Some CBS NEWS friends have been upset that we've been silent, some CBS NEWS friends have been thankful, most have just been wondering if it's time to go? We'd say yes and we'd note we gave CBS EVENING NEWS four weeks to get their act together and they failed.
Bari Weiss (editor in chief' of CBS NEWS) and Tony Dokoupil (anchor of the evening news) are the source of the problem.
In four weeks, they've destroyed THE CBS EVENING NEWS. Completely wrecked it Run off viewers and are running off the staff. On the latter,
CBS News is offering buyouts to CBS Evening News staffers less than 24 hours after editor-in-chief Bari Weiss told employees to leave the company if their views don’t align with her new vision.
The buyouts, offered to non-union staffers, were announced at a Wednesday morning meeting by the executive producer of CBS Evening News, Kim Harvey, according to Variety.
She had a meeting last week where she appeared before CBS NEWS employees and made a series of statements.
Weiss told the CBS News staff that she wanted the network to appeal to political moderates. “We’re for the center. We’re for the center-right, and we’re for the center-left,” she said.
She also outlined a critique of the network’s current standing. “The honest truth is right now we are not producing a product that enough people want,” she said. “I am here to make CBS News fit for purpose in the 21st century.”
Weiss argued that CBS is too focused on maintaining its broadcast audience rather than building for the future. “Our strategy until now has been clinging to the audience that remains on broadcast television, and I’m here to tell you that if we stick to that strategy, we are toast,” she said.
They both also don't understand the brand of CBS NEWS. Tony felt the need to compare himself to one of the most praised anchors of all time: Walter Cronkite. And not only did he compare himself, he insisted he was going to be better than Cronkite. Bill Goodykoontz.(ARIZONA REPUBLIC) observed of Tony's nonsense:
Dokoupil's response was curious.
"What did you love most about him?" he wrote. "I can promise you we’ll be more accountable and more transparent than Cronkite or any one else of his era."
This is like an undrafted rookie boasting before his first NBA game that he's going to be better than Michael Jordan. Whatever points Dokoupil earns for confidence, he's docked more for saying such a dumb thing. Read the room.
But he can't read the room. Which is why ensuing weeks saw such moments of 'journalism' as Tony crying on air that his father was a drug dealer (thie left him "robbed of the full Miami experience," he sobbed on air) and even bringing on his own mother to be an 'expert' and to lie. Mekishana Pierre (ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY) noted last week:
Tuesday's episode of the evening news series featured a segment focusing on a study that found grandparents who care for their grandchildren score better on tests of memory and language and decline more slowly than those who do not. Dokoupil turned to a "big source" for commentary on the study's finding — his mom, Gail.
"I find that they give me a sense of purpose. They energize me more than drive me down," Gail said of caring for her grandchildren. Dokoupil, who made his debut as the anchor of CBS Evening News earlier this month, has four children: two with his current wife, MS NOW anchor Katy Tur, and two with his ex-wife, Danielle Haas.
Does anyone see the problem with this? Well there are multiple problems. But he brought on his mother as an expert -- four grandchildren that she takes care of. She doesn't take care of four. The two with Danielle Haas live with their mother . . . in Israel. His mother is not taking care of those two children.
Walter Cronkite never brought his own mother on the network news as an expert. If he had, people would have laughed at him. And they would have crucified them if they'd known that two of the four grandchildren are being raised in another country.
Then there's the freaks Bari Weiss keeps bringing onto CBS NEWS as experts. Cynthia Littleton (VARIETY) notes that Bari's elevated a quack who just got exposed for his long relationship with convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein:
A week after being named as a CBS News contributor, Dr. Peter Attia is coming under fire after the latest raft of documents from the Jeffrey Epstein files includes more than 1,700 mentions and evidence of a friendly relationship with the wealthy convicted sex offender who died in prison in 2019.
The correspondence makes it clear that Attia maintained a relationship with Epstein long after the financier faced sex trafficking and prostitution charges. “I go into JE withdrawal when I don’t see him.,” reads a line from Attia to Lesley Groff, who was an Epstein assistant. The remark, found in a January 2016 email, has spurred negative reaction on social media.
Caitlin McCormack (NEW YORK POST) adds:
Anti-aging physician and newly named CBS News contributor Peter Attia swapped hundreds of chummy, eyebrow-raising emails with Jeffrey Epstein — including once joking that female genitals counted as a “low carb.”
The disturbing correspondence came to light just days after the celebrity doctor was named as one of the network’s 19 new contributors.
The emails were included in the trove of 3 million documents released by the Department of Justice Friday, as mandated by the “Epstein Files Transparency Act.” Attia is mentioned in the files 1,741 times.
In stomach-churning missives, the controversial anti-aging physician frequently asked after Epstein’s wellbeing and alluded to the convicted sex offender’s “outrageous” lifestyle.
“You [know] the biggest problem with becoming friends with you? The life you lead is so outrageous, and yet I can’t tell a soul…” Attia wrote in one 2015 email — with the chilling subject line “Got a fresh shipment.”
A photo of the referenced “shipment” was redacted.
Attia, 52, renowned as a “longevity influencer” specializing on metabolic health, also cheekily offered his health advice to Epstein.
“P—y is, indeed, low carb. Still awaiting results on gluten, though,” Attia wrote in one email from 2016, eight years after Epstein had been convicted in Florida of procuring a child for prostitution and soliciting a prostitute.
This story brewed all weekend without the necessary note, "CBS and Attia have agreed to end Attia's contract." Why? Because Bari doesn't understand moderates. She doesn't respect them. And she doesn't know how to appeal to them.
She hopes to trick them. Last week, the big news story was the murder of Alex Pretti by the US government. Monday started off with criticism of THE CBS EVENING NEWS for its coverage which largely sidelined Alex. That never got better.
Some strong coverage on Alex was done by WCCO. Here's a sample of three reports WCCO created.
But you didn't see them on THE CBS EVENING NEWS. This despite the fact that WCCO is a Minneapolis station -- where Alex was murdered by the US government. And this despite the fact that WCCO is not a CBS affiliate, it's a CBS owned station. WCCO is fully aware that they were cut off as a resource by their network's evening news program.
She and Tony had access to news and chose not to share it on THE CBS EVENING NEWS.
There's no come back for Bari. She's been one embarrassment after another and she's proven to be unqualified for the job. Tony? With a better news executive behind him, he might be able to rebound. But that would require Bari Weiss leaving her current post immediately. The longer she's around, the more damage she does, the more she is tied to Tony Dokoupil and the further he sinks.