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CBS Evening News Cut Short in Taiwan After Cameraman’s Medical Emergency

The on-air collapse highlights scrutiny over CBS’s decision to base Tony Dokoupil in Taipei for the TrumpXi visit.

Overview

  • The CBS Evening News broadcast, which halted Wednesday after a cameraman collapsed, shifted to Matt Gutman in New York, and CBS later said the crew member is okay and recovering.
  • Tony Dokoupil anchored from Taipei after he reportedly failed to obtain a Chinese visa, according to Semafor, and CBS had announced the Taiwan location in a press release as a first for the program.
  • ABC’s David Muir and NBC’s Tom Llamas anchored from Beijing, while CBS correspondents Weijia Jiang and Anna Coren reported from the Chinese capital.
  • The New York Post identified the cameraman as Randy Schmidt and said he was dispatched from Tokyo on short notice, a detail CBS has not confirmed.
  • CBS’s handling of the trip has drawn fresh attention to leadership under editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and to lagging ratings for the evening newscast reported by industry outlets.