The new CBS Evening News promo, fronted by Tony Dokoupil and engineered by Bari Weiss’s management regime, is not just embarrassing branding; it is an admission that the network is willing to trade credibility for cosplay populism.

From “Most Trusted” To “Most Flustered”

Once upon a time, CBS sold itself as the home of Walter Cronkite, “the most trusted man in the world.” Now its shiny new anchor stands in a promo and vows to move away from “the analysis of academics or elites” and listen instead to “you.”​

That sounds democratic until you notice what is being erased. Experts, advocates, watchdogs, anyone whose job is to test power with evidence, are rebranded as the problem. The solution, apparently, is a haircut with a teleprompter promising to ignore the people who actually know things.

Bari Weiss’s New “People’s” News

This is not an accident of phrasing; it is a strategy. Weiss and new owner David Ellison are using the oldest right‑populist trick in the book: declare the “elites” untrustworthy so you can replace them with your own curated storytellers.​

When Dokoupil intones that “on too many stories, the press has missed the story” because it listened to “advocates” and “academics,” he is not attacking laziness or groupthink inside the newsroom. He is attacking the very idea that journalism should be grounded in expertise, research, and uncomfortable facts that are not always flattering to government or corporate sponsors.​

If experts go, who is left? Government press offices. Corporate PR shops. Approved pundits who know which narratives must never be disturbed. The “average American” becomes a human shield, trotted out rhetorically whenever management wants cover to ignore anyone who might contradict the party line.

The Anchor As Influencer

The second promo, Dokoupil wandering around Grand Central Station asking passersby if they know who he is, or how to pronounce his name, is the other half of the farce.​

Instead of building trust through reporting, CBS turns its flagship anchor into a mildly humiliated content creator, chasing recognition like a mid‑tier YouTuber. People do not know his name. They do not know his face. They do not care. The network, rather than treating this as a problem to solve with serious journalism, packages the embarrassment as a cute little bit.​

The message is clear: it doesn’t matter whether you recognize him as long as you remember the stunt.

The Black Eye As Branding

Put that next to a bruised CBS eye, swollen, discolored, half‑shut, and you have the real state of the brand. The network still has the familiar shape of a news institution, but the vision is damaged.

When an anchor boasts that he will give “less weight” to the people who study policy, law, climate, economics, and disinformation for a living, he is promising a news hour where the lights are on but the eye cannot focus. You will see motion, color, and emotion. What you will not see is clarity.​

This is what happens when a legacy outlet confuses “trust” with flattery. Trust is earned by telling the audience the truth, including truths they do not like. Flattery is earned by telling the audience that their feelings are superior to anyone else’s knowledge. The first makes you a news organization. The second makes you a lifestyle brand with graphics.

From Cronkite To Clickbait

CBS has not “missed the story” for eighty years because it relied on academics and advocates; it reported stories because it listened to them. Civil rights, Vietnam, Watergate, corporate scandals: those did not drop fully formed from “average American” vibes. They came from insiders, investigators, scholars, and activists who refused to shut up.​

To reject that pipeline in 2026 is to announce that CBS prefers not to know. It is to say: we will not look too closely; we will not think too hard; we will not bring you the people whose life’s work is to interrogate power. We will bring you a friendly face who asks you how you feel and then calls that journalism.

The Joke Writes Itself

The Grand Central promo accidentally tells the truth. No one knows who this man is, and if this is the editorial direction, no one will know what this broadcast is for.​

A network that was once proud of seeing more now advertises that it will see less, less context, less expertise, less analysis, and expects applause for the self‑inflicted injury. The CBS eye isn’t just bruised; it is choosing to look away.