New “CBS Evening News” anchor Tony Dokoupil experienced an on-air mishap during his official debut broadcast Monday, disrupting segment transitions and admitting to an error on live camera.
During Monday night’s broadcast, Dokoupil fumbled transitions between corners and mixed up stories about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly.
The confusion was clear on the air, and Dokoupil said: “Other news, I just heard from Jill…I’ll give Governor Walz some other news, no, we’ll do Mark Kelly.” He then said, “We had a big problem here on the first day,” before going on to Kelly’s segment.
Kelly’s talk was about the Arizona state senator’s possible demotion from the rank of retired Navy captain. This corner reported that the Navy had issued a so-called letter of censure over the Democratic Party’s participation in a video calling on service members to defy illegal orders, without specifying what order the party had in mind. The report noted that the Navy calls the actions of the former combat pilot and astronaut sedition.
Dokoupil then moved to Walz’s corner and said, “We’re going to Minnesota. Today we have a surprise announcement from the Great Lakes state: 2024 Democratic Vice Presidential Candidate Tim Walz.”
On Saturday, Dokoupil made an early debut covering U.S. military operations in Venezuela, two days before his scheduled start on Monday. Bari Weiss was named the new anchor of “CBS Evening News” after Bari Weiss acquired CBS News at the push of Paramount’s new head, David Ellison.
Dokoupil outlined his mission as the show’s new anchor in a New Year’s Day video, vowing to put “average Americans” first.
“Too many stories are missed by the press,” he said. “And it’s not just us. It’s all legacy media. Because we take into account the perspective of advocates, not the average American. Or we focus too much on the analysis of academics and elites, and not enough on you guys.”
“I report for you, which means I tell you what I know, when I know it, and how I know it. And if I’m wrong, I’ll tell you that too.”
