CBS staff in uproar after co-host called author an ‘extremist’

Ahead of their blockbuster interview with Kamala Harris, CBS News has lurched into chaos over Tony Dokoupil’s (pictured right) tense interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates over the author’s anti-Israeli views in his new book. Dokoupil accused Coates of being an ‘extremist’ during a tense on-air chat about his latest release, ‘The Message’ on CBS This Morning.

CBS News’ CEO Wendy McMahon (pictured) 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 (pictured), a legal analyst for the network, called out CBS for their treatment of the anchor. ‘I don’t even understand how Tony’s interview failed to meet our editorial standards… I thought our commitment was to truth,’ Crawford said.

‘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,’ she told Puck.

McMahon and Adrienne Roark, the president of content development for the news division, believes Dokoupil failed to cover for his own bias. ‘We will still hold people accountable. But we will do so objectively, which means checking our biases and opinions at the door,’ she said, according to The Free Press. ‘We are here to report news without fear or favor.’

A CBS News source told the New York Post that they felt the network didn’t do their due diligence ahead of Coates’ appearance. ‘This is more a failure of CBS News not reading books and evaluating if they should be promoting them. I think Tony did what every good journalist is supposed to do — make sure that both sides are represented in a discussion.’ CBS News has made no public comment about the interview or the reaction to it.

Among anecdotes of Coates’ visits to Africa, ‘The Message’ shares the voices of Palestinians on the West Bank. Dokoupil was quick to criticize the author for not including an Israeli perspective in his work claiming it delegitimizes the pillars of the country. ‘The content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist,’ Dokoupil said. ‘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? ‘Is it because you just don’t believe that Israel in any condition has a right to exist?’

Coates defended his book saying it is his goal to give a voice to the voiceless and there is already enough pro-Israel perspective in mainstream media. ‘I would say the perspective that you just outlined, there is no shortage of that perspective in American media,’ he said. ‘The reporters of those who believe most sympathetically about Israel and it’s right to exist don’t have a problem getting their voice out. 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 South Hebron Hills, those were the stories that I have not heard and those were the stories that I was most occupied with.’

Dokopuil doubled down claiming people who read ‘The Message’ will finish it believing Israel is a horrible place that should not exist. ‘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 South Hebron Hills, those were the stories that I have not heard and those were the stories that I was most occupied with. What I struggled with throughout this book, what is it that so particularly offends you about the existence of a Jewish state that is a Jewish safe place and not any of the other states out there,’ he said. ‘If Israel has a right to exist, and if your answer is no, then I guess the question becomes why do the Palestinians have a right to exist? Why do 20 different Muslim countries have a right to exist?’

Coates fired back: ‘There’s nothing that offends me about a Jewish state. I am offended by the idea of states built on ethnocracy, no matter where they are. I would not want a state where any group of people lay down their citizenship rights based on ethnicity. Either apartheid is right or it’s wrong. It’s really, really simple. Either what I saw was right or it’s wrong. I am against a state that discriminates against people on the base of ethnicity. I’m against that. There is nothing the Palestinians could do that would make that okay for me.’ Gayle King attempted to smooth the conversation over by giving Coates 20 seconds before the end of the segment to simply talk about the message of his book. The interview left viewers divided with some quick to slam Dokopuil for his line of questioning and accuse him of being racist. Others commended Dokopuil for asking the difficult questions.

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