CBS News Admits They Lost the Plot. Can They Fix Themselves?

by Glenn T. Stanton | January 2, 2026 | Culture

We are big consumers of various media here at the Daily Citizen. We must be, to stay in touch with what’s going on in the world. That means we are required to be discerning in determining truth from falsehood as we read and watch the news widely.

It is crystal clear that much of the legacy media has done a truly horrible job of informing audiences about what is happening in the world. They are supposed to be attuned to what is actually going on, but too often, they live in their own progressive bubble, failing to appreciate how truly tone-deaf they are.

It is why public trust in media has fallen to embarrassingly low levels. Just this past October, Gallup reported that trust has been declining steadily since the late 1970s and has now hit an all-time low of only 28% of Americans who hold a “fair amount” of trust in media. That trust remains highest among those 65 and older, but even there, it has been declining. Pew has reported the same sharp declines.

But some legacy media seem to be aware of this problem and appear to want to do better.

Tony Dokoupil, the incoming newsreader for CBS evening news, released a video statement on New Year’s Day copping to how bad legacy media has been.

Dokoupil confessed to the world, “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.” He admitted that in so many instances “the press has missed the story” because they have been talking to the wrong people, sources like “advocates” and “academics or elites.”

He confessed he has lost confidence in legacy media himself, feeling “like what I was seeing and hearing on the news didn’t reflect what I was seeing and hearing in my own life.”

Dokoupil resolved the following to America,

So, here’s my promise to you today, and every time you see me in this chair, 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.

Dokoupil ended his remarks saying that “I think telling the truth” is a timeless commitment that should never change. In the final line of commentary, he invited all of us to, “Hold me to it.”

Such an observation and admission from a major network news anchor is no small thing. Of course, the question is how CBS will deliver on this new promise. We should all pay very close attention to the announcement of this change of direction and see how they do in fulfilling their new promise.

To that end, it is worth nothing that the very good, stalwart folks at the Media Research Center (MRC) recently reported that while each of the big three television networks (ABC, CBS and NBC) mentioned the massive welfare fraud taking place in Minnesota, “CBS was the only network to have aired even a single full-length report about the scandal, and as of this study’s publishing [on Dec. 30th], ABC hasn’t touched the story outside of a single offhand mention.”

MRC adds,

CBS far outperformed its counterparts, granting more than eight minutes of airtime (496 seconds) to the scandal, including three full-length reports on December 3, December 11, and December 29. CBS remains the only of the three networks to report on the sheer extent of the fraud, which investigators estimated at $9,000,000,000.

MRC also notes, “ABC’s vicarious outrage on behalf of Somali immigrants outpaced their coverage of the widespread fraud by almost five to one (122 seconds vs 25 seconds).” 

They observe, “CBS deserves credit for consistently giving this story its due” adding, “In fact, [CBS] correspondent Jonah Kaplan is the only broadcast reporter who appears to have done real investigative work on this topic.”

Of course, Nick Shirely is not a broadcast reporter, but he is the 23-year-old freelance reporter who has garnered over a 100 million views for his dogged reporting on the Minneapolis fraud. Vice President JD Vance wrote on X, “This dude has done far more useful journalism than any of the winners of the 2024 @pulitzercenter prizes.”

Shirely has done more reporting on this explosive story than the three major networks combined. It is sad thing indeed when, as MRC has reported, “ABC’s World News Tonight has done no journalistic work on this scandal whatsoever,” but a local ABC affiliates used Shirely’s own reporting in its news story.

We should hope for the best from CBS news but remember that actions speak louder than words. Dogged, truthful reporting of important stories is the hallmark of good journalism. Let us watch and see what comes of CBS’s new resolve.

Photo from YouTube.