The Dokoupil Doctrine

Earlier this week, as Tony Dokoupil prepares to embark on a nationwide tour ahead of his debut as anchor of the “CBS Evening News,” the longtime morning show co-host released a promotional video for viewers, framing his mission around one central goal: restoring trust.

“A lot has changed since the first person sat in the ‘Evening News’ chair,” Dokoupil said. “For me, the biggest difference is this: people don’t trust us like they used to. And it’s not just us. It’s all legacy media.”

Dokoupil, who officially takes over the venerable program at the David Ellison-owned network on January 5, pointed to a familiar list of grievances he said people regularly raise with him as evidence of that distrust, including coverage of Hillary Clinton’s emails, “Russiagate,” Covid lockdowns, Hunter Biden’s laptop, and the president’s fitness for office.

“On too many stories, the press has missed the story,” he declared. “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.”

Dokoupil, appointed to the prestigious anchor chair by new Editor-In-Chief Bari Weiss, said he agreed with those critics. “I have felt that way too,” he said. “I have felt like what I was seeing and hearing on the news didn’t reflect what I was seeing and hearing in my own life. And that the most urgent questions simply weren’t being asked.”

The message was a clear dog whistle to those on the right who have long nurtured grievances about news coverage that fails to comport with their worldview. Notably absent from Dokoupil’s accounting was any mention of recent controversies closer to home: Paramount’s $16 million settlement with Donald Trump over a “60 Minutes” interview, or Weiss’ decision to spike a “60 Minutes” piece examining the Trump administration’s deportations—another segment that will not air this Sunday.

If the goal of the message was to rebuild trust, it’s hard to say it was a success. Right-wing media personality Megyn Kelly shredded Dokoupil’s statement, telling her audience “nothing will happen at CBS,” “legacy media is dead,” and that the “evening news has been totally irrelevant for a long time.” Others in MAGA Media also shared her sentiment.

Meanwhile, journalists and media observers joined in criticizing Dokoupil’s framing.

“The audience is the average American but the validator of accuracy is not the audience,” wrote Nicholas Riccardi, a national political reporter for The Associated Press. “The customer is not always right, especially in the news business.”

Larry Sabato, the director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, was more scathing. “You wouldn’t want ‘academics and elites’ who have actually studied a subject to outweigh the off-the-cuff opinions of village idiots,” he wrote. “This is how we’re seeing the resurgence of measles and the widespread belief in almost non-existent vote fraud. Cronkite would be so very proud of you.”

To be sure, the mission to rebuild public trust is a worthy one. Confidence in the mainstream press has eroded amid years of sustained attacks from right-wing media and Republican officials. Rush Limbaugh built a career ridiculing journalists. Fox News, despite becoming the most-watched cable network, devotes countless hours to attacking “the media.” Trump and his allies have used journalists as a daily punching bag. Polling suggests the campaign has been effective and conservatives, in particular, now express little faith in the press.

But sidelining “academics and elites” who have spent decades studying subjects to develop a deep understanding in a field—a clear appeal to the MAGA audience—has already been tried across the industry, with grim results. CNN, The Washington Post, and the Los Angeles Times have all attempted similar recalibrations in attempts to win over conservative audiences, only to alienate core consumers, lose subscribers, and accelerate their decline.

That shift appears increasingly institutionalized at CBS. On Friday, the network unveiled five new “simple values,” replacing what it described as a 38-page handbook. Among them: “We love America. And make no apologies for saying so,” describing the country as “the last best hope on Earth.”

While the post was hammered by commenters as a loss of credibility, CBS executives would likely argue that the network will continue to cover wrongdoing by American officials in straightforward fashion, even when it reflects poorly on the country. But the state-media-like language still introduces a subtle tension. When American officials act illegally or abusively in the name of the nation, how should those actions be covered? A news organization’s loyalty should rest with facts and truth, not patriotic affirmation. At the very least, the language raises questions when covering international affairs, where correspondents can no longer claim objectivity when covering complicated matters and seeking interviews with U.S. critics.

Taken together, the statements from Dokoupil and CBS News offer the clearest picture yet of Weiss’ vision for the network: one that pushes aside subject matter experts while obnoxiously waving the American flag in front of viewers. Neither are typically associated with journalism. Indeed, the moves appear more closely aligned with appealing to conservative audiences than improving the network’s actual reporting.

CBS News now faces a stark choice. It can invest in reporting that is grounded in fact, or try to chase the approval of right-wing audiences by adopting the very rhetoric that has undermined it. The network’s messaging suggests it is leaning toward the latter. That strategy has failed before, and it is unlikely to work now. To be sure, viewers who still value the truth will flip the channel.