Former CBS Staffer Says ‘Every News Story’ Now Needs Approval From Internal Race And Culture Unit

✪ According to the CBS website, an internal CBS News Race and Culture Unit ensures ‘all stories have the proper context, tone and intention, before being approved for airing…‘

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ccording to a former CBS News staffer with knowledge of the process, a CBS News’ Race and Culture Unit now needs to screen and sign off on show scripts which could potentially offend particular viewers.

A former CBS employee told Fox News Digital the broadcast network’s Race and Culture Unit vets “basically every story” which could potentially be considered culturally sensitive.

The former employee said show producers were “required” to submit drafts of show scripts to an email chain with members of the Race & Culture Unit as well as the Standards & Practices Unit and could only proceed if they were signed off.

The CBS News Race and Culture Unit has emerged as a hot-button issue in recent days after a report that “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil found himself in hot water for asking questions that were not first cleared by the network’s internal Race and Culture Unit.

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Dokoupil sparked an internal uproar earlier this month when he interviewed author Ta-Nehisi Coates about his book, “The Message” Which describes in part his travels “to Palestine, where he sees with devastating clarity how easily we are misled by nationalist narratives.”

CBS News reportedly forced Dokoupil to meet with the network’s in-house Race and Culture Unit after a group of employees complained he was too tough on the pro-Palestinian author.

The CBS News anchor irked liberal colleagues by bluntly stating that “The Message” read like something you would find in “the backpack of an extremist.” Dokoupil, who is Jewish, also pushed him on whether he believes Israel has the right to exist.

The New York Times reported that “a group of CBS News employees approached executives with their concerns about Mr. Dokoupil’s handling of the interview,” and Dokoupil had to meet with both the CBS News Standards & Practices team as well as the Race and Culture Unit.

After the news broke that liberal staffers objected to Dokoupil’s line of questioning, Puck media reporter Dylan Byers reported that the Race and Culture Unit didn’t approve of the anchor’s actions. Byers reported:

“Last Tuesday, while the CBS News leadership was consumed with the network’s vice presidential debate, the issue was elevated to the network’s Race and Culture unit, which was formed in the summer of 2020, amid the George Floyd reckoning, and determines whether the ‘tone, content, and intention’ of any segment or package are suitable for the network’s air.”

According to the CBS website, the CBS News Race & Culture Unit has “a four-pronged role at CBS News and Stations as a reviewer, an incubator, a producer and a library.”

“The unit, led by Alvin Patrick, determined that while Dokoupil’s questions and intentions were acceptable, his tone was not,” Byers added. “Meanwhile, the network’s Standards and Practices division, led by Claudia Milne, determined that Dokoupil had not followed the preproduction process wherein questions are run through Race and Culture and Standards and Practices.”

Byrers continued:

“For many of the network’s employees, the episode demonstrated the latest example of Dokoupil’s pro-Israel editorializing. Dokoupil is Jewish, and his ex-wife and children live in Israel, and many criticized him for bringing his personal emotions into the coverage. For others, including many of the network’s more veteran journalists, Dokoupil had actually upheld CBS’s journalistic values by asking tough questions of a guest with an overt anti-Israel bias.”

CBS leadership informed staffers that Dokoupil’s interview didn’t meet the company’s “editorial standards.” The unit sees its primary role as a reviewer to “ensure all stories have the proper context, tone and intention.”

CBS News did not respond to a request when asked if “basically every story” needs to be vetted by their Race & Culture Unit. A longtime CBS News insider told Fox News Digital the organization has morphed into a “creepy DEI place” in recent years.

Dokoupil eventually expressed his regret the interview caused tumult, but not for his line of questioning.✪