A brutal analysis tore into Tony Dokoupil's inaugural broadcast as anchor of CBS Evening News, mocking the botched broadcast as it was beset with "big problems."
Dokoupil fumbled a transition between segments on Monday night, mixing up a story about Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ). Midway through a segment transition, a production room miscue left Dokoupil staring blankly at the wrong image on screen.
"When a slideshow of Kelly’s hairless visage appeared on the screen, Dokoupil fell bracingly silent," wrote Slate's Luke Winkie on Tuesday. "What followed were 30 seconds of agony. He tried to kick the segment over to a reporter on the field, who did not answer the call."
The flubs occurred as the network still settles into the installation of Bari Weiss, a Trump-aligned former opinion columnist who was named editor-in-chief in October.
"First day, big problems here," Dokoupil said during the broadcast.
Winkie ruthlessly mocked Dokoupil and his broadcast.
"Generally speaking, when presenting oneself as the vanguard for a radical new editorial direction—one that supposedly cuts through the ossified liberal bromides that have long dominated the nightly news—you do not want your debut broadcast to be reminiscent of an infamously botched campus newscast. Unfortunately, Tony Dokoupil, the newly installed anchor of CBS Evening News and the face of the company’s nouveau regime-friendly rebrand, was not so lucky," Winkie began.
On a "purely mechanical level, Dokoupil’s debut was a massive dud," Winkie added.
The stumble gained even more significance given the circumstances surrounding Dokoupil's promotion.
"But what makes the failure more embarrassing is in the haughtiness of Bari Weiss—inveterate moderate, rich-guy whisperer, and freshly enshrined editor in chief of CBS News—who made a ridiculous demonstration of her rejiggering of the company and the elevation of Dokoupil," he continued.
The new CBS News boss has positioned herself as a visionary, restructuring the network toward editorial independence and away from what she billed as entrenched liberal orthodoxy. Pre-debut promotional materials from CBS's social media accounts promised a newscast that would "love America" and deliver transparency exceeding that of legendary anchor Walter Cronkite.
"Doukopil claimed that his night shift will be 'more accountable and more transparent than Cronkite.' Yeah, buddy, like that’s up to you," Winkie concluded.