“CBS Mornings” co-host Gayle King has been accused of feeding questions in advance to a controversial guest.
The guest, race hustler Ta-Nehisi Coates, later admitted during an appearance on comedian Trevor Noah’s podcast that King had fed him questions in advance about his latest book, “The Message.”
“Gayle came behind the stage before we went [on] and she had gone through the book, and I’m not saying she agreed with the book,” he said. “She was like, ‘I’m gonna ask you about this. I’m gonna ask you about that.'”
In fairness, Gayle never got to ask any of the questions, because fellow co-host Tony Dokoupil first peppered Coates with a series of tough questions about the antisemitism in his book:
Ta-Nehisi Coates’ new book, “The Message,” is a trio of interconnected essays that examine how the stories people tell — or avoid telling — can shape and even distort reality: “I am most concerned always with those that don’t have a voice.” https://t.co/bDsBxZMbah pic.twitter.com/G4WCkI146I
— CBS Mornings (@CBSMornings) September 30, 2024
However, because Dokoupil had the courage to ask tough questions, as is expected of a real journalist, he was later reprimanded.
“CBS News … rebuked one of its star morning anchors, Tony Dokoupil, over an interview that he conducted last week with the author Ta-Nehisi Coates, in which Mr. Dokoupil challenged Mr. Coates’s views about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” The New York Times confirmed this Monday.
“Top CBS executives, on a newsroom-wide call, described the interview as falling short of the network’s editorial standards. The executives said their critique had been prompted by internal staff concerns,” the report from the Times continued.
Critics are now crying foul, wondering why Dokoupil was punished for asking tough questions, but King isn’t being punished for feeding questions in advance to a guest.
As a career journalist, I’m struggling to understand how Tony Dokoupil failed to meet CBS standards by asking Coates tough questions, but it was OK for Gayle King to tell him exactly what questions she planned to ask.
— (((Michael Jacobs))) (@ChipJake) October 9, 2024
“I don’t even understand how Tony’s interview failed to meet our editorial standards,” a CBS News legal analyst reportedly said in Dokoupil’s defense during a staff meeting this week. “I thought our commitment was to truth.”
“When someone comes on our air with a one-sided account of a very complex situation, as Coates himself acknowledges that he has, it’s my understanding that as journalists we are obligated to challenge that worldview so that our viewers can have that access to the truth or a fuller account, a more balanced account. And, to me, that is what Tony did,” she added.
Critics are also wondering why the same CBS bosses who came after Dokoupil let King off the hook after she lectured the father of a Hamas hostage about “dying Palestinians” last year.
Watch that horrific interview below:
WATCH: CBS’s Gayle King LECTURES the father of a eight-year-old Israeli girl being held hostage by Hamas that “innocent children in Pales –Palestinians…are dying” too just as “innocent Israeli children” and, b/c of “politics,” “no one seems to be able to say enough, stop” pic.twitter.com/5qkg2QUMNn
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) November 15, 2023
King’s stunning behavior in the clip above prompted a massive backlash.
Look:
Is @GayleKing actually blaming a *victim* of what Hamas did?! What a bigot!
— Zanshi 惨死 (D – Jar Kitteh) (@zanshi1) November 15, 2023
.@CBS employs absolute monsters and dunces, simply because they will parrot left-wing policy positions and/or quotas.
— Lance ‘Doc’ Pearson (@DocLanceP) November 16, 2023
One side wants their children to be martyrs. One side doesn’t. Don’t you dare lecture Jews @GayleKing on our survival. “We can forgive them for killing our children. We can’t forgive them for making us kill theirs” – Golda Meir
— Daniella (@Rationalmod) November 15, 2023
His girl’s mother died of cancer too. This girl is all he has. This evil “journalist “ has no heart. Why is he even talking to her????? The only reason she ever had a job is due to being Oprah’s secret love object. Disgusting. CBS should be ashamed.
— ThatPersonThere (@mainpersonhere) November 15, 2023
WHY would @GayleKing bring up POLITICS and BOTH SIDES to an, obviously, DISTRAUGHT father whose CHILD was KIDNAPPED by Hamas? WHY??
Despicable.
WHY do that to a grieving father who is in so much pain?
I do not understand.
— KK Berd (@keny_berd) November 16, 2023
Yet the bosses at CBS News never chose to punish her for this.
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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