In Depth: So much for journalists anchoring MSNBC news/politics…
Buried in this John Eggerton Broadcasting & Cable article on tonight’s President Bush address coverage was this little bombshell…
NBC’s MSNBC will also cover the speech and provide analysis until about 9:30 p.m., an NBC spokesman said. Rachel Maddow will host MSNBC’s coverage.
What the? You gotta be kidding! After all the crap the network had to go through over the Olbermann/Matthews fiasco, and the subsequent annointment of David Gregory as point man for MSNBC’s politics coverage, tonight we have Maddow anchoring MSNBC’s coverage of a national news event.
Yes, the address is occurring in the middle of Maddow’s hour. But appearances are everything for MSNBC these days and the appearance of yet another ideological talking head anchoring MSNBC’s news coverage says a lot about what NBC’s priorities really are. To quote Roger Daltry Pete Townsend: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
The Olbermann/Matthews experiment may be over, but the fundamental thinking behind it; namely taking the hot hand and riding it regardless of the appropriateness of such a move, is still in vogue at 30 Rock. If Maddow’s ratings weren’t hot right now and she wasn’t getting all this press you can bet your paycheck that NBC would have put a journalist in to anchor the coverage. This is so blatant it’s embarrassing.
Update: Jossip weighs in…
This week, MSNBC selected Maddow to anchor — not just sit in the pundit’s chair — its political coverage, something that Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann have been raked over the coals for. MSNBC chief Phil Griffin withdrew from that strategy when the media press, and NBC News veterans, started stoning him for allowing biased talking heads to man hard news coverage. But now he’s … reversed on that thinking? Probably not a wise move for Maddow.
Update 2: The Huffington Post has NBC reaction and makes this a voting issue.
An MSNBC representative explained:
The speech was during her hour, therefore she anchored the coverage as part of her program.
What do you think? Vote in the poll below to settle the question: Should MSNBC allow Rachel Maddow to anchor breaking news events? There are a few videos of Rachel from Wednesday night below the poll to help you make up your mind.
Well if it was “her hour” and that’s why she covered it, what were Joe and Mika doing on the air this morning during the second half of Tamron Hall’s 9am hour, hmmmmmm? Seems like a contradictory position to me…
September 24, 2008 at 5:03 pm
MSNBC figures since Maddow is somewhat new, and her liberal ideology isn’t as well known as Olbermann & Matthews, they can get away with it tonight. As Spud points out, they clearly have not learned their lesson from the convention meltdowns.
Spud, I urge you to monitor the coverage closely tonight and see what arises. I personally can’t stand to watch MS-DNC, so we’ll count on you to bring us the account of their biased coverage.
September 24, 2008 at 5:42 pm
Hey, Phil Griffin and Capus: the movie “Network” was not an instructional film.
September 24, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Maddow spent about 20 seconds setting up Gregory, then he did 30 setting up the President. No time for or attempts at politics.
I think thy plan on entering The Rachel Maddow Show after the speech, so no point in not letting her briefly start the hour with Gregory. If she had done, say, 10 minutes of partisan questions, I would have had a problem with it. This seemed fine.
September 24, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Nope, no good. She followed up with a summary of his speech and now is interviewing Chris Dodd. She’s not a journalist, she’s a commentator. MSNBC, my preferred cable news network, blew it.
September 24, 2008 at 8:56 pm
My god, yo9u guys are picky. Give it a rest. Maddow didn’t say anything outrageous and your boy DG was posted as the anchor. MSNBC can only succeed if it becomes the FNC of the left. Let’s not compare it with some David Brinkley or Walter Cronkite show.
“Real journalism is dead on all accounts everywhere from the New York Times, to the New York Post and from NPR to Rush.
Smart people can cut thru the crap and less intelligent people don’t watch the news, they’re on a constant search for reruns of F-Troop.
September 24, 2008 at 9:31 pm
I would point out that FNC put Brit Hume on for the half hour and then tossed to Hannity & Colmes. There’s no good reason why MSNBC could have used Gregory for as long as the speech and immediate post-analysis ran and then tossed to Maddow.
September 24, 2008 at 9:32 pm
I know someone is going to bring up CNN and Larry King. King at least as a documented history of interviewing major political newsmakers (albeit while pitching softballs).
September 24, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Larry King may not be a hard-hitting journalist, but he doesn’t present an ideological tilt. He’s fine as an anchor.
MSNBC’s post-speech presentation was just bizarre. They ran 15 min. of Maddow as anchor, then came back from the middle-hour break transformed into Maddow-as-liberal-host of her regular show.
I hate this stuff. I want my news shows newsy and my opinion shows opiniony. And I want that church and state separate.
September 25, 2008 at 3:57 pm
tripton, MSNBC is nothing like FOX. While FNC leans right, they at least present ALTERNATIVE VIEWS.
There’s not a show like Olbermann’s where everything is completely tilted to the left.
Criticize O’Reilly, Hannity, Cavuto, etc. all you want, but they actually allow others to tell their side. You don’t see that on Olbermann’s show, and apparently Maddows.
That’s why MSNBC won’t succeed.
September 26, 2008 at 8:36 am
BR, watch Rachel’s show, then criticize. She has opposing views every night.
September 26, 2008 at 10:34 am
What do you mean ‘would have put a journalist’? She more than most who claim to be such, has a right to use that title. You obviously don’t know what a journalist is!
September 26, 2008 at 10:59 am
muadibe:
Journalist (from wiki) – A journalist (also called a newspaperman) is a person who practices journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues and people without bias.
That last line is key… “WITHOUT BIAS.” Does that describe Maddow? No. She is an opinion person, a pundit… not a journalist.
September 26, 2008 at 3:06 pm
If Rachel Maddow must be the scapegoat for this false outrage. I feel that Hannity, O’Rielly, Rush and all the true hatemongers on Air should all be taken off the Air. Period.
Since we know that will not happen, please stop the fake alarm and continue with business as usual. Allowing the racism and zenophobia to be shouted out loud while trying to shut out all other perspectives.
September 26, 2008 at 3:08 pm
correction : xenophobia