Ahead of Tony Dokoupil's first night anchoring the CBS Evening News on Monday, CBS released a video of Dokoupil making promises to the audience about how he’ll serve them. He’s admitting the networks have a trust problem, acknowledging he has heard people lament coverage of certain stories, such as Russiagate, Hunter Biden's laptop and COVID lockdowns.
"The point is that, on too many stories, the press has missed the story," Dokoupil said. "Because we've taken into account the perspective of advocates and not the average American. Or we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites and not enough on you."
Dokoupil insisted he’s been one of the “average Americans” on this, that the news didn’t reflect his life experience.
"On too many stories, the press has missed the story. Because we've taken into account the perspective of advocates and not the average American. Or we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites, and not enough on you."
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 1, 2026
That changes now. The new CBS Evening News… pic.twitter.com/NKdvRJjYCS
There were some big promises made:
"You come first, not advertisers, not politicians, not corporate interests. And yes, that does include the corporate owners of CBS….I report for you, which means I tell you what I know, when I know it and how I know it. And when I get it wrong, I'll tell you that too. It also means I'm going to talk to everybody and hold everyone in public life to the very same standard. After all, I became a journalist to talk to people. I love talking to people about what works in this country, what doesn't, and not only what should change, but the good ideas that should never change. I think telling the truth is one of them," Dokoupil said. "I'm Tony Dokoupil, the anchor of the CBS Evening News. Hold me to it."
It would be unusual for a network anchor to admit they've been inaccurate on anything. It would be even rarer to "hold everyone in public life to the very same standard." The Left cannot abide that. It would mean holding the Democrats as accountable as Trump, and he could start with their Hitler smears.
Professor Larry Sabato took to X to X-emplify the elitist leftist fury at these promises from Team Bari Weiss:
Absolutely! You wouldn't want "academics and elites" who have actually studied a subject to outweigh the off-the-cuff opinions of village idiots. This is how we're seeing the resurgence of measles, and the widespread belief in almost non-existent vote fraud, among many other great leaps backward in the Trump era. Cronkite would be so very proud of you.
A rebuttal came from radio host Hugh Hewitt:
Good for Tony Dokoupil. The statement is more than two minutes long but those three sentences totaling 32 words makes for a succinct mission statement as well as a standard on which judgments about his promise can be made going forward.
The old saying —trust is gained in ounces and lost in pounds— has applied to legacy media for years now, and the consequence is legacy media’s shattered reputation for truth-telling (much less for candid admissions of error), and the audience numbers show it....
if Tony delivers the actual news —true and objectively told stories built on facts, unbiased in presentation and not delivered in service of an agenda— he can help rebuild the brand of one legacy program, one which could become important again. I believe good folks of the left and the right and those smack in the center have a natural hunger for real “news.” Dokoupol’s pledge is a start. Keeping it is the hard part.
