CBS News host clashes with journalist about new book on Israel in tense interview
CBS Mornings anchor Tony Dokoupil pressed author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates on whether he believed Israel had a right to exist in a Monday interview.
CBS News host Tony Dokoupil has reportedly expressed regret to colleagues over how he handled last week's interview with an anti-Israel writer.
The New York Post reported Tuesday that CBS News held an "emotional meeting" with network staffers led by "CBS Mornings" executive producer Shawna Thomas following the internal blowback Dokoupil has faced following his exchange with "The Message" author Ta-Nehisi Coates.
"Tony said he regretted putting his colleagues in that position especially the ones overseas and in danger," one CBS insider told The Post, telling the paper that the host didn't walk back the questions he asked.
"There were tears. [People were] very upset," the insider added, telling The Post that staffers were "divided" on the Israel-Hamas war and how they were "troubled" by Dokoupil's line of questioning.
Author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates was grilled about his views on Israel's right to exist by CBS anchor Tony Dokoupil, in an interview last week. (CBS/Screenshot)
Another insider told The Post that Black staffers were "critical" of Dokoupil's co-hosts Gayle King and Nate Burleson, who had "remained tight-lipped about the matter," according to the report.
CBS News declined to comment.
CBS News' Tony Dokoupil reportedly expressed regret over how he handled his exchange with Ta-Nehisi Coates. (Michele Crowe/CBS via Getty Images))
While a source familiar with the matter told Fox News Digital that Dokoupil wasn't being punished for the interview, CBS News forced the Jewish anchor to meet with the network’s in-house Race and Culture Unit following complaints.
The CBS News Race and Culture Unit has "a four-pronged role at CBS News and Stations as a reviewer, an incubator, a producer and a library," according to the CBS website.
The unit sees its primary role as a reviewer to "ensure all stories have the proper context, tone and intention."
CBS News staffers have been outraged over Dokoupil's handling of the Coates interview. (Getty Images)
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CBS leadership reassured offended staff members that following a review, they concluded that the interview did not meet the company’s "editorial standards," the Free Press reported, which obtained audio of the staff meeting.
"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," CBS News news-gathering chief Adrienne Roark said during the meeting.
In 2014, Dokoupil wrote about his conversion to Judaism in a New Republic piece.
Fox News' Brian Flood and Yael Halon contributed to this report.
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