CBS staff are scared to speak up for a Jewish colleague caught up in an impartiality row for fear of being “ostracised” by their bosses, insiders have claimed.
The network has been thrown into turmoil over an interview by Tony Dokoupil, one of its morning news anchors, after he was criticised by executives for showing bias towards Israel. In the interview, with the pro-Palestinian author Ta-Nehisi Coates, Mr Dokoupil said his comments about Gaza “would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist” and asked: “What is it that so particularly offends you about the existence of a Jewish state that is a Jewish safe place?” He was later admonished on an all-staff call, where executives said the interview had not met the network’s impartiality standards. Sources on the show said Mr Dokoupil had previously been criticised internally for showing bias towards Israel.
However, CBS News bosses were then criticised for the intervention, including by the CEO of the network’s parent company, who said it was a “mistake” and that the interview had been a model of “civil discourse”.
An ally of Mr Dokoupil told The Telegraph that staff were now afraid to come to his defence because they feared being sidelined by executives.
One source at the network said that the anchor’s critics in the newsroom had made assumptions about his views on Israel, and established a narrative about his reporting that others were afraid to challenge.
They said most staff supported the interview, but feared reprisals for speaking up for their colleague because senior bosses had closed ranks in the face of public scrutiny. CBS News is embroiled in several impartiality controversies, with Donald Trump claiming that it favourably edited an interview with Kamala Harris on Monday to improve her answers.
A preview clip of the vice-president offering a vague “word salad” answer on the Middle East was edited out of her interview on “60 Minutes”, the network’s flagship magazine show.
You didn't read it apparently.