‘CBS Mornings’ Interview With Ta-Nehisi Coates Did Not Meet Editorial Standards, CBS News Execs Tell Staff

A contentious interview last week on CBS Mornings did not meet the network’s editorial standards.

That was a message shared by CBS News brass to staff in an editorial meeting Monday.

Last week’s interview saw CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil speak with author Ta-Nehisi Coates about his new book The Message, which passionately argues that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians is immoral and should be condemned.

The interview was contentious, but civil, with Dokoupil asking pointed questions of Coates like “Why leave out that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it?” and comments like “I have to say, when I read the book, I imagine if I took your name out of it, took away the awards, the acclaim… the content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.”

Not surprisingly given the high emotional stakes of anything that involves Israel and Palestine, the interview garnered a strong reaction online, and within CBS News, with some arguing that the tough questions were justified, and others arguing that Dokoupil’s personal views were a factor.

Ultimately, the tone of Dokoupil’s interview was what warranted a response from CBS News executives Wendy McMahon and Adrienne Roark, who heads newsgathering. The executives told CBS staff that the interview did not meet the network’s editorial standards.

“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,” Roark told staff, according to a recording of the meeting published by Bari Weiss’ The Free Press (it is worth noting that Weiss, a former New York Times columnist, has made mainsteam media outlets a frequent target of her venture). It is also worth noting that the comments came on Oct. 7, the one year anniversary of the Hamas attacks, a case of extraordinarily unfortunate timing.

Ultimately, the executives also received pushback from CBS chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford, who said “it sounds like we are calling out one of our anchors in a somewhat public setting on this call for failing to meet editorial standards for, I’m not even sure what.”

“I thought our commitment was to truth. And when someone comes on our air with a one-sided account of a very complex situation, as Coates himself acknowledges that he has, it’s my understanding that as journalists we are obligated to challenge that worldview so that our viewers can have that access to the truth or a fuller account, a more balanced account,” Crawford continued. “And, to me, that is what Tony did.”

Coates himself was asked about the CBS interview by Mehdi Hasan, telling him “I was a little surprised, and then I realized what was going on, I was in a fight,” he said.

“So it was right there, you know, as a pop quiz, but I had studied,” he continued.