Posted in: CBS, Current News, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: cbs evening news, cbs news, opinion

CBS Evening News Anchor Tony Dokoupil Makes Debut: How Did He Do?

In light of Trump Administration's action against Venezuela, CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil made his debut tonight. So, how did it go?

Earlier today, only hours after the Trump Administration announced that the U.S. had launched a military strike against Venezuela to arrest its leader, Nicolás Maduro, and that the U.S. would begin running the country for the foreseeable future, the word came down that CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil would be making his debut two days earlier than previously announced. The decision came as Dokoupil and CBS News head Bari Weiss have taken some heat for how they've rolled out their new vision for the long-running evening news program. With that in mind, we checked out Dokoupil's first outing to get a sense of what we can expect. In the interest of fairness, I understand that this wasn't expected and that Monday was meant to be Dokoupil's actual debut. But in the news business, it's all about being ready at a moment's notice so I'm not offering that much slack. So how did it go?

The video package, which offered a timeline of what happened over the past 24 hours, was spot-on, something CBS News has always excelled at. It was clear and concise, hitting on the major points to summarize the situation effectively.

Charlie D'Agata, CBS News' senior national security correspondent, provided solid reporting during the opening and shared some interesting points that will need to be examined in the coming days. D'Agata offered the level of perspective and expertise that worked nicely in conjunction with the video packages.

Dokoupil's interview with U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth was where the big red flag went up for me, spotlighting the concerns we had going into this next version of CBS Evening News. The surface questions were strong, but nothing that you wouldn't expect to be asked of a seasoned journalist. But to have Hegseth on for that much of the half-hour and not follow up on a number of things he said isn't a good sign that CBS News has an interest in digging deeper. When Dokoupil asked Hegseth if he would seek Congress's approval if boots on the ground are needed in Venezuela, Hegseth said they would seek to "keep Congress involved." That's not even close to being the same thing, but the interview moved on. That was also the case when it came to Hegseth's comments involving Iran's nuclear program, the comparisons between Venezuela and the invasion of Iraq in the 90s, and more. After a while, it began to feel more like an infomercial for Hegseth than a journalistic interview.

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