October 8, 2024

"[CBS journalist Tony] Dokoupil met for an hour with members of the CBS News standards and practices team and the in-house Race and Culture Unit..."

"... which advises on 'context, tone and intention' of news programming. The conversation focused on Mr. Dokoupil’s tone of voice, phrasing and body language during his interview with [Ta-NeHisi] Coates.... Executives who discussed the interview on Monday’s call had asked staff members to keep their remarks confidential. But their comments were reported within hours by Puck, and The Free Press, the news and opinion site run by Bari Weiss, published audio recordings of the meeting.... Jan Crawford, the chief legal correspondent at CBS News, spoke up later on the call to say she did not understand why Mr. Dokoupil’s questions had not met editorial standards. 'When someone comes on our air with a one-sided account of a very complex situation, as Coates himself acknowledges that he has, it’s my understanding that as journalists we are obligated to challenge that worldview so that our viewers can have that access to the truth or a fuller account,' Ms. Crawford said. 'To me, that is what Tony did.' Ms. Crawford said she was confused as to how CBS correspondents should proceed. 'What is the objective standard for the rest of us when we are doing our own interviews?' she asked."

From "CBS Rebukes Anchor Over Tense Interview With Ta-Nehisi Coates/Executives said the interview, conducted by the morning show anchor Tony Dokoupil, had fallen short of network editorial standards" (NYT). You can see video of Dokoupil questioning Coates here.

80 comments:

Maynard said...

The "In-house Race and Culture Unit".

Madame Mao approves.

Iman said...

It’s tough to expose a fraud. CBS News is running hard against the other networks for the “Mendacious Douchebags of 2024” award.

Quayle said...

"Now just a minute! This is a press conference! The last thing I want to do is answer a lot of questions!"

General Mitchell, Mash, Season 2, Episode 12 - "The Incubator"

gspencer said...

"Your job is to make all leftists, of which Democrats are a major subset, look good. No deviation from that purpose. Capeesh?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRoB1z3Tbo4

Money Manger said...

Yes, the "Race and Culture Unit'. I hope they get to wear sharp uniforms. Preferably black leather. Maybe a bespoken geometric design as a shoulder patch. And boots.

RideSpaceMountain said...

A conversation between liars and a fraud. Apparently the damned really do have things to say to the damned.

MadisonMan said...

The best part of that clip on FoxNews? The other two CBS anchors trying to look engaged.
FWIW, I thought he asked good questions, and I thought Coates replied pretty well too. Of course, that's just the clip that I saw, not the whole thing.

wildswan said...

Essentially Doukophil asks Coates why he is presenting a one-sided account of the conflict which would imply support for the destruction of Israel, Coates answers that when you oppose the death penalty, you do not ask what crime has led to the conviction, you oppose the death penalty. Similarly when you see Palestinians segregated, you do not ask why if you are an American Black. You assume that this is the same kind of segregation your ancestors suffered and you oppose it.
I guess my follow-up question would be: Do the Palestinians impose the same form of "segregation" on Jews? and on Christians? Can Jews live in Gaza?
If both sides are imposing "segregation," why are you only criticising one side? Do you think really know what is happening in the Mid-East when you knowingly impose the lens of your own social group's past history onto another area with a long history of its own?
I think he is criticizing one side only because of latent, unacknowleged anti-semitism. And, I think I see a bit of a self-righteous coward, unable to confront his own nasty thoughts.

Jupiter said...

Don't overthink it. He is criticizing Israel because he thinks they are white, and he hates white people. And he's not so much a coward, as a rather stupid person who has been told he is very smart, and doesn't need to question his own beliefs.

Ambrose said...

Good to see some push back from others at CBS.

Gusty Winds said...

"White guy challenges anti-semitic world view and CBS has to have a meeting"

But Leslie Stahl gets a free pass on lying about Hunter's laptop.

Joe Bar said...

I saw the clip of the interview, and, it seemed very fair to me. Coates also gave good answers, although I disagree with them. I suppose the controversy is over to WHOM the "journalists" are allowed to ask hard questions.

Jersey Fled said...

It’s so hard to be a lefty when you are constantly tripping over your own narratives.

Quaestor said...

"And, I think I see a bit of a self-righteous coward, unable to confront his own nasty thoughts."

A bit?

Tomorrow's lesson in understatement: Mt. Everest Is a Pebble.

RideSpaceMountain said...

I can imagine dystopian futures where these liars are kissing a wall. Their cute little "press" badges will not avail them.

Quaestor said...

"Yes, the 'Race and Culture Unit'"

I see they've renamed the Rasse und Siedlungshauptamt. Good. RuSHA was such a confusing acronym.

Kate said...

Helpful summary. Coates likes to take a very horizontal view of topics. Vertical is not his specialty.

EdwdLny said...

" Didn't meet editorial standards ". In other words, he told the truth. Coates is a racist, antisemite, raving lunatic looking for another grift. He truly is another lib turd creature. Good grief what a cesspool the media is.

n.n said...

Several more reasons to abort CBS News. You were not viable at Diversity (e.g. racism).

rehajm said...

I we rename FEMA to The Race and Culture Unit I'm certain their response time would improve...

rehajm said...

...but when the Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down the pirates don't eat the tourists! Yes, a bad analogy but not as bad as Coates'...

Deep State Reformer said...

All the more reason not to listen to their crap. What kind of news reporting outfit has a "race and culture department"? That's just creepy.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

The messenger is as important if not more important than his message. Somebody didn’t get the memo.

Peachy said...

"Race and Culture Unit"

Insanity of the diversity democratic Soviet.

Skeptical Voter said...

Sounds like this interviewer committed the sin of journalism. CBS can't have its employees doing that.

Peachy said...

Are all of these so-called respected "news" "organizations" being pressured from the Democrat-mob? -the same forces that say "you do not cross the FBI"??? or - is the left-wing obedience coming from inside the house?

Peachy said...

There is a pattern:
When cocaine was found inside the Biden White House (Gee - we are all mystified who that belongs to?)
The lead of the Secret Service - The same woman who supposedly gave Trump the security D-team in Butler PA (whatever - dude was a paid patsy) - she fought to keep the entire story secret - supposedly... and a whistleblower said- NO. That Whistleblower was punished.
Again - the democrat party elite pulling all the strings here. It's mob operation.

hombre said...

'"..we are obligated to challenge that worldview so that our viewers can have that access to the truth or a fuller account,' Ms. Crawford said.' Yes, except for the "truth" part. Journalistic truth is no longer objective.

mccullough said...

Coates never asks himself how his ancestors ended up as slaves in the first place. The answer is that they lost in battles to other black tribes. Obama’s ancestors were the winners. They sold the Coates as spoils of victory. Coates can’t bear reality.

Quayle said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Rocco said...

mccullough said...
"Coates never asks himself how his ancestors ended up as slaves in the first place. The answer is that they lost in battles to other black tribes. Obama’s ancestors were the winners. They sold the Coates as spoils of victory."

One of the reasons Islam spread across Africa the way it did was because Islam forbids taking Muslims as slaves. Others are fine for slavery. Just not Muslims.

Rocco said...

mccullough said...
"Coates never asks himself how his ancestors ended up as slaves in the first place. The answer is that they lost in battles to other black tribes. Obama’s ancestors were the winners. They sold the Coates as spoils of victory."

Obama's Luo ancestors were settler-colonizers in Kenya, arriving some time between then 15th and 19th centuries.

Real American said...

"in-house Race and Culture Unit..."

I found the problem.

Saint Croix said...

It's like Adrienne Roark wants to give Coates affirmative action and protect him from criticism, pushback, or any hard questioning. It's infantilizing to treat him that way. The questions were hard, and he handled them well. Why attack the reporter?

"Didn't meet standards." For what? Slow-pitch softball? Racist worldview? Woke children?

CBS is the home of Mike Wallace, for fuck's sake. Did he ever ask a hard question?

Michael K said...

There is a video interview of a Kamala staffer saying the cocaine was for her.

Barney Owasco said...

In the words of a great American philosopher, you need to know when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em and it seems it's time for Dokoupil to walk away from CBS News.

Ampersand said...

where?

hawkeyedjb said...

The people who manage network news organizations are just as strongly in favor of censorship as the people who manage the government. It's one reason (of many) why I haven't watched a network news broadcast in over 20 years. CBS is asshoe!

Peachy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Immanuel Rant said...

Somehow my favorite part was this: "Executives who discussed the interview on Monday’s call had asked staff members to keep their remarks confidential. But their comments were reported within hours by Puck, and The Free Press, the news and opinion site run by Bari Weiss, published audio recordings of the meeting...."

Heh.

Saint Croix said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Luke Lea said...

"The executives said their critique had been prompted by internal staff concerns, ..."

Which raises the question, "Who is running the show here?"

Presumably "staff" here means young Millennials and gen Z, who likewise have somehow been swaying NYT and other mainstream media outlets on their coverage of politically controversial issues whenever older and more experienced editors stray from their new party line. It really is strange.

Saint Croix said...

“We will still ask tough questions. We will still hold people accountable. But we will do so objectively, which means checking our biases and opinions at the door"

This is utter horse shit. If you are giving a platform to Coates, and you're not allowed to fact-check him, your bias is obvious to everyone.

I suspect the reporter was attacked because he's Jewish, and his questions were pro-Israel. I also suspect that this is what got the lawyer worked up. The public repudiation of a reporter and the attack on his reputation opens the company up to a discrimination lawsuit.

What bias? Show me the bias in his questions! Israel exists, and Israeli people exist. Are reporters supposed to pretend otherwise?

loudogblog said...

"Wrong thinking is punishable; right thinking will be as quickly rewarded. You will find it an effective combination." - The Keeper on Talos 4 (Star Trek's The Cage episode)

Richard Dolan said...

Not news that CBS sees itself as a suburb of Lefty-Land. What is news is that there are a cadre of journalists at CBS who are willing to push back, and as part of that effort, are willing to publish the pathetic word-salad used in an effort to enforce the governing code of Lefty-Land against one of CBS's own. All the blah-blah-blah about "objectivity" and "not injecting personal bias" and "devotion to truth" makes no sense as a critique of a journalist whose sin was letting Coates demonstrate to all just how far over the deep end he has gone in his bizarre Jew-hatred. To change slightly the slogan trumpeted in Lefty-Land not so long ago (and sure to come back on Jan. 21, 2025), truth dies in darkness. Those who leaked the internal struggle session at CBS deserve credit as journalists reporting on an important story -- what's happened to one of America's (formerly) leading media companies. Not a pretty sight.

Peachy said...

Kamala and the insane clown posse that make up the mob media do not care about people.

PM said...

"The CBS News Race and Culture Unit has a four-pronged role at CBS News and Stations as a reviewer, an incubator, a producer and a library. The unit’s primary role is as a REVIEWER, working in concert with the CBS News Standards and Ethics department to ensure all stories have the proper context, tone and intention." Shorter version: this report makes us look bad, kill it.

Bob Boyd said...

Apparently Dokoupil's job was to sell books, not do journalism. I guess he forgot.

Political Junkie said...

Jan Crawford Greenburg has been a treasure for years. Love her SCourt analysis. She is very fair to conservatives. Maybe she is in the closet!

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

As predicted. His sin was asking hard questions of a leftist "intellectual" of color. This is a news room. You can't do journalism in here!

Political Junkie said...

Married with 4 kids!!! Husband lawyer also.

Jupiter said...

Obama's mother was a white woman. If you want to know what his ancestors on his father's side were up to, research Frank Marshall Davis. I doubt they were ever in Kenya.

Iman said...

Great job, QueMala!

Teh View Host: “Would you have done anything differently than Biden the last 4 years?”

Harris: “There is nothing that comes to mind…I’ve been a part of most the decisions that have had an impact.”

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

Pro Tip: Never work for an employer who has a Race and Culture Unit.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

I would bet a month of paychecks that the hiring practices for the Race and Culture Unit openly violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Iman said...

It’s right here… https://x.com/ZadeSmith4/status/1841946464177816015?s=19

AndrewV said...

Hugo Boss may have something to choose from off the rack.

Achilles said...

The Regime will order struggle sessions for anyone who is not sufficiently supportive of the Regime activities.

Saint Croix said...

"Apparently the most unforgivable sin in journalism is interrupting a polemicist with an uncomfortable question while he's trying to sell an anti-Israel book on October 7" -- Iowa Hawk

"Once again, this is what happens when you allow college to metastasize." -- Iowa Hawk

Saint Croix said...

Imagine if a police station or a mailroom or a bank or a car mechanic had a "race and culture unit."

Peachy said...

Is this really happening?

Well - it's decadent to care about abortion... and lie and say Trump is going to ban it. No. At most he could consider something like what they have in France. But I doubt it. It will remain a state to state issue.
Meanwhile - the corrupt democrat Soviets are on the march, and in control of the war machine. A war machine they will use against American citizens?

J Severs said...

Perhaps CBS should hire controversial figures and let them interview themselves, thus avoiding uncomfortable questions and accusations of bias.

Breezy said...

I don’t know much about Dokoupil, but I seem to recall him towing the Dem line along with that entire cast. So I think his breach here is because the topic hits home to him. His ex-wife and two children live in Israel, and he converted to Judaism a few years ago. So, while I applaud his incisive questions of his longtime friend (!), it appears to me to be because he is personally affected by the message Coates is sending. Would he have done this “journalism” on another topic, one that does not affect him? I think there’s more to this event than meets the eye….

Drago said...

I suspect P-Inga will approve heartily given her long history of demanding individuals be held "accountable" for obvious hoaxes and lies.

DanTheMan said...

""In-house Race and Culture Unit". In other words, the Thought Police.

Drago said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Drago said...

Hugo Boss may have something to choose from off the rack."

Hiyooooooooooooo!

Boy, that sure is some New Soviet Democratical totalitarianism right there!....

.........How Totalitarian Was It?!

Former Illinois resident said...

That video deserves its own Althouse post. Wow. So she's not just AWFL wine-sipping insipid suburban lady. Would explain innate weirdness of Harris' behavior on-camera.

Former Illinois resident said...

Roark adeptly performs classic knee-jerk reverse-discrimination pandering towards "people of color" by AWFLs. What exactly is she complaining about? Never explained in "confidential conference call" leaked to MSM outlets everywhere. Nope, Roark steadfastly seeks to virtue-signal her progressive-liberal values, without acknowledging that Coates' book is mere misinformation.

n.n said...

Racism and Condemnation Unit under license from the Biden/Harris Ministry of Truth a la Progressives Palmerism.

Jim at said...

General Mitchell, Mash, Season 2, Episode 12 - "The Incubator"

One of my favorite episodes.

"Do you have a question?"
Yes. Why don't you answer his question?

Aggie said...

This is actually excellent news - it looks like there are those who are sick of living inside the rot.

Mason G said...

In the fake news system, disregarding approved context, tone and intention in news programming is considered especially heinous. In New York City, the dedicated detectives who investigate these vicious felonies are members of an elite squad known as the Race and Culture Unit. These are their stories.

Joe Bar said...

Something else. The title of the article calls the interview "tense." My impression was, it was anything BUT tense. There was a lively exchange. The author gave intelligent, coherent, responses. Perhaps, even THEIR interaction was rehearsed.

Rosalyn C. said...

Coates declares that he doesn't get his POV (The Palestinian Cause) represented in the media but then goes on to interviews with Trevor Noah and Fareed Zakaria to assert that the situation of Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank is very similar to that of blacks in the Jim Crow South. That is completely ridiculous but of course he expects no push back and doesn't get challenged by his buddies.

Coates disparagingly refers to the State of Israel as "a Zionist project" and goes on to assert it is not a democracy in the way that the US was not truly a democracy until after the Civil Rights era.

Naturally Coates doesn't mention the factual differences that in Israel Israeli Arabs serve in all aspects of Israeli life: government, military, education and medicine and vote in elections. Arab citizens have been equal citizens since day one.

Coates claims that Palestinians in the West Bank have been unable to determine their own lives and are living under military rules, as if that is Israel's fault but doesn't mention that President Abbas has refused to hold elections, serving a four year term since 2005. No one is Israel is stopping Abbas from vacating his control.

After viewing the tape numerous times I see that Dokoupil could have been less emotional when he pointed out Coates's obvious bias and antipathy to Jewish Israels, especially how he didn't mention anything about the reign of terrorism which necessitated the building of a barrier in the West Bank. When faced with blatant Jew hatred one must still maintain their professional neutrality and proper respect.

Coates is now in full glorified victimhood mode because Dokoupil had the audacity to challenge him ("he commandeered the interview") and made him feel uncomfortable for a few minutes. It's not OK to offend an important black man.

Drago said...

doink doink....

Mikey NTH said...

And that is the problem a sitting vice president has running for president. You are part of the previous administration so you have to say you will continue with the policies. Easy to do if the administration is popular; if it is unpopular it is hard to say you will do things better/differently.

Temujin said...

It is well past the time when Ta-NeHisi Coates is publicly and privately questioned about his view on things.

Tina Trent said...

If you oppose the death penalty, you certainly should be considering the crimes that caused the punishment. If you do not, you are an historical denialist, a very ugly thing to be.

Cappy said...

Bad journalist. Bad bad journalist. Go stand in a corner of Vermont.