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

CBS Evening News Makes Odd Promise to Viewers: "We Love America"

With a revamped CBS Evening News set for Monday, CBS News rolled out five "promises," including a kind of pledge of allegiance to America.

If you thought what CBS News Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss has been doing with 60 Minutes is… "something"… just wait until you see what Weiss and anchor Tony Dokoupil have in store for CBS Evening News beginning this Monday. On Thursday, the news organization posted a video of Dokoupil pretty much verbally dumping a steaming pile of disrespect on the work that CBS News has done over the year while attempting one of those, "Hey, I'm not like them! I'm just like you!" appeals. We learned the next step in Weiss and Dokoupil's CBS Evening News revamp on Friday with the release of "five simple principles" that the news broadcast will abide by moving forward.

What follows is an interesting mix of assumptions, wishful thinking, and serious concerns. For example, the third point does nothing to address the news organization's responsibility to counter and correct misinformation. If CBS Evening News wants its viewers to have a chance to make up their own minds, then it has a responsibility to fact-check and address those factual corrections in real-time as often as possible.

However, the "We love America" part is our biggest red flag, because the last thing a news program should have as a core principle is to remind viewers that it loves the country whose government it should be reporting on objectively. In addition, there's the implication that the news program – and by that extension, CBS News – didn't "love" America enough in the past, as well as passive-aggressively questioning the "national pride" that other news organizations hold.

(1) We work for you. That means you come first. Not our advertisers. Not politicians. Not corporate interests, including the corporate owners of CBS News.

(2) We report on the world as it is. We'll be honest and direct with you. That means no weasel words or padded landings. We'll tell you what we know, when we know it. Well update our reporting when we uncover new facts. And we'll admit when we get it wrong.

(3) We respect you. We believe that our fellow Americans are smart and discerning. It's our job to present you with the fullest picture — and the strongest voices on all sides of an issue. We trust you to make up your own minds, and to make the decisions that are best for you, your families and your communities.

(4) We love America. And we make no apologies for saying so. Our foundational values of liberty, equality and the rule of law make us the last best hope on Earth. We also believe in Franklin's famous line about America as a republic — if we can keep it. We aim to do our part every night: One way to think about our show is as a daily conversation about exactly where we are as a country and where we are going.

(5) We respect tradition, but we also believe in the future. We embrace the tools that allow us to reach you where you are. Some of you will watch this show on linear television. Others will increasingly watch it on social media. What we can guarantee is that the tools will continue to change — but some things never will. One of those things is honest journalism.

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