"CBS Evening News" host Tony Dokoupil called out "big problems" on air during his first live broadcast on Monday.
Just days after giving an optimistic speech about his new role as "CBS Evening News" anchor, Dokoupil appeared visibly flustered in a viral clip while transitioning from a segment on post-Maduro Venezuela to another topic, apparently because of a teleprompter issue.
"To other news now to… Governor Walz! No, we're gonna do Mark Kelly. First day, first day, big problems here," he said as he shook his head.
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"Uh, are we going to Kelly here? Or are we going to go to Jonah Kaplan?" he said amid a lengthy silence. He then reset, saying, "We're doing Mark Kelly, possibly demoted from his retired rank of captain in the Navy."
The on-air stumble came a couple of days after Dokoupil had vowed to be more accountable to viewers as he takes the reins as CBS News' evening anchor.
Before his first night as anchor on Monday, CBS News released a clip of Dokoupil acknowledging that many Americans no longer trust the media after its handling of stories like Russiagate, Hunter Biden's laptop and COVID-19 lockdowns.
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"The point is that, on too many stories, the press has missed the story," Dokoupil said. "Because we've taken into account the perspective of advocates and not the average American. Or we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites and not enough on you."
Dokoupil later addressed skepticism on social media, responding to a comment on Instagram that mentioned legendary "CBS Evening News" anchor Walter Cronkite. According to a screenshot shared by Guardian reporter Jeremy Barr, Dokoupil wrote, "I can promise you we'll be more accountable and transparent than Cronkite or anyone else of his era."
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