One of America’s longest-running and most prestigious news programs has a new nightly anchor at the desk.
After the departures of co-anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, the “CBS Evening News” has found a new permanent anchor. Starting in January, veteran CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil will take over as the face and voice to greet Americans for the nightly news.
CBS announced the move on Wednesday, and noted that Dokoupil will take a tour around the country, interviewing real viewers to instill a greater level of trust in himself and the media at large.
CBS News’ Initial Strategy for Dokoupil
Fair. Fearless. A New @CBSEveningNews with @tonydokoupil .
Live from your cities and towns.
Be there, only on CBS. pic.twitter.com/T4mDMKsa5T— CBS News (@CBSNews) December 10, 2025
“We live in a time in which many people have lost trust in the media. Tony Dokoupil is the person to win it back,” said new CBS News’ editor-in-chief Bari Weiss.
“That’s because he believes in old-school journalistic values: asking the hard questions, following the facts wherever they lead and holding power to account. Americans hungry for fairness will see that on display night after night.”
CBS News president Tom Cibrowski referred to Dokoupil as “authentic, compassionate [and] unafraid.”
“He connects instantly, whether he’s talking with world leaders or with families navigating difficult news in their own backyards,” Cibrowski said.
Dokoupil will make his “Evening News” debut on January 5, taking over as the sweeping shakeup continues at CBS News. Several employees were re-assigned or lost their jobs in the newsroom entirely after the completion of the Skydance-Paramount merger earlier this year.
New Paramount CEO Larry Ellison said at the time that the layoffs were intended to remove redundancies within the company, and to “[phase] out roles that are no longer aligned with our evolving priorities and the new structure designed to strengthen our focus on growth.”
Around 100 of the 1,000 employees who lost their jobs after the completion of the merger were affiliated with CBS News.
Dokoupil’s Years of Experience in Journalism
Dokoupil will make his “Evening News” debut after spending several years as a host of “CBS Mornings.” He’s covered several major events during his time on that show, including Capitol Hill after the Jan. 6 insurrection, the results of the most recent presidential election and several natural disasters and terror attacks around the world.
“After 20 years in journalism, traveling through all 50 states and talking with people in hundreds of far-flung American places, I realize why a country this big needs a show this ambitious,” Dokoupil said in a statement after the announcement.
“The strength of our nation is that we benefit from fair reporting and the open discussion of all ideas. For more than 60 years, the ‘Evening News’ has been a bedrock of that process. I’m honored to join a fearless team at this important moment, and with what I can promise is a commitment to trust and the plain truth.”
