Acclaimed journalist and author Ta-Nehisi Coates returned to nonfiction with his essay collection The Message, published on October 1, only to be met with patronizing dismissal and a whiff of racism on CBS Mornings (9/30/24).
Coates left journalism to spend several years teaching and writing fiction, and intended to return to essay writing by producing a piece similar to George Orwell’s “Why I Write.” What he ended up with was The Message, a collection of three essays that explore “how our stories—our reporting and imaginative narratives and mythmaking—expose and distort our realities.” Coates visits Senegal, South Carolina and Palestine—exploring how the narrative of each place is constructed and perpetuated by journalists and media organizations.
The longest of the essays, and the most discussed, is on Palestine. Coates goes beyond the now widely accepted call for a ceasefire, or even a call for an arms embargo: He condemns the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and says Israel’s existence as an ethnostate is fundamentally wrong. Coates has been met with praise, but also blatant dismissal—the second response being exemplified on CBS Mornings.
‘In the backpack of an extremist’
Tony Dokoupil (CBS Mornings, 9/30/24): Ta-Nehisi Coates’ essay on Palestine “would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.”
Host Tony Dokoupil began the interview with an aggressive monologue that effectively dismissed Coates’ and his worldview, painting him as a radical not worth listening to:
I want to dive into the Israel and Palestine section of the book, it’s the largest section of the book…. I have to say, when I read the book, I imagine if I took your name out of it, took away the awards and the acclaim, took the cover off, the publishing house goes away…the content of that section would not be out of place in the backpack of an extremist.
It is hard to imagine a white author as celebrated as Coates receiving such an immediate dismissal, not just of their writing, but the very basis of their political beliefs. Dokoupil forwent an attempt to have a substantive conversation by accusing Coates of “extremism.” (The “backpack” reference seemed like an attempt to insinuate a sympathy for terrorism, as Majority Report noted—10/2/24.)
More than two minutes into the 7-minute long segment, Dokoupil still hadn’t let Coates talk about his own book. The host continued to lambaste the author, suggesting Coates was either ignorant of Middle Eastern history or creating a false narrative:
I found myself wondering, why did Ta-Nehisi Coates, who I’ve known for a long time, read his work for a long time, very smart guy, very talented guy, why leave out that Israel is surrounded by countries that want to eliminate it? Why leave out that Israel deals with terror groups that want to eliminate it? Why not detail anything of the first and second intifada…the cafe bombings, the bus bombings, the little kids blown to bits?
And is it because you just don’t believe that Israel, in any condition, has a right to exist?
Coates pointed out that Dokoupil’s narrative is the one constantly perpetuated by corporate media, and that his own concern is “with those who don’t have a voice, who don’t have the ability to talk”—in this case, the Palestinians. He noted that no establishment US news outlet has a Palestinian-American bureau chief, or even correspondent, and spoke of the suffering he saw during his trip to Israel and Palestine.
Dokoupil chose not to engage with Coates’ criticisms of the Israeli state. Instead, he pointed out acts of violence experienced by Israel—which are greatly outnumbered by the acts of violence Israel has inflicted on Palestinians—and continually pivoted the conversation to try and make Coates answer whether or not he believes Israel has a right to exist, rather than engaging with the issues that Coates wrote about.
In response to the right-to-exist question, Coates said that no country has established their ability to exist through rights, but rather through force: “Israel does exist. It’s a fact. The question of its right is not a question that I would be faced with with any other country.”
‘What offends you about a Jewish state?’
Ta-Nehisi Coates (CBS Mornings, 9/30/24): “I am against a state that discriminates against people on the basis of ethnicity.”
Dokoupil accused Coates of writing a book that “delegitimizes the pillars of Israel,” and finally stopped beating around the bush and asked him outright: “What is it that so particularly offends you about a Jewish state? A Jewish safe place, rather than any other country?”
Dokoupil’s questioning of Coates followed the disingenuous argument that to condemn the state and actions of Israel is to be antisemitic. The exchange between the two exemplifies the issue with Palestine coverage in American media: Israel-centric viewpoints are undeniably the dominant narrative, and challenging that narrative is simply not accepted, even by one in the media fold. Those who do so are either implicitly or explicitly accused of antisemitism and dismissed out of hand.
The CBS Mornings interview called to mind the recent comments by CNN host Jake Tapper, who spread a lie attributing an antisemitic remark to Rep. Rashida Tlaib, and asked Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to condemn the nonexistent comment. Tlaib had challenged the arrest of arrest of peaceful pro-Palestine protesters, suggesting that their being singled out for punishment on the basis of their views indicated a bias—and because she did so, she was herself faced with spurious charges of bias.
Coates stated in both his profile with New York magazine (9/23/24) and an interview with the New York Times (9/29/24) that he knew people would take issue with The Message. He told New York that he knew he would face backlash, and his career would likely suffer for speaking on behalf of the Palestinian people:
I’m not worried…. I have to do what I have to do. I’m sad, but I was so enraged. If I went over there and saw what I saw and didn’t write it, I am fucking worthless.
Dokoupil proved Coates’ expectations were well-grounded. Still, at every point during the nearly 7-minute exchange, he responded calmly and rationally, stating his belief that Israel is an apartheid state, comparable to the Jim Crow–era South: “There’s nothing that offends me about a Jewish state. I am offended by the idea of states built on ethnocracy, no matter where they are.”
Dokoupil’s questioning of Coates was more an interrogation than an interview, and the patronizing tone and racism that Coates encountered on CBS is a part of a media ecosystem that continuously uplifts pro-Israel voices and leaves out pro-Palestine ones.
A previous version of this post misstated the name of Majority Report.
Messages to CBS may be sent here. Please remember that respectful communication is the most effective.
When it concerns the corpress
“Journalistic malpractice” is the pinnacle of redundancy
Ta-Nehisi Coates can with very good reasons be told of his bias in the “woke” over-simplification of the enlightenment as “always racist”. And of his not seeing how a world that would finally reach justice (if that would ever come true…) would be in urgent need of the universalism people like him and many fight against. Each war shows how biased opinions he shares are. Giving up universalism lets you end in injustice, as we can see time and again.
This, by the way, as it is a new standard, is about the mass killings in wars. Not about you or me feeling sad in our safety. The terrorist Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 that brutally killed 1200 and took 200 hostages began the killings. And the Israeli government’s brutal reaction, sponsored by the Biden/Harris government (horrible Trump would do the same), sponsored by a totally pathetic biased “also queer Germany” and the with others “Green” government denying people of Palestine their rights by other countries – followed.
Each war shows that it is of no relevance if Ta-Nehisi Coates is “sad”, or if you or me are. The many I can read in Germany, 100/0 for Netanyahu’s government, are “sad” about “growing Antisemitism”, and forget to see the horrible sufferings of people in Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon. It is a new all time low. This can even get pathetic and ridiculous, as people are brutally slaughtered and killed, to state you or Ta-Nehisi Coates were “sad” while some mainstream press people attack his mainstream intellectual western thought. Does that matter? The killings have to stop! That matters. And that what ever you in the USA will vote for will NOT stop the killings. Or we in Europe. That matters. At times it can get truly too much, all this “I do not feel safe on campus” and “oooh NYT attacked me oooh I am so sad”. My goodness…Ask people of Gaza…and the families of those killed by Hamas… ask in Ukraine…
A Left that would start again from the ridiculous state we are in would need to go back to the “universal rights for ALL on earth” – as a goal. It was never reached up to now. No. But there was progress, at times. But all too many Ta-Nehisi Coates forgot with their identity politics that age old racism we all need to fight does not end with throwing a real enlightenment out of the window. One consequence of this intellectual mainstream he belongs to was that there is no real Left. There are the bellicose majorities of the western world, male, female, diverse, there are the “liberal” and often queer governments (like German “Green” party and many. The German Green party being one of the ugliest bellicose parties in the rich countries, but pretending to be “diverse” and “pro lgbtq” and “good”). And besides the mainstream there is the ugly far Right, growing as there is NO Left.
Time to end the old wrong debates. Ta-Nehisi Coates can very well be criticized due to a bias, because it is true. Just not – as per usual – true what the mainstream writes. Both are wrong.
NYT etc want to make people believe Biden/Harris were on the right track when they are wrong with their sendings of weapons that are fare more than defensive weapons. Harris is right to state that Israel had every right to “defend itself” after the Hamas brutal killings. But this is far, far more than “defending”. It is brutal killing, just like from Hamas.
A Left that would start to get up again had – indeed – to criticize a lot. And also what was “woke”, just a name, and what is Ta-Nehisi Coates. He is certainly no help for a universal peace for ALL. Rather he belongs to a mainstream of the intellectual world that lost its compass how to fight racism. And of course all need to fight racism. But both mainstreams, the press and media and the mainstream intellectuals, failed since 3 decades now. The planet is getting uglier due to that, and due to the neglection of climate destruction done by mainly the rich countries.
Heavy s_it … Come up for some air, get some sleep.
You cannot defend fanatical Zionists’ 76-year-long, murderous plan for a Greater Israel by saying that Muslims are bad. There should not be Muslim countries; and neither should there be a Zionist country, or a Jehovah’s Witnesses country, or a Hindu country, or a Scientology country… Democracy is the enemy of all those ideologies.
And here we have Rebecca, an equal opportunity religious hater. With a Palestine flag no less LOL
And what are your skills — other than ad hominem attacks?
As an African American I relate and agree. Israel is committed War Crimes and we will not be silenced.
There are 46 countries in the world with a majority Muslim population, and 23 of those countries have Islam as their state religion. Israel’s borders are constantly being terrorized and their government must protect their citizens.
Your reporting of this CBS news interview was well done. What you reported is what I saw and heard.
Israel exists because 99% of the Middle East is occupied by Islamic countries most of whom are inhospitable to Jews. Jewish land ownership is strictly forbidden. Israel exists on a tiny parcel of land that has been mandated, bought and fought for. Mr. Coates takes a simplistic and biased view of the region and avoids mention of the violent civil wars in Syria and Lebanon, the daily attacks on Israeli citizens, or the military strikes facilitated by Iran. CBS offers a perspective similar to Al Jazzera; blurring the clearly stated missions of Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. Thank you, Mr. Dokoupil for shedding some light on the topic.
Thank you for stating the obvious. Ta-Nehisi Coates is a shameless charlatan.
Arabs and Jews lived side by side for hundreds of years prior to the British deciding after WWI that a Jewish nation should be built on land belonging to others.
They were not always inhospitable to Jews. It was only after WWI and the Balfour declaration that things began to change.
Here is what I sent to CBS:
Tony Dokoupil’s “interview” of Ta-nesihi Coastes last week was little more that a back alley mugging. I could challenge any number of Dahoupil’s assertions, but rather than that, let me ask you a question. CBS and other MSMs regularly attack anyone who offers even the mildest of criticisms of Israel by suggesting that such critics doubt Israel’s right to exist, but why is it that no one ever asks the Tony Dakoupils about Palestinians’ right to exist?
I think the answer to that is obvious from MSMs decades long biased reporting — that Palestinians have no such right. Still, I would like you to answer the question.
Before my comment is dismissed out of hand, please note one recent, very glaring example of mainstream media bias. There was a great howl from you and others like you when the phrase “from the Jordan to the sea” was attributed to Palestinians; but there was thunderous silence when that same phrase was spoken by high Israeli officials.
By your deeds they shall know you.
David Ben-Geurin (probably misspelled) the first Prime Minister of Israel said their goal was to aquire as much of Palestine as possible. I don’t believe that has changed.
Remind people like Tony Dokoupil of good reporting done by the Washington Post, October 27, 2023 in their article, ‘How Hamas broke through Israel’s border defenses during Oct. 7 attack’, by Shira Rubin and Loveday Morris. Where Israel had full knowledge from many of their own soldiers of Hamas preparing for the attack.
“It was clear that something would happen. It was only a matter of time,” Maya Dasiatnik, an observation officer in the Nahal Oz base, said an interview with the Kan public broadcaster on Wednesday.
She said that she and dozens of fellow soldiers had repeatedly reported suspicious activity: people approaching the fence with maps, appearing to study it for its weak spots, getting closer every week. There also were tractors and large groups of armed men, carrying out exercises that looked like military drills.
Roni Eshel, who served alongside Dasiatnik, is believed to be among the hostages held in Gaza.
“She reported all kinds of breakdowns along the border,” Eyal, her father, told The Post. His last contact with Roni was a text message at 9:27 a.m., three hours after her base was raided. The beds, the safe rooms and the central war room were torched.
“It could have been prevented,” he said, “if someone in the army had opened their eyes and ears.”
The people in the Mossad and IDF weren’t stupid October 7, nor were they ignorant of the planned Hamas invasion. October 7 seems to have been a pretext allowed and nurtured by Netanyahu and the Mossad to serve as the justification to take the physical land of Gaza.
Not all that long ago, seasoned journalists like Dokoupil always challenged a one-sided account on network TV. In this case, on a deeply complex situation that completely was devoid of history, nuance and many down right facts. Back in those days, that was their obligation, particularly if the individual was on TV selling their book (like Coates).
https://fair.org/home/exposing-bias-against-palestinians-ta-nehisi-coates-is-predictably-accused-of-bias-by-cbs/
Coates went to Israel and the West Bank. Witnessed the structure of society there and gave an opinion that is functions as an apartheid state, with citizens living on different tiers, defined by ethnicity. He stated it is immoral.
Instead of addressing the merits of his assessment of what he witnessed, people want to call him naive and say he is willfully ignoring the history of 80 years of violence as catharsis among the people in the region.
It looks like the protestations concerning his book centers on distraction from what he actually wrote. Coates’ silence in the aftermath of the CBS “interview” is a masterful response to combat the attempted distraction.
Look at the arsenal of weapons and infrastructure the Palestinians and their Iranian allies have accumulated. Do you expect Israelis to permit an open border? Suicide bombings, bus shootings, kidnappings and hostage taking are designed to destroy Israel. You suggest Israel open its borders and tolerate violence against it’s citizens?
Look at the arsenal of weapons and infrastructure the Palestinians and their Iranian allies have accumulated. Do you expect Israelis to permit an open border? Suicide bombings, bus shootings, kidnappings and hostage taking are designed to destroy Israel. You suggest Israel open its borders and tolerate violence against its citizens?
I so want to like this piece because I believe in everything Coastes stands for but the author of this op-ed is a horrendous writer. Great thesis, so poorly executed. I hope FAIR spends a little more money to hire some better writers who can do these topics justice.
Bad take. Get a life!
Wait, this is the same CBS MSM outfit that cut and spliced Harris’ clunker of an interview on 60 minuets so she didn’t sound quite as dumb and nonsensical? Yeah, no bias there.
In an ideal world, I expect the media to ask tough questions to people with controversial and extreme views.
In the leaked audio, as per TFP, Jan Crawford the CBS legal correspondent, called it out: “It sounds like we are calling out one of our anchors in a somewhat public setting on this call for failing to meet editorial standards for, I’m not even sure what,” she said. “I thought our commitment was to truth. And when someone comes on our air with a one-sided account of a very complex situation, as Coates himself acknowledges that he has, it’s my understanding that as journalists we are obligated to challenge that worldview so that our viewers can have that access to the truth or a fuller account, a more balanced account. And, to me, that is what Tony did.”
I agree with Jan 100%. Dokoupil did his job that ‘woke’ day. Shame on CBS management for making him apologize for doing his job.
Hamas, Hezbollah are no different from the terrorists who bombed NYC on 9/11. How can anyone support their invasion and constant harassment of Israel?
So there was a CBS management follow up meeting regarding this issue according to multiple sources. “We have to check our bias and opinions at the door” stated Adrienne Roark, head of newsgathering and editorial manager. I don’t know what universe you live in but most of your so called news people rarely do that. Simply put, just see the Vance/Walz debate and the interplay with Nora and particularly Brennen that occurred. Multiple standards exist no doubt and he probably broke this CBS rule; Jews, conservatives, pubs get the hard questions, not Jew haters, Marxists and the alphabet people.
I am very glad that Coates was finally called out by somebody for his BS. It’s predictable that the newsroom would have a snowflake meltdown, but the reality is that most Americans support Israel here. The media is in the small minority of people who support Palestine.
Above you cite “Minority Report” – it’s “Majority Report”
Thank you so much for pointing that out. We corrected it!
Here is my take; a journalist got in trouble for practicing journalism. Period.