcast with a one-sided account of a very complex situation – which Coates himself acknowledges having done – I understand that as journalists we have an obligation to challenge that worldview so that our viewers can have access to the truth and can get a more balanced story,” she said to Puck.
McMahon and Adrienne Roark, the news division’s chair of content development, believe Dokoupil has failed to hide his own bias.
“We will still hold people accountable. But we will do this objectively, which means checking our biases and opinions at the door,” she said The free press.
“We are here to report news without fear or favor.”
A CBS News source told the newspaper New York Post that they felt the network had not done their due diligence prior to Coates’ appearance.
“This is more of a mistake by CBS News not reading books and considering whether they should advertise them. I think Tony has done what any good journalist should do: make sure both sides are represented in an argument.”
CBS News has not commented publicly on the interview or the response to it.
Among the anecdotes of Coates’ visits to Africa, ‘The Message’ shares the voices of Palestinians in the West Bank.
Jan Crawford, a legal analyst for the network, called out the network for their treatment of the anchor
Coates defended his book, saying his goal is to give a voice to the voiceless
Dokoupil was quick to criticize the author for not including an Israeli perspective in his work, claiming it delegitimized the country’s pillars.
“The contents of that section would not look out of place in an extremist’s backpack,” Dokoupil said.
‘Why leave out the fact that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it? Why ignore the fact that Israel is dealing with terrorist groups that want to eliminate the country?
“Is it because you simply don’t believe that Israel has a right to exist under any circumstances?”
Coates defended his book, saying his goal is to give a voice to the voiceless, and that there are already plenty of pro-Israel perspectives in the mainstream media.
“I would say that the perspective that you just outlined, there is no shortage of that perspective in the American media,” he said.
“The reporters of those who believe most sympathetically about Israel and its right to exist have no problem making their voices heard.
“But what I saw in Palestine, what I saw in the West Bank, what I saw in Haifa in Israel, what I saw in the hills of southern Hebron, those were the stories I didn’t hear and those were the stories that I was. most concerned with it.’
CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon (pictured) and Adrienne Roark, the president of content development for the news division, believe Dokoupil has failed to hide his own bias
Dokoupil – whose two children and ex-wife live in Israel – was quick to criticize the author
Dokopuil doubled down, claiming that people who read “The Message” will finish it believing that Israel is a terrible place that should not exist.
“What I struggled with in this book is what is it that so particularly offends you about the existence of a Jewish state that is a Jewish safe place, and not one of the other states out there,” he said.
“If Israel has a right to exist, and if your answer is no, then I think the question becomes: why do the Palestinians have a right to exist? Why do twenty different Muslim countries have the right to exist?’
Coates fired back: “There is nothing that offends me about a Jewish state. I am offended by the idea of states built on ethnocracy, wherever they are. “I wouldn’t want a state where any group of people imposes their citizenship rights on the basis of ethnicity.”
‘Either apartheid is right, or it is wrong. It’s really very simple. Either what I saw was right, or it’s wrong. I am against a state that discriminates against people based on ethnicity. I’m against that. There is nothing the Palestinians can do to make that right for me.”
Gayle King tried to smooth the conversation over by giving Coates twenty seconds before the end of the segment to simply talk about the message of his book.
The interview divided viewers, with some quick to condemn Dokopuil for his questioning and accuse him of being racist. Others praised Dock Owl for asking the tough questions.