Bari Weiss Plans 60 Minutes Changes, Adding Tony Dokoupil
Bari Weiss is planning to open 60 Minutes to more CBS News anchors, including Tony Dokoupil, as she reshapes the show’s lineup next season. The move would widen the program beyond its usual correspondents and give some of the network’s best-known anchors airtime on one of CBS News’s most visible broadcasts.
The plan also points to new roles for CBS News correspondents such as Matt Gutman. Norah O’Donnell is set to get more airtime next season as a contributing correspondent on 60 Minutes, according to the facts provided.
Weiss and Dokoupil
Weiss, the CBS News editor-in-chief, is opening 60 Minutes to the wider news division rather than keeping the show limited to its traditional correspondent bench. That includes letting Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil appear on the program.
Dokoupil’s addition would extend a run that has already drawn scrutiny. In April, Vanity Fair cited more than 20 current and former CBS staffers and industry insiders who questioned his credentials and news sensibilities. On his second day on the job, he said, “Marco Rubio, we salute you. You’re the ultimate Florida Man.” He also said he would be “more accountable and more transparent than Cronkite or anyone else of his era.”
Lesley Stahl and Netanyahu
The planned changes come as Weiss has already disrupted the show’s internal order. Status reported on Tuesday that she went behind Lesley Stahl’s back to secure an interview with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and handed the interview to Major Garrett instead.
Stahl, an 84-year-old veteran correspondent, had spent months trying to secure the interview herself. A source described Weiss as saying, “Bari did what she had to do to secure the interview,” and added, “Bibi’s office picked Major over Stahl.”
60 Minutes next season
For readers inside CBS News, the immediate change is simple: airtime and assignments on 60 Minutes are being redistributed. Dokoupil’s possible role, Gutman’s expected new responsibilities and O’Donnell’s additional airtime show Weiss is changing who gets on the air, not just who runs the news division.
The friction point is already visible. Weiss is trying to loosen the show’s usual structure while staff concerns around Dokoupil and the Netanyahu interview continue to follow the program into the new season.
