At CBS News, a Journalist Gets in Hot Water for Practicing Journalism

SAN DIEGO -- I'm Team Tony Dokoupil. And anyone in my profession who cannot say the same thing has forfeited the right to call themselves "journalists."

In 35 years on the job -- working at newspapers, but also on television and radio -- you pick up a few things.

Like the fact that it's the duty of those of us in the Fourth Estate to get in the face of the powerful, the influential and the favored. Those folks are not used to being challenged, and they're often more acquainted with praise than criticism. When they get pushback, they don't respond well.

That was not the case with Ta-Nehisi Coates, an important Black thought leader and bestselling author who is gushed over by the liberal media.

During a Sept. 30 appearance on "CBS Mornings" to promote his new book, "The Message," Coates responded very well. He was professional and polite even as he responded to pointed questioning by Dokoupil, who co-anchors the morning show.

Although Coates admits it is not a complete account, the book delves into the decades-old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

It's clear from that interview, and others that Coates has given, that the author is more sympathetic to the latter than the former.

It's also clear that Dokoupil -- who is Jewish, and whose children live in Israel with his ex-wife -- sees the conflict differently.

Like Coates, Dokoupil was professional and polite. But he questioned the approach Coates took in his book, which glibly likens Israel's treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank to how Black Americans were treated in the South during the notorious Jim Crow era. Dokoupil also noted that the book didn't acknowledge the mortal threats that Israel constantly faces from its neighbors in the Middle East.

In fact, at the moment, America's ally is fighting on multiple fronts.

"Why leave out that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it?" Dokoupil asked. "Why leave out that Israel deals with terror groups that want to eliminate it?"

Hey, those are good questions.

"There is no shortage of that perspective in American media," Coates responded. "I am most concerned, always, with those who don't have a voice."

Hey, that was a good answer.

I've heard some people say that Dokoupil colored outside the lines because TV anchors should not express their opinions.

Oddly, I didn't hear the same thing when Black journalists expressed outrage after the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.

As I watched the interview, a few thoughts ran through my head. Like this: "Great stuff! Everyone is doing what they're supposed to be doing." But also this: "Man, Tony's going to get in trouble."

Indeed, he did.

On a staff call -- a recording of which was obtained by The Free Press, the digital media company co-founded by Bari Weiss -- CBS News executives threw Dokoupil under the bus.

Adrienne Roark, who leads news-gathering at the network, said employees -- including some from the "race and culture unit" -- had reached out to her to "express concerns" about the interview.

Race and culture unit, eh? Even as a Mexican American myself, I don't like the sound of that. I imagine white liberals and left-wing people of color lecturing me about not being the right kind of Latino.

According to Roark, Dokoupil's line of questioning fell short of the "editorial standards" of CBS News.

"We have to check our biases and opinions at the door," Roark said during the call. "We are here to report the news without fear or favor."

That's adorable. It's like they think we're not paying attention. In expressing their disdain toward former President Donald Trump and his supporters, the mainstream media wear their bias on their sleeves.

The embattled Dokoupil has at least one powerful ally: Shari Redstone, who sits atop the Paramount empire that owns CBS News. This week, the media mogul criticized the network's leadership.

"They made a mistake here," Ms. Redstone said. "I think we all agree that this was not handled correctly."

A lot of this feels familiar. In three and a half decades, I've been called into the principal's office so often that I ought to have a reserved seat.

It's been a good career, but I've had my share of bad bosses. The worst ones stopped being journalists a while back and became "suits" guided by perception, public relations and political correctness. They took that seriously -- and our professional calling not seriously enough.

That appears to be what happened at CBS News.

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To find out more about Ruben Navarrette and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.