When Tony Dokoupil was announced as the new anchor of the CBS Evening News my reaction was “who?” Ok, so it was a bit more ‘colorful’ but the point remains I’d never heard of the guy. I’ve never been one to watch network morning shows, but that’s where CBS boss Bari Weiss (also way out of her own league) plucked him from. I’d learn he was the husband of MS NOW’s Katy Tur who actually has some journalistic credentials. As for Tony? Not so much. Hell, Weiss might as hell have plucked Fox’s Steve Doocy from HIS morning couch, or his hapless WH correspondent son. In any case Dokoupil clearly wasn’t up to the former gold standard set by Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and even Katie Couric.
Last week Weiss’ ‘rollout’ of Dokoupil turned into a disaster that wound up being cancelled. She had a grand tour planned where for Tony’s first ten evenings as CBS News anchor he’d do the evening broadcast from different cities around the country. Given the public panning of the concept I can only imagine the barbs she was taking in private. So she actually did the smart thing and abandoned the ‘Grand Tour.’ However, yesterday was the Bigly Day where Dokoupil would sit in a chair where news legends had sat. As HuffPost tells us he wasn’t up to the moment. From the beginning (including a headline saying his debut was “painful to watch”) HuffPost doesn’t mince words:
Tony Dokoupil’s debut as the new anchor for “CBS Evening News” is off to a shaky — and possibly shady — start.
Dokoupil had an awkward on-air hiccup that seems to have been edited out of recordings of the broadcast featured on CBS News’ website and YouTube channel.
Now, to be fair we don’t know what the control room told him in his earpiece as he wrapped up talking about Maduro which of course was the lead story. What we DO know is that for an entity that is supposed to provide crystal clear communication to the masses Weiss’ new crew at CBS can’t effectively communicate with themselves in the control room or with their anchor sitting there live in front of the camera which as Dan Rather noted in the title of his autobiography “never blinks.”
It seems Dokoupil thought the next story would be about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and said so. Only the control room had teed up a story about Arizona Senator Mark Kelly and a picture of Kelly even popped up on the screen next to Dokoupil! Yes, he was flustered. Granted, he might have had a list of stories bullet-pointed in his hands and it’s reasonable to assume he’d even memorized the order of the top stories. But for whatever reason it got changed. Now, for those few who don’t know how all this works on-air ‘talent’ has an earpiece in which the control room is constantly talking to them.
I find it hard to believe that the show’s producer didn’t, as the Maduro story was coming to an end tell Dokoupil (through said earpiece) that the order of stories had been switched and Kelly would be next up. My bet is that ole Tony was so caught up in where he was, that iconic setting he didn’t pay attention to what he was being told. So he flubbed the transition. I wouldn’t quite call it deer-in-the-headlights but even he seemed to know at the time he’d not exactly handled things smoothly. Like say one of his legendary predecessors who he’d already denigrated would have. Hey, stuff happens. I’ve given speeches and lectures and performed in plays and musicals. Sh*t happens sometimes. What matters is how well you handle it and Dokoupil didn’t handle it at all well. See for yourself:
Holy shit! Did you see this? This happened ON AIR.
Ladies and gentlemen I give you @bariweiss and the new @CBSNewspic.twitter.com/B6Oi3zO79S
— Don Winslow (@donwinslow) January 6, 2026
Still think I was mean with my snarky crack about him being a doofus? To be honest I might not be so critical except… As I said he doesn’t have some strong record of having broken major news stories or notable moments out in the field covering important news events. No, he was just another bland whitebread dude who registered bingo on the looks and voice meter used for run of the mill talent on so many versions of morning shows over the years. Why did Weiss pick him? I’ve yet to see much evidence (to date) but it’s said he’s got a little ‘MAGA isn’t so bad’ in him despite being married to Tur. Weiss wants to make the entire network more Trump friendly and I’m betting in discussions between her and Dokoupil he was quite willing to take the hefty raise and do just that. If it comes with the bonus of compromising Tur I wouldn’t be surprised if Weiss factored in that possibility.
But what REALLY pisses me off about this guy is his ‘I’m the best that’s ever been offered this anchor chair attitude. THIS no-name asshat claiming HE will be better and more transparent and trustworthy than literal legendary predecessors? He certainly made some grand promises:
“So, here’s my promise to you, today and every time you see me in this chair: You come first,” Dokoupil stressed in his video message. “Not advertisers. Not politicians. Not corporate interests. And, yes, that does include the corporate owners of CBS. I report for you.’
He continued, “I tell you what I know, when I know it, and how I know it. And when I get it wrong, I’ll tell you that, too.”
I don’t know how much of a hand he personally had in crafting that statement but on its face one can’t fault the sentiment. Even if it implies he’ll be better than those who came before him despite virtually no evidence to suggest he was anywhere in their league. However what really set me off was an Instagram user posed some gentle pushback and Dokoupil’s response:
An Instagram user gently pushed back at Dokoupil’s message, and said in the comments of his video, “I grew up on Cronkite. Too bad CBS has lost its Tiffany shine. But good luck to you anyway.”
In response, Dokoupil said: “What did you love most about him? I can promise you we’ll be more accountable and more transparent than Cronkite or any one else of his era.”
Just who the f**k does Tony DOOFUS think he is? My gawd what an ego to suggest he’s a better journalist than Cronkite or others of that time. And since. No Tony, you are a punk assed hunk of milquetoast compared to Cronkite and others who proceeded you in that chair. I too grew up on Cronkite and if at someone else’s house when the evening news came on and it was ABC or NBC equally great anchors who’d paid serious dues to be at those anchor desks.
Cronkite was unofficially awarded the title of “The Most Trusted Man In America” and while it had to have bugged his competitors they weren’t about to go out and challenge that. ALL of them had earned the trust their viewers gave them. Because as I said they had come up doing hard reporting and EARNED their positions not by looking a certain way (well, at the time only a white male would even be considered) but by having proven to be great journalists.
Tony Dokoupil hasn’t been jack-sh*t. He belongs on the CBS morning show busting dance moves for some fluff piece. Instead he’s gotten delusions of grandeur. All that money. I can’t help but wonder if he knows Weiss is just using him be her Trump fluffer and destroy CBS’s legacy. It was once the gold standard. Not anymore. And Dokoupil proved he’s not up to the job on his very first night in the chair where true legends once sat.
Again I urge you to recognize that the bulk of major outlets which except for Fox could once be mostly trusted are now compromised. And the knives are out for NBC and MS NOW. Places like this and other blogs are becoming the only place where you can see coverage and discussion of things legacy news “talent” won’t talk about. For those who would their bosses won’t let them. Once again I’ll plead with those who have read this that even if my own style isn’t your cup of tea others here might well be.
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Thank you. I know I can be long-winded to the point of boring sometimes. It’s nice to know there are readers who put up with me. From comments you’ve made I sometimes think you should take a crack at posting your own pieces here.