“Make me earn it,” Tony Dokoupil said, asking viewers to hold journalists accountable.

CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil makes shocking plea to viewers amid Bari Weiss takeover: ‘Don’t just trust me’

"Make me earn it," Tony Dokoupil said, asking viewers to hold journalists accountable.

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January 2, 2026 2:34 p.m. ET

Tony Dokoupil and Bari Weiss. Credit:

Michele Crowe/CBS; Noam Galai/Getty

- *CBS Evening News *anchor Tony Dokoupil urged viewers to hold journalists accountable in an video statement.

- "You come first. Not advertisers. Not politicians. Not corporate interests," Dokoupil said.

- Controversial figure Bari Weiss recently took over CBS News as editor-in-chief.

*CBS Evening News* anchor Tony Dokoupil has pushed back against "corporate interests" — and urged viewers to hold journalists accountable — in a bold video statement amid editor-in-chief Bari Weiss' controversial takeover of the CBS News division.

In the New Year's Day address at the head of the program, Dokoupil looked into the camera as he spoke to his audience and acknowledged that "a lot has changed since the first person sat in the *Evening News* chair," before calling out what he felt to be "the biggest difference" in that "people do not trust us like they used to."

He said that he felt "all of legacy media" has come under more intense scrutiny from consumers, and that he empathizes with those questioning influential media organizations.

"I get it, because I've been hearing about it from just about everybody, for more than 20 years, as I've traveled America on this assignment or that," he continued. "My mom's neighbors in West Virginia. My own neighbors in New York City. Thousands and thousands of conversations in between."

CBS journalist Tony Dokoupil.

He then criticized his media peers, telling viewers that on "too many stories, the press has missed the story" because, as he estimated, they'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," the viewer.

"And I know this because, at certain points, I have been you. I have felt this way, too," the 45-year-old said. "I have felt like what I was seeing and hearing on the news didn't reflect what I was seeing and hearing in my own life. And that the most urgent questions simply weren't being asked."

Dokoupil, who took over as the *CBS Evening News* anchor in December after years of co-anchoring *CBS Mornings*, then made a vow to those watching.

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"So, here's my promise to you, today and every time you see me in this chair: you come first," Dokoupil stressed. "Not advertisers. Not politicians. Not corporate interests. And, yes, that does include the corporate owners of CBS. I report for you."

He clarified that this means, "I tell you what I know, when I know it, and how I know it. And when I get it wrong, I'll tell you that, too. It also means I'm going to talk to everybody, and hold everyone in public life to the very same standard."

"I became a journalist to talk to people. I love talking to people about what works in this country, what doesn't, and not only what should change, but the good ideas that should never change. I think telling the truth is one of them," Dokoupil added, before signing off by telling his audience to "hold me to it" when it comes to his position as anchor of *CBS Evening News*, which formally begins Jan. 5.

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Since Weiss was installed in October as the head of CBS News following Paramount's merger with Skydance (and the combined company's subsequent purchase of Weiss' Free Press company), her tenure has faced blowback. In addition to critics pointing out her lack of experience in broadcast journalism, her town hall special with polarizing figure Charlie Kirk's widow, Erika Kirk, drew public ire for Weiss' editorial approach, which was described by *Forbes* as "fawning."

Watch Dokoupil's address in the video above.

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