As Tony Dokoupil gears up to take the reins of CBS Evening News on Jan. 5, he has released a New Year’s Day message pledging transparancy and restoring trust in legacy media, and promising independence from politicians and corporate interests.

“You come first,” Dokoupil says in his video message. “Not advertisers. Not politicians. Not corporate interests. And, yes, that does include the corporate owners of CBS [Paramount Skydance].  I report for you.”

Dokoupil was confirmed last month as the next CBS Evening News anchor under new editor-in-chief Bari Weiss. He succeeds John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, who announced their departures after less than a year anchoring the broadcast.

Weiss has come under harsh criticism most recently over her decision to pull a planned 60 Minutes segment extremely close to its air date on the Trump administration’s deportation of migrants to a harsh prison in El Salvador. The correspondent on the story, Sharyn Alfonsi, slammed the decision in a memo to colleagues, calling it “political” and a case of corporate interference.

Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison also faced scrutiny for settling a Trump lawsuit over a prior 60 Minutes interview and making promises of balanced coverage. 

You can read Dokoupil’s complete message and see the video below.

A lot has changed since the first person sat in the Evening News chair. For me, the biggest difference is this: people don’t trust us like they used to.

And it’s not just us. It’s all legacy media.

I get it. I’ve been hearing about it from just about everybody, for more than 20 years, as I’ve traveled America on assignment. My mom’s neighbors in West Virginia. My own neighbors in New York City. Thousands of conversations in between.

Sometimes they want to talk to me about our coverage of NAFTA or the Iraq War. Other times, it’s about Hillary Clinton’s emails or Russiagate. Or more recently, COVID lockdowns, Hunter Biden’s laptop or the president’s fitness for office.

The point is that on too many stories the press missed the story. Because we’ve taken into account the perspective of advocates and not the average American. Or we put too much weight in the analysis of academics or elites, and not enough on you.

I know this because, at certain points, I have been you. I have felt that way too. I have felt like what I was seeing and hearing on the news didn’t reflect what I was seeing and hearing in my own life. And that the most urgent questions simply weren’t being asked.

So here’s my promise to you as long as I sit 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. It also means I’m going to talk to everybody, and hold everyone in public life to the same standard. And because I became a journalist to talk to people. I love talking to people about what works in this country, what doesn’t, and not only what should change, but the good ideas that never should. 

I think telling the truth is one of them.

Hold me to it.