CBS News says heated Ta-Nehisi Coates interview did not meet editorial standards after criticism

CBS News executives said Monday that a heated morning show interview with acclaimed author Ta-Nehisi Coates, during which his new book was compared to “extremist” writings, did not meet the network’s editorial standards.

CBS executives told staffers during a daily editorial meeting that the contentious “CBS Mornings” interview last week with Coates, led by co-anchor Tony Dokoupil, had been addressed with Dokoupil.

The assessment pacified some employees who had objected to Dokoupil’s tone during the segment with Coates. But it offended other employees who thought Dokoupil’s interview was appropriately tough.

“We have an obligation as journalists to challenge controversial guests, and that’s what Tony did,” one concerned correspondent, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told CNN.

Coates, a National Book Award winner, released “The Message” last week, in which he portrays Israel’s treatment of Palestinians as a moral crime, one that many Americans can’t or won’t face directly.

“For as sure as my ancestors were born into a country where none of them was the equal of any white man, Israel was revealing itself to be a country where no Palestinian is ever the equal of any Jewish person anywhere,” Coates wrote.

During the September 30 interview, Dokoupil took issue with Coates’ framing in the book.

“I have to say, when I read the book, I imagine if I took your name out of it, took away the awards, the acclaim, took the cover off the book, publishing house goes away, the content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist,” Dokoupil said to Coates.

Dokoupil said he wondered why a “talented, smart” author would “leave out so much” from the book. “Why leave out that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it? Why leave out that Israel deals with terror groups that want to eliminate it?”

Coates did not seem perturbed by the questioning as “CBS Mornings” co-hosts Gayle King and Nate Burleson mostly looked on in silence.

“There is no shortage of that perspective in American media,” Coates said, adding that his book is not supposed to be a complete history or analysis of the conflict. Coates said he wanted to center a different perspective.

“I am most concerned, always, with those who don’t have a voice,” he said.

The gripping interview — intense by the often cozy standards of morning television —has since been viewed many millions of times on streaming websites. But for all the praise and attention the interview received, it also stirred dissent inside CBS News, according to several sources with knowledge of the matter.

Multiple correspondents and producers felt that Dokoupil betrayed bias toward Coates, and some suggested Dokoupil had a history of charged on-air comments about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Dokoupil has written publicly about converting to Judiasm and has said publicly that two of his children along with his ex-wife live in Israel.

In wake of the criticism, CBS News and Stations president and CEO Wendy McMahon and her top deputy Adrienne Roark enlisted the network’s standards and practices unit to conduct a review of the discussion, according to sources familiar with the matter. The news division’s race and culture unit was involved as well.

Management concluded that “the problem was Tony’s tone” in the interview, one of the sources said. McMahon and Roark didn’t say so on the Monday morning call, but they emphasized the importance of network standards and the need to have “courageous conversations.”

Afterward, some at CBS expressed confusion over the standards that were violated by the discussion, noting that while it was a heated interview, perhaps it should have been given more time than a six-minute morning show segment.

Some staffers also questioned the decision to announce the results of the review on October 7, the anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel.

CBS News chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford spoke up on the call and defended Dokoupil, stating that “Tony prevented a one-sided account from being broadcast on our network.”

By addressing one set of employee concerns, CBS executives sparked new ones; two veteran correspondents told CNN on condition of anonymity that they felt like the network was surrendering to left-wing, anti-Israel political pressure.

Executives said the network will hold an open forum for morning show staffers to discuss the matter on Tuesday.

Another correspondent observed that McMahon has only been in charge for about a year, and said “everyone is trying to figure out what the new regime wants from us.”

Coates did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.