Shari Redstone pushed back against CBS News on Wednesday after an internal review by the network found that “CBS Mornings” co-anchor Tony Dokoupil’s recent interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates failed to meet editorial standards.
“I’ve been doing a lot of speaking recently on the connection between the decline in our democratic institutions, in the rise in hate and antisemitism, and I think one of the reasons why it’s on the rise is that we have lost the ability to have civil discourse. We have lost accountability. We have lost checks and balances,” the Paramount Global non-executive chairwoman told an Advertising Week conference panel on Wednesday focused on using engaging content to combat hate.
“I frankly think Tony did a great job with that interview,” Redstone continued. “I think he handled himself and showed the world and role modeled what civil discourse is, that he showed that there was accountability, that there is a system of checks and balances and frankly I was very proud of the work that he did.”
Her public comments come after the Wall Street Journal reported that she told CBS News executives she didn’t believe the interview violated editorial standards, disagreed with how the situation was handled and that it was insensitive to address the matter on Oct. 7, the anniversary of Hamas’ attack on Israel.
“We all have voices and platforms that we can use. And as hard as it was, frankly, for me to go against the company — because I love this company and I believe in it, and I think we have a great, great executive team — I think they made a mistake here,” Redstone added. “I just want to be clear that I’ve been working with the CEOs, I’ve been working with the woman who does a lot of our diversity training, and I think we all agree that this was not handled correctly and we all agree that something needs to be done. I don’t have editorial control. I am not an executive, but I have a voice in our platform, like all of us. And as you may know, I don’t hesitate to use it.”
When asked how the situation could’ve been handled better, Redstone said she didn’t know all the specifics, so it’s “really hard to say exactly what they did.” Still, she called for better education around the topic at large.
“People need to understand the core issues and what they’re talking about. We need to have better education about how to challenge people in a civil way, which, frankly, I think Tony did,” she reiterated. “And we need to have standards that are applied to everyone on all issues. You can’t have one standard for somebody who has one position and another standard for somebody who has another position. And I think the most important thing that can come out of this is that we all recognize that we need to provide a platform where people can have a voice, where they can have civil discourse, where they can challenge each other and we need to make sure that we give equal opportunity for this, regardless of what side of the issue you’re on.”
Redstone further said she’s “very glad” Coates appeared on “CBS Mornings” and had an opportunity to speak, but emphasized the network has to “also provide the opportunity to challenge him on what he says, just like we challenge everybody else, whether they’re politicians, friends or in any arena that we deal with.”
“We can all do a better job, and that’s what we all have to strive to do,” she noted.
The author appeared on “CBS Mornings” last week to discuss his new book, “The Message,” which includes criticism of Israel’s approach to its war against Hamas in Gaza following his own visit to Jerusalem. Co-anchor Dokoupil turned the focus to the portion of his book discussing Israel and asserting that the content of that section, without Coates’ name attached, “would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.”
Dokoupil went on to challenge Coates, asking why the author, whose talent he praised, would “leave out so much.” He cited issues including Israel being “surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it,” terrorists seeking its destruction and other historical context like sustained terrorist attacks against its citizens.
Coates defended his approach by noting that he felt American media already had plenty of the perspective that Dokoupil had outlined, so he sought to provide something different.
“I am most concerned, always, with those who don’t have a voice,” he said
Following the interview, Coates appeared on former MSNBC journalist Mehdi Hasan’s Zeteo outlet and said of the CBS interview, “I was a little surprised and then I realized what was going on, I was in a fight.”
During a call with staff on Monday, CBS News executive Adrienne Roark said that coverage of a story like Oct. 7 “requires empathy, respect and a commitment to truth.” While she said the network would “still ask tough questions” and “still hold people accountable,” she added that it would “do so objectively, which means checking our biases and opinions at the door.” Roark also noted that staff had reached out about the interview to raise concerns, saying, “I want to acknowledge and apologize that it’s taken this long to have this conversation.”
CBS News’ chief legal correspondent Jan Crawford defended Dokoupil during the call, noting, “Tony prevented a one-sided account from being broadcast on our network.”
Audio of the call with staff was obtained and released by Bari Weiss’ conservative Free Press outlet.
Both internal reaction and that of viewers has been mixed, with some taking issue with Dokoupil’s questions and description of Coates’ work and feeling that it indicated bias, while others supported his approach as being journalistically sound in how he asked tough questions. Dokoupil has written about being a convert to Judaism. His ex-wife and two of his children live in Israel.
Some both inside and outside CBS were also concerned with the choice to share the results of the investigation on Oct. 7, the anniversary of the Hamas terror attack last year that sparked the current ongoing military conflict.
Redstone’s appearance follows her recent decision to sell her controlling stake in Paramount Global through National Amusements to Skydance Media’s David Ellison in an $8 billion merger deal.
She noted that the Oct. 7 attack in Israel was a major event that forced her to think about “accelerating my desire to enter the next phase of my life.” As she looks at her next chapter, she said it would be a balance of 80% philanthropy and 20% business, but that the two areas would be “very connected.”
“I still believe in content and that it matters and that it can lead to some great conversations,” she said. “I think a lot of the relationships that I build hopefully continue when I walk away, and this will give me an opportunity to really focus grassroots time-wise on doing a lot of speaking, on working with people, on programming. I mean, it’s really been my passion.”
While she reiterated the “bad mistake” made by CBS News this week, she argued that Paramount has “done a lot of good” and “have had content for change” around fighting antisemitism and racism and working with the LGBTQ community.
“There is so much in the company that I am really proud of where we had an impact. Hopefully, that doesn’t go away, but this is my passion and I believe that I want to spend every day fighting to make this world better,” she said. “It sounds so Pollyanna-ish, but I’m not, because I recognize the challenges, but I want to create that world I want my grandchildren to live in and that’s what I want to be doing going forward.”
As for Paramount’s incoming owners, Redstone said she “certainly hopes” they will continue to steward her family’s legacy.
“I certainly expressed to the new buyers how important my legacy is, my dad’s legacy culture is. I think what I’m most proud of in the company having gone through many transformations, is that we have created a great culture where everybody feels safe,” she concluded. “One thing I promised everybody in the company is I will never disappear in terms of being your advocate and in terms of helping you be who you need to be, who you want to be in this company, whether I am controlling shareholder, a passion forward member, or anybody else. I love this company, I will always be there for the team, and I have hope that our legacy will continue and I will always try to ensure that that happens.”
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