CBS News Anchor Announces New Direction For 2026: Actual Journalism

CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil delivered a New Year’s Day message promising changes in coverage at the legacy media network, at least as far as he is concerned. Dokoupil, who will helm the outlet’s iconic “CBS Evening News,” said he was ready to pull out all the stops to make viewers trust the news again.

Dokoupil, who appeared regularly on “CBS Mornings” alongside hosts Gayle King and former pro-footballer Nate Burleson, is making the move to primetime amid other changes being made by new Editor-in-Chief Bari Weiss. He delivered a statement promising to do better via a video posted Thursday to X.

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“On too many stories, the press has missed the story. 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.”

That changes now. The new CBS Evening News… pic.twitter.com/NKdvRJjYCS

— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) January 1, 2026

“A lot has changed since the first person sat in this chair,” Dokoupil observed. “But for me, the biggest difference is people do not trust us like they used to. And it’s not just us. It’s all of legacy media. And I get it. 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.”

Dokoupil went on to list a number of stories with which people on one side of the aisle or the other had taken issue: from COVID lockdowns and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails to Hunter Biden’s laptop, the Iraq War, and former President Joe Biden’s fitness for office — and he said that he understood why people were so upset.

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“On too many stories, the press has missed the story. 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,” he conceded. “And I know this because, at certain points, I have been you. I have felt this way, too. 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.”

“So here’s my promise to you,” Dokoupil declared. “You come first. Not advertisers, not politicians, not corporate interests. And yes, that does include the corporate owners of CBS. I report for you — which 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.”

He said that also meant he would hold everyone “to the very same standard” and dig in to “what works in this country and 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.”