New CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil says he'll be more 'transparent' and 'accountable' than Walter Cronkite

There are better ways to start the first day on the job (or, technically, the second): Incoming "CBS Evening News" anchor Tony Dokoupil is facing criticism for a recent Instagram comment in which he insisted he would be more "transparent" and "accountable" than legendary newsman Walter Cronkite, who anchored that broadcast from 1962 to 1981.

Former "CBS Mornings" co-host Dokoupil — who jump-started his tenure on the Saturday edition of the "CBS Weekend News" — made the comment on the "CBS Evening News" Instagram page on Friday. After a commentator posted, "I grew up on Cronkite. Too bad CBS has lost its Tiffany shine. But good luck to you anyway," Dokoupil jumped in with this:

"What did you love most about him? I can promise you we’ll be more accountable and more transparent than Cronkite or any one else of his era."

Enter the blowback, and it was hot:

"Wow, Tony," said one. "You should aspire to be half as good as Cronkite, not pretend his accountability is something you can surpass. What a trash response."

And another: "oh buddy you already lost the game with that comment."

Or this:

"If that’s the case, then your boss can start by facing the camera and telling us why she punted the CECOT story. I watched you in the morning EVERY DAY and will no longer be watching CBS."

"CECOT" refers to the Salvadoran "Terrorism Confinement Center," the subject of a recent "60 Minutes" report that was spiked shortly before broadcast by the news division's editor-in-chief, Bari Weiss.

Cronkite, who died in 2009, remains — along with Edward R. Murrow — as close to secular sainthood as anyone in the history of television news. Over most of that tenure, Cronkite's broadcast dominated the nightly news landscape, while Cronkite himself came to symbolize both TV news and CBS itself. Moreover, he was the paragon of transparency to millions of viewers — "Uncle Walter" to many, while even long after leaving the "Evening News," poll after poll designated him the most "trusted man in America."

Invoking his name was a risky move on Dokoupil's part, and in hindsight, perhaps an unwise one too.

A CBS News spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

Dokoupil's seemingly innocuous post arrives in the midst of a tumultuous moment at the network — under the aegis of a new owner, Paramount, and under attack from President Donald Trump. He won a $16 million settlement from Paramount last year over the editing of a "60 Minutes" interview with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. 

According to some critics — many of whom seemed to have landed on that Instagram thread — Dokoupil himself is perceived to be on the vanguard of a new right-wing shift at the news division. He seemed to rebut this in a mission statement he posted on New Year's Day, by insisting he was a centrist, fighting to restore a sense of trust in the broadcast. "A lot has changed since the first person sat in the 'Evening News' chair," he wrote. "For me, the biggest difference is this: people don't trust us like they used to." Dokoupil continued, "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.

"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."

On Friday, "CBS Evening News" posted its own five-point set of principles, under the heading "our promise to you." Those included, "we respect you" and "we love America."