When is an interview too tough? CBS News grappling with question after Dokoupil interview

AP Media Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — Television morning show interviews often don’t stray beyond celebrities and food segments. But questions about the tone of a “CBS Mornings” interview by host Tony Dokoupil with author Ta-Nehisi Coates about Israel and Palestinians is lingering a week after it was conducted. CBS News management took the unusual step of scolding Dokoupil for the interview in a call with staff that, despite a request to keep it confidential, quickly became public. Dokoupil told Coates at the outset that he thought his essay on the Middle East “would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.” But one CBS reporter pushed back, wondering whether this would make her think twice about tough interviews.