Tony Dokoupil Vows ‘You Come First’ From ‘CBS Evening News’ Anchor Chair: ‘People Do Not Trust Us Like They Used To’ | Video

Days before he takes over the chair once occupied by Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and most recently Nora O’Donnell, new “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil outlined a new direction for the legacy network, vowing to focus on the perspective of the average American after years of media putting too much weight on “advocates … academics or elites.”

In a statement posted New Year’s Day and read aloud on social media, Dokoupil, installed last month under new corporate ownership of Paramount and the stewardship of new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, proposed a framework reset for the storied broadcast in a message that was part mea culpa for past media failures at large, and part promise to bring a different perspective to the job he starts on Monday.

“A lot has changed since I first sat in this chair, but the biggest thing for me is that people do not trust us like they used to,” Dokoupil said. “And it’s not just us, it’s all of legacy media. And I get it. I get it because I’ve been hearing about it from just about everybody for more than 20 years as I’ve traveled America on this assignment or that.”

Dokoupil, who was elevated to the anchor chair from “CBS Mornings” on December 10, named several stories that Americans believe the press missed over the years: NAFTA, the Iraq war, Russiagate, COVID lockdowns, Hunter Biden’s laptop and “the president’s fitness for office.”

The former writer for Politico and The Daily Beast and “Morning Joe” co-anchor said he agrees with them – “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. And I know this because at certain points, I have been you. I have felt this way too. I felt like what I was seeing and hearing on the news didn’t reflect what I was seeing and hearing in my own life, and that the most urgent questions simply weren’t being asked.”

Dokoupil ended his statement with a promise: “Today, and every day you see me in this chair, you come first. Not advertisers, not politicians, not corporate interests. And yes, that does include the corporate owners of CBS. I report for you.”

Dokoupil said he’ll “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. I’m Tony Dokoupil, the anchor of the CBS Evening News. Hold me to it.”

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