CBS accused of ‘tossing their independence’ over Trump

CNN media analyst Brian Stelter, 40, has spoken against the CBS network on-line over their upcoming interview with President Donald Trump, 79.

Stelter shared his response relating to a leaked e-mail from CBS News Editor-In-Chief Bari Weiss, 41. In the reported e-mail, Weiss told the CBS Evening News team what she anticipated from them. Tony Dokoupil, the co-host of CBS Mornings, is predicted to conduct a two-week tour across the nation after beforehand pushing for Trump’s pardon demand.

“Let’s make sure every single night has something with viral potential,” Weiss wrote. The leaked e-mail, obtained from the New York Times closed, “The goal for this road show is not to deliver the news so much as it is to ‘drive the news. We need to *be the news* for these 10 days.”

Stelter took to X, previously generally known as Twitter, and tweeted, “The news that Tony Dokoupil is interviewing Trump today highlights what Bari Weiss wrote in an email to CBS producers about Dokoupil’s cross-country tour: ‘We need to ‘be the news’ for these 10 days.”

“It was always about attention, and understandably so, since CBS has been mired in third place at 6:30 p.m. seemingly forever. (Final ratings for Dokoupil’s first week will land later today.),” he continued. “I basically share Katie Rogers’ assessment: ‘This is actually a fascinating experiment.'”

Stelter continued, “But here’s the thing that bears repeating: In the Trump era it’s incredibly tricky to appeal to a new audience without alienating your existing audience. Then again, if your existing audience is evaporating year after year, well…”

“For what it’s worth, I watched Monday’s ‘Evening News,’ and other than the fact that Dokoupil was in Denver, it seemed like a perfectly normal network newscast. It didn’t have much “viral potential,” and maybe that’s OK,” the ex-Reliable Sources host concluded.

Viewers have been upset when Dokoupil pushed Trump’s pardon demand during a CBS Evening News section. The host grilled Colorado Governor Jared Polis on the issue of releasing one of the president’s pardon targets, Tine Peters, 73.

Trump is at the moment difficult the release of former Colorado county clerk, who said she ought to be freed on health grounds. Peters was convicted and sentenced to 9 years in jail in late 2024 for her function in the safety breach of voting gear following the 2020 election.

“She’s in jail right now, 73 years old,” Dokoupil told the Polis and added, “President Trump wants this woman out of prison. You seem to oppose him on this, but now maybe you’re coming around, I read?”

Polis rejected the notion and explained, “You look at every case on clemency on the merits. You have somebody who is non-violent, first-time offender, elderly.

“On the other hand, does she take full accountability for her crime?” he said. “We don’t take a look at this in isolation. I’ve dozens of these requests that we take a look at recurrently. And I wish to ensure that we don’t take a look at this one in any different manner.”

An upset viewer argued, “Tony and CBS News have rolled over to kiss the administration’s butt instead of reporting balanced news.”

Although Trump has been vocal about Peters’ release on Truth Social, he’s unable to pardon her, since she was convicted of a state-level crime, and never a federal-level crime.