CBS Mornings co-host Gayle King is facing new charges of journalistic crimes amid an uproar over the network’s response to Tony Dokoupil’s tense interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates.
The pro-Palestinian activist was discussing his new release, The Message, on Monday when Dokoupil — who converted to Judaism and whose ex-wife and children live in Israel — accused Coates of being an “extremist” and accused him of not recording from an Israeli perspective.
Coates has since accused the journalist of “ordering” the interview, while praising King as a “great journalist and a great interviewer” in a preview for an upcoming interview with Trevor Noah. according to the Hollywood Reporter.
But he then claimed, “Gayle got behind the stage before we went [on] and she had gone through the book, and I’m not saying she agreed with the book.
‘[Yet] she said, ‘I’m going to ask you about this. I’m going to ask you about that.’”
Gayle King, co-host of CBS Mornings, has been charged with criminal journalism
The claims come amid uproar over the network’s response to Tony Dokoupil’s tense interview with Ta-Nehisi Coates
If she had indeed asked Coates specific questions, King would have violated the network’s journalistic standards, according to a former CBS reporter. told The Free Press.
“Are they going to investigate her now and say what she did was not in accordance with CBS standards?” the former journalist asked. “I guess not.”
DailyMail.com has contacted an agent for King for comment.
But the claim comes amid unrest within the network over the controversial interview, for which Dokoupil was reprimanded after he accused Coates of undermining Israel’s right to exist and demanded why it did not include pro-Israel voices.
“The contents of that section would not be out of place in an extremist’s backpack,” the journalist told his guest at one point.
‘Why leave out the fact that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it? Why would you ignore the fact that Israel is dealing with terrorist groups that want to eliminate the country?’
Coates emphasized that there was no shortage of pro-Israel voices in the American media, and that he was trying to “tell those stories that I haven’t heard yet.”
Yet Dokoupil doubled down, claiming that people who read The Message will finish it believing that Israel is a terrible place that should not exist.
Dokoupil – whose two children and ex-wife live in Israel – was quick to criticize the author
“What I struggled with in this book is what is it that so particularly offends you about the existence of a Jewish state that is a Jewish safe place, and not one of the other states out there,” he asked.
Coates appeared on CBS Mornings to discuss his new book ‘The Message’ – a collection of essays, including one about his visit to Palestine
“If Israel has a right to exist, and if your answer is no, then I think the question becomes: why do the Palestinians have a right to exist?
‘Why do twenty different Muslim countries have the right to exist?’
Coates fired back: “There is nothing that offends me about a Jewish state. I am offended by the idea of states built on ethnocracy, wherever they are.
‘I would not want a state in which any group of people imposes their citizenship rights on the basis of ethnicity. Either apartheid is right or it is wrong. It’s really very simple.
‘I am against a state that discriminates against people based on ethnicity.’
Throughout the six-minute exchange, King and co-host Nate Burleson sat in shocked silence.
Coates defended his book, saying his goal is to give a voice to the voiceless
In the aftermath, network bosses criticized the CBS morning host for bringing his “bias” to the screen.
CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon reportedly claimed he “did not meet editorial standards for impartiality.”
PContent development resident Adrienne Roark also rallied staff to drag Dokoupil over the coals.
“We’re still going to hold people accountable,” Roark said. “But we will do that objectively, which means checking our biases and opinions at the door.”
She said the interview did not “meet our editorial standards” and added that “it has been addressed, and will continue to be addressed in the future.”
Sources within the network now claim that the issue originated with CBS’s Race and Culture Unit, which “works with the CBS News Standards and Ethics Department to ensure all stories have appropriate context, tone and intent,” thus the company’s website.
It was founded in the summer of 2020 amid nationwide protests against police brutality following the death of George Floyd.
“We must always be aware of how race and culture impact our journalism – and in terms of the future of CBS News, this unit will be as important as Standards and Practices,” news division president Susan Zirinsky said at the time . according to Term.
“These broad and subjective criteria have made them a very powerful voice, and many employees believe it has introduced greater bias into the network’s editorial decisions,” an insider told The Free Press.
‘You see prejudice when it is something you don’t agree with.’
CBS News CEO Wendy McMahon (pictured) and Adrienne Roark, the president of content development for the news division, believe Dokoupil has failed to hide his own bias
But some staff members were outraged by Dokoupil’s treatment, with Jan Crawford, a legal analyst for the network, calling out network executives.
“I don’t even understand how Tony’s interview didn’t meet our editorial standards… I thought our commitment was to the truth,” Crawford said at a meeting on Tuesday, when Dokoupil reportedly admitted “regrets” about the interview.
“It sounds like we’re calling one of our presenters out in a somewhat public setting for not meeting editorial standards, I’m not even sure for what,” she said.
“And when someone comes on our broadcast with a one-sided account of a very complex situation, as Coates himself acknowledges he has done, I understand that as journalists we have an obligation to challenge that worldview so that our viewers can have access the truth or a fuller account, a more balanced account.
“And to me, that’s what Tony did.”
Shari Redstone, a controlling shareholder of CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global (until its merger with Skydance next year), is also reportedly disturbed by CBS’ actions.
A source close to Redstone told The Free Press that she thought, “Tony gave a great interview and modeled what civil discourse should look like.
“And she didn’t agree with the action the company was taking. She is working with the CEO to address this issue.”
Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks sent a memo to employees on Wednesday saying the company needs to have a “substantial dialogue” about perceptions of bias and “inconsistent treatment”
Finally, Paramount co-CEO George Cheeks sent a memo to staff members on Wednesday saying the company needs to have a “substantial dialogue” about perceptions of bias and “inconsistent treatment.”
“There was a strong and growing disagreement within CBS News that needed to be addressed in an editorial meeting,” he admitted in the memo. obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
“This should lead to further substantive dialogue about perceptions of inconsistent treatment, implicit bias and the important standards our News Department uses to create guardrails for fairness and objectivity.
“To be clear, the point is never that CBS News asked the tough question[s]that is and will remain the standard,” Cheeks continued.
“Our hosts and correspondents will continue to ask the toughest questions on the most important and complex issues.”
Cheeks went on to say that he is “incredibly proud of CBS News and the way they are rising to the moment, even in the most challenging of times.
“From this moment on, we all move forward – including me – committed to reflection, perfecting the process and serving the public, while the need for accurate, unbiased news presented in context has never been more important.”
