Bari Weiss names Tony Dokoupil anchor of CBS News one year after he was scolded for questioning race-baiter Ta-Nehisi Coates over Gaza book

Dokoupil will begin his role leading the longest-running nightly newscast in the US on Monday, January 5, 2026. He has co-hosted CBS Mornings since 2019. During his first month as anchor, he will report from various locations across the country as he meets with “viewers in cities and towns across America.”

"After 20 years in journalism, traveling through all 50 states and talking with people in hundreds of far-flung American places, I realize why a country this big needs a show this ambitious," Dokoupil said. "The strength of our nation is that we benefit from fair reporting and the open discussion of all ideas. For more than 60 years, the 'Evening News' has been a bedrock of that process. I'm honored to join a fearless team at this important moment, and with what I can promise is a commitment to trust and the plain truth.”

The move is one of the first major lineup changes at the network since Bari Weiss was named editor-in-chief. According to a report by the New York Post, Weiss is expected to outline the network’s broader changes during a December 15 town hall with staff, where she will also lay out her vision for CBS News.

"We live in a time in which many people have lost trust in the media. Tony Dokoupil is the person to win it back. That's because he believes in old-school journalistic values: asking the hard questions, following the facts wherever they lead and holding power to account. Americans hungry for fairness will see that on display night after night," Weiss said in a public statement announcing the move.

CBS President Tom Cibrowski added that Dokoupil is “what everyone wants in an evening-news anchor,” adding that he “connects instantly, whether he's talking with world leaders or with families navigating difficult news in their own backyards."

In the fall of last year, Dokoupil was embroiled in controversy at the network after doing an interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates.

CBS News executive Adrienne Roark told network staffers in a meeting that Dokoupil's interview violated editorial guidelines about impartiality after he grilled Coates about his pro-Palestinian framing of the war in Gaza.