Bari Weiss’s CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil ripped – Business News
CBS “Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil is being portrayed as a “useful idiot” who landed the highest job as a result of he’s “good eye candy” and was boss Bari Weiss’ “seventh or eighth choice,” in accordance with a brutal new report.
More than a dozen present and former staffers on the Tiffany Network’s information division, talking anonymously to Vanity Fair, blasted Dokoupil’s speedy rise and questioned whether or not he’s outfitted to guide the struggling broadcast.
“Tony has the biggest case of imposter syndrome out of any anchor or correspondent I’ve ever worked with,” a former producer who labored with Dokoupil advised Vanity Fair, noting his view that Dokoupil is out of his depth.
Tony Dokoupil has confronted mounting criticism from inside CBS as scores struggles and editorial controversies pile up. CBS through Getty Images
“And they’re filled with it, because they’re all full of vanity. But Tony knows he wasn’t ready for the chair.”
The report claimed that Dokoupil’s place was undercut from the outset, with insiders telling Vanity Fair that Weiss had initially pursued larger marquee names — together with Bret Baier and Anderson Cooper — earlier than in the end touchdown on him after these efforts fell via.
One industry source mentioned Weiss “called everyone on planet Earth,” reinforcing the notion inside CBS that Dokoupil was not the first-choice rent however a fallback option, a dynamic that has shadowed his tenure from day one.
Weiss additional undermined her star anchor after she personally intervened within the script during his very first broadcast — an uncommon transfer that backfired when her edits have been mistakenly inserted twice into the teleprompter, in accordance with Vanity Fair.
The duplication left Dokoupil visibly flustered on air, stumbling via the phase earlier than telling viewers, “First day, big problems here,” in an awkward debut that set the tone for his tenure.
CBS News disputes that characterization.
Bari Weiss has led a sweeping overhaul of CBS News, driving layoffs and reshaping the community’s editorial direction. CBS through Getty Images
CBS News backed Dokoupil, telling The Post: “Tony Dokoupil is an exceptional talent and experienced journalist who continues to build a program designed to reach audiences wherever they consume the news. While Vanity Fair’s unnamed sources continue to peddle old and false rumors, that won’t stop Tony and his team from doing what they do best: reporting the news and telling the truth.”
Dokoupil additionally drew ridicule inside the newsroom for a phase through which he devoted airtime to praising Secretary of State Marco Rubio, signing off with a line that critics blasted as fawning.
One CBS journalist advised Vanity Fair that the second amounted to “glazing Marco f–king Rubio,” calling it “outrageous” and arguing it alienated viewers whereas underscoring issues in regards to the anchor’s judgment and editorial tone.
The Tiffany Network’s newsroom is being reshaped amid cuts, controversy and a push to rebuild its viewers. Getty Images
The unnamed producer who spoke to Vanity Fair added that Dokoupil’s speedy rise from weekend information to “CBS This Morning” co-host is essentially due to the undeniable fact that he has attractiveness.
“TV is superficial and it’s fake,” the producer advised Vanity Fair.
“You just have to be good eye candy, and he was good eye candy. He had a good chunk of hair on his head, and he’s better looking than [former ‘Evening News’ co-anchor] John Dickerson.”
Dokoupil has additionally been slammed by insiders as little more than a pawn within the community’s overhaul, with one CBS correspondent telling Vanity Fair that he was “a useful idiot for sure, but not a name.”
Dokoupil has struggled to elevate the published previous the 4 million-viewer mark regardless of current upticks. Getty Images
Dokoupil has struggled to elevate “CBS Evening News” out of third place, with the published repeatedly failing to crack the important thing 4 million-viewer threshold that has long been seen as a baseline for competitiveness within the night information race.
The show continues to path far behind rivals “ABC World News Tonight” and “NBC Nightly News.”
Still, there are modest indicators of stabilization.
Nielsen information show the Dokoupil-led broadcast has ticked up in whole viewers over the previous three weeks in comparison with its predecessor final yr, suggesting some incremental viewers features even because it stays effectively beneath its opponents.
