Venezuela Operation Knocks New Anchor Off Course

The new anchor of the CBS Evening News released a video message to viewers on Thursday telling them where established media, including his network, has gone wrong and providing details of his new approach. "We've taken into account the perspective of advocates, and not the average American," Tony Dokoupil said, adding that "we put too much weight in the analysis of academics, or elites, and not enough on you." But when the US intervention in Venezuela happened on Saturday, Dokoupil assumed the anchor chair two days ahead of schedule. The new approach was not evident, Brian Steinberg writes in Variety, though the new anchor had just told viewers to "hold me" to the promises.

No "average American" was heard from, but there was a lengthy, three-segment interview with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. There were standard reports from correspondents Charlie D'Agata and Scott MacFarlane. Dokoupil had taken criticism that his pledge sounded like it was written by Bari Weiss, a political commentator and media critic installed as head of network news by David Ellison, a supporter of President Trump. Dokoupil went online to deny a suggestion from a former CBS correspondent that Weiss had written his pledge, per TV Insider. There wasn't much for Trump or his supporters to object to, posted Jeff Jarvis, a journalist and critic who pointed out that the first minute of the broadcast was all celebration of Nicolas Maduro's capture—other than a grammatical error. (Dokoupil said the US commandoes breached Maduro's compound, "grabbing he and his wife."

Dokoupil's rollout has been compressed, announced only three weeks before his start, limiting time for on-air promotion and affiliate outreach that networks typically use to build audience for a new evening anchor. He had been scheduled to introduce himself by reporting from a series of cities and towns but instead appeared from CBS' San Francisco station Saturday; he is expected back in New York for Monday's broadcast. Dokoupil's pledge included a promise to get out from behind his desk and meet Americans. Some CBS staffers suspect the common touch has been lost in that effort, per Mediaite. Weiss is going with him, so the group is traveling by private jet because she takes a five-person security detail with her.