Shari Redstone blasts CBS vs. Tony Dokoupil after heated interview on ‘apartheid’ Israel: ‘Tony did a great job’

Shari Redstone, president of CBS Paramount Global, blasted the Tiffany network over its crackdown on “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil after his heated interview about Israel with author Ta-Nehisi Coates.

Dokoupil was reprimanded in a staff meeting Monday by CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon and her lieutenant Adrienne Roark for bringing his “bias” to the interview with Coates, who condemned Israel as an “apartheid” state in the book his new “The Message”. ”

In the September 30 interview, Dokoupil noted that the book “wouldn’t be out of place in an extremist’s backpack” and asked Coates if he believed Israel had a right to exist.

“I honestly think Tony did a great job with that interview,” Redstone said Wednesday at AdWeek’s annual conference in Midtown New York. “I was very proud of the work he did. Yes, as hard as I go against this company, I think they made a mistake here.”

Roark, president of content development for the news division, said Dokoupil’s interview did not meet CBS News’ “editorial standards” for impartiality, according to leaked audio reported by the Free Press.

“I just want to be clear that I worked with the CEO,” Redstone added. “I’ve worked with the woman who does a lot of our diversity training and I think we all agree that this has not been handled properly and we all agree that something needs to be done. I have no editorial control. I’m not an executive, but I have a voice on our platform, like all of us.”

George Cheeks, who oversees CBS as one of three co-CEOs of Paramount Global, admitted there has been “growing disagreement” within the ranks – but defended McMahon’s handling of the situation.

“She and her leadership team are passionate advocates and stewards of CBS News’ standards; that will not change. Reasonable minds in a newsroom will apply appropriate pressure and debate internally to ensure balanced and objective coverage from the outside,” Cheeks said in a statement Wednesday.

A source close to the network told The Post, “I’m glad there’s a wall between ownership and editorial.”

The insider claimed that Dokoupil’s bias has been revealed in other segments related to the Israel-Hamas war.

This included a September 30 broadcast on Israel’s airstrikes and the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in which Dokoupil commented: “If Hezbollah thought Israel would take a year full of missiles with grace, Hezbollah miscalculated. “

Dokoupil was not the only anchor who editorialized. In a May 2020 segment about a woman in New York City’s Central Park who falsely called the police claiming she was being threatened by a black man, King said, “Sometimes it’s not a safe place to be in this country for black men.”

Redstone’s comments come a day after Dokoupil met with angry CBS Mornings staff in an emotional private meeting led by executive producer Shawna Thomas.

As reported by The Post, Dokoupil “offered his regret” for the situation, but he did not “apologize” for his line of questioning.

A source who attended the meeting told The Post that while Dokoupil had a discussion with his colleagues, he did not back down, and by the end of the tearful powwow, it was more of a situation of “agree to disagree “.

Dokoupil, a convert to Judaism whose ex-wife lives in Israel with their two children, asked Coates during the interview why he did not include more pro-Israel voices or note in his work that “the children of SMALL [were] blown to pieces” in Palestinian terror attacks.

Coates responded that the Israeli narrative was well represented in the mainstream American press and that few Palestinian voices were being heard.

In the days leading up to Tuesday’s meeting, CBS Mornings employees had complained to network executives about the reporter’s treatment of Coates, leading to McMahon and Roark’s condemnation of the Dokoupil interview, sources told The Post.

The Free Press released leaked audio of Monday’s meeting, which included CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford blasting the executives’ statement to staff.

“It seems like we’re calling out one of our anchors in a somewhat public setting on this call for failing to meet editorial standards, I’m not even sure what,” Crawford said.

“I thought our commitment was to the truth. And when someone comes on our broadcast with a one-sided account of a very complex situation, as Coates himself admits he has, I understand that as journalists we have an obligation to challenge that worldview so that our viewers have that access to the truth or a more complete account, a more balanced account. And, to me, that’s what Tony did.”

On Monday, Redstone was furious behind the scenes about how executives handled the situation, saying it was insensitive to address the issue, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Redstone, who is Jewish, was ironically on hand at the Adweek conference in New York to talk about the power of content to combat anti-Semitism and racism.

The heiress, who struck a deal to sell her media empire to Skydance earlier this year, joined Anti-Defamation League national director Jonathan Greenblatt, who expressed his concerns to McMahon about Dokoupil’s treatment, reported The Post on Tuesday.

CBS News was planning to tap DEI consultant Dr. Donald Grant to lead Tuesday’s staff discussion.

But Grant’s own controversial views were uncovered by The Post, including a social media post by the self-proclaimed “mental health expert” of an altered cover of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s classic slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin – with the face of South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, who supports Donald Trump, digitally superimposed over the images of several other characters.

The post on Grant’s Instagram account, which he set up earlier this year, changed the caption to “Uncle Tim’s Cabin” and also included an image of conservative commentator Candace Owens.

At the time, CBS News declined to comment on The Post’s report on Grant’s Instagram. On Tuesday, Puck reported that the decision to bring in Grant had grown amid uproar, which drew outrage from critics, as well as a fundraising effort by Scott using Grant’s Photoshopped book cover.

“The disgusting rhetoric above is exactly what awaits us if we allow the Radical and Intolerant Left to win,” Scott wrote on the Win Red fundraising platform.

Statement by George Cheeks

Co-CEO, Paramount Global

President and CEO, CBS

There were strong and growing disagreements within CBS News that had to be addressed in an editorial meeting. This should lead to further substantive dialogue about perceptions of inconsistent treatment, implicit bias, and the important standards our News division has in place to set the bar for fairness and objectivity.

To be clear, this was never about CBS News’ right to ask the tough question; this is and always will be the standard. Our hosts and correspondents will continue to ask the toughest questions about the most important and complex issues. I am incredibly proud of CBS News and how they rise to the occasion, even in the most challenging times.

Wendy is an outstanding, accomplished leader. She and her leadership team are passionate advocates and stewards of CBS News standards; that will not change. Reasonable minds in a newsroom will apply the appropriate pressure and debate internally to ensure balanced and objective coverage from the outside.

All of us move forward from this moment – ​​myself included – committed to reflection, process refinement and doubling down on serving audiences when the need for accurate and unbiased news presented in the right context has never been greater. important.