"Newsroom culture clash" at CBS News

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

Bari Weiss’s security detail is costing CBS $10,000 per day, according to report

Weiss took over CBS News last month after its parent company bought her Substack, The Free Press, for $150 million

www.independent.co.uk

Woah here's more on Bari Weiss and security. But it was the Ellisons that approved that as part of Bari Weiss contract at CBS News.

 

[ted chittenden]

Bari Weiss’s security detail is costing CBS $10,000 per day, according to report

Weiss took over CBS News last month after its parent company bought her Substack, The Free Press, for $150 million

www.independent.co.uk

Woah here's more on Bari Weiss and security. But it was the Ellisons that approved that as part of Bari Weiss contract at CBS News.

And it is that security detail, along with Miss Weiss' presence, that puts the lie to the claims Tony Dokoupil made about being "a man of the people."

 

[TheBigA]

And it is that security detail, along with Miss Weiss' presence, that puts the lie to the claims Tony Dokoupil made about being "a man of the people."

Huh? Does he have a security detail? I'm not sure he said he's "a man of the people." Those are your words.

 

[Weiserguy]

Yep. Me too. They've replaced the 38-page CBS News Standards and Practices manual with "Five Guiding Principles":



Old TV journalist observation: The entire structure and writing style is cribbed from Chevy's print ads for the launch of the Vega 56 years ago:

View attachment 11155

And we all know how the Vega turned out.

Yup, I sure do. Had to buy one in late 1973 (a "redesigned" '74 model) right after the Arab Oil Embargo started because the new job necessitated my bouncing between my office in Manhattan and our manufacturing plants in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The vehicle sucked. The manual transmission would never work right until a scandal at Chevrolet forced them to reopen old "denied warranty repair" cases for the damn things. The body paint blistered and allowed the sheet metal to rust. All in all, it made me regret giving up my grandfather's 1960 Impala (with the ginormous tail fins) just to get a few mpg better mileage.

One thing it did do: it motivated me to never ever buy another GM product, regardless of how slick their ad copy was. I suspect a lot of CBS News viewers will come to a similar conclusion.

 

[TheBigA]

I suspect a lot of CBS News viewers will come to a similar conclusion.

Maybe. There aren't many of them now to begin with. 4.5 million people. Down 8% from last year.

 

[Weiserguy]

Sorry. I don't get that at all. Both Murrow and Cronkite were forced out of their roles at CBS News in controversial ways. The Murrow story was depicted by George Clooney in "Good Night & Good Luck." The Cronkite story was less celebrated. But he was forced out of his role as anchor by Dan Rather. Of course years later Rather himself was forced out in a controversial way,

You are right about Murrow. You are wrong about Cronkite. At the time he was approaching age 65, CBS had a hard and fast policy that everyone retires by age 65. (The only exception was the chairman, William Paley, himself. Even the legendary Frank Stanton was retired at approximately his 65th.)

Cronkite was expecting to retire in a handful of months when he would hit 65. Rather had an offer from NBC and CBS didn't want to lose him. Cronkite agreed to vacate the chair a few months earlier than planned, but in the greater scheme the difference was immaterial. He retired with full honors, went sailing, produced some independent journalism and ended up doing a series of "historical reflections" on NPR up until his death.

 

[Weiserguy]

Maybe. There aren't many of them now to begin with. 4.5 million people. Down 8% from last year.

Are you talking about the CBS Evening News, CBS Mornings or the weekly programs like 60 Minutes or Sunday Morning? I can believe that number for the daily shows, not at all for the aforementioned weeklies. TTBOMK it's long been the case that 60M has the highest billing of any hour-long TV news program, period, full stop.

 

[TheBigA]

Are you talking about the CBS Evening News,

The focus for the new regime seems to be the evening news They have a new anchor, and they're launching him this week.

 

[Larry]

The focus for the new regime seems to be the evening news They have a new anchor, and they're launching him this week.

It looks like from social media they may be launching him early (tonight!) because of the big news about Venezuela

 

[TheBigA]

It looks like from social media they may be launching him early (tonight!) because of the big news about Venezuela

Smart idea. Why wait?

Tony Dokoupil’s ‘CBS Evening News’ Run to Start Early Amid Venezuela Chaos

Tony Dokoupil's run on 'CBS Evening News' will start two days earlier than expected as media outlets scramble after U.S. military action in Venezuela

variety.com

Tony Dokoupil To Anchor ‘CBS Evening News’ On Saturday, Two Days Earlier Than Planned Debut

His appearance will be two days earlier than planned.

deadline.com

 

[Loverofradio]

The goal isn't achieving those targets. The goal is to improve the lowest rated network news organization.

CBS News has been a distant third, really an afterthought for decades. I don’t get why they don’t market themselves as a niche for those who want actual journalism. Compare CBS to other media outlets. Within 10 seconds you’ll see why others are ahead. They’re “boring”. But, honestly I’m ok with them being boring and presenting factual info

 

[Loverofradio]

Yep. Me too. They've replaced the 38-page CBS News Standards and Practices manual with "Five Guiding Principles":



Old TV journalist observation: The entire structure and writing style is cribbed from Chevy's print ads for the launch of the Vega 56 years ago:

View attachment 11155

And we all know how the Vega turned out.

I’d take that Chevy Vega any and all day in 2026 over the Chevy Spark I used to have

 

[Loverofradio]

Maybe. There aren't many of them now to begin with. 4.5 million people. Down 8% from last year.

Huh 4.5 mill is pretty significant. That’s much better numbers than many of CBS’ Big 10 football broadcasts

 

[michael hagerty]

I’d take that Chevy Vega any and all day in 2026 over the Chevy Spark I used to have

Well, I mean, the Spark was a decent (not great) city car and not much more.

The Vega was hot garbage:

Not Even Vega-ly Good: The Woeful Tale of the Chevy Vega

The Chevrolet Vega is one of General Motors’ worst cars—but in the beginning it had a lot of promise. How did things go so badly wrong for the Vega?

www.motortrend.com

 

[TheBigA]

I don’t get why they don’t market themselves as a niche for those who want actual journalism

What would that be?

 

[Loverofradio]

CBS seems to have a bad track record of cutting people off early. First Gary Danielson on his final broadcast then Tony on his first broadcast as evening anchor

 

[Larry]

I don’t get why they don’t market themselves as a niche for those who want actual journalism.

That’s what they did with their morning news show for years and the powers that be weren’t satisfied. But you’d think with that niche audience they might be able to attract advertisers who want to reach that niche audience.

 

[TheBigA]

That’s what they did with their morning news show for years and the powers that be weren’t satisfied. But you’d think with that niche audience they might be able to attract advertisers who want to reach that niche audience.

Good point, and apparently the format wheel will be spinning again for the morning show at some point this year.

The reality is that the audience for broadcast TV is declining and aging. Not a good combination.

 

[TheBigA]

BTW CBS has now scrapped it's 10-city tour designed to launch this newest edition of the Evening News:

CBS Moves Tony Dokoupil’s CBS Evening News Debut Up Amid Maduro Ouster

CBS has canceled Tony Dokoupil's 10-city tour of the USA to celebrate him becoming the new host of Evening News, according to multiple reports on Saturday.

www.yahoo.com

Bari's security detail is very upset.

 

[Larry]

BTW CBS has now scrapped it's 10-city tour designed to launch this newest edition of the Evening News:

Tour might be scrapped or postponed.

Note: the end of the linked story now has this correction: “Editor’s note: This report originally stated that CBS had scrapped Dokoupil’s introductory tour. That was not accurate and has been corrected.”