NBC’s peacock, now with ruffled feathers
NBC News a/k/a NBCUniversal News Group (which includes NBC News, MSNBC and CNBC) suffered an embarrassing setback this week, as it was pressured into letting go former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna Romney McDaniel just days after hiring her at MSNBC. A swift outcry from the public and, incredibly, some of NBC News’ well-known anchors, made it clear that McDaniel’s position at the company was untenable. These events also provide some lessons into what a television or cable TV “news” network should and should not do when it comes to politics.
First, we can stipulate that it is not out of bounds or even unusual for a TV news network to hire political people. Unfortunately, TV and other news media now largely focus on politics, something for which we often criticize them. No sooner do we see coverage of some news event (for example, the recent Francis Scott Key Bridge accident in Baltimore) than the coverage turns political, with TV panel discussions (or politicians’ statements in print or social media) about how the role of government or the current administration is somehow involved, and with the political folks at these media outlets retreating to their predictable political camps and talking points. Accordingly, those who watch broadcast or cable TV news will see familiar political faces such as James Carville, George Stephanopoulos (both from Bill Clinton‘s 1992 presidential campaign), Nicolle Wallace (George W. Bush‘s White House Communications Director), Michael Steele (former RNC Chair), Jen Psaki (Barack Obama‘s White House Communications Director), etc. on a regular basis, in addition to a bevy of guests with political jobs.
The difference here with Ronna Romney McDaniel is that, as RNC Chair during Donald Trump‘s White House term, including before, during and after the 2020 presidential election, she actively participated in the Trump/Republican attempt to nullify, overturn and steal the election. That is what triggered the immediate backlash from the public and from very prominent NBC News and MSNBC hosts such as Chuck Todd (who is NBC News’ Chief Political Analyst), Joe Scarborough, his Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski, and Rachel Maddow. As Brzezinski stated on-air last Monday:
To be clear, we believe NBC News should seek out conservative Republican voices to provide balance in their election coverage. But it should be conservative Republicans, not a person who used her position of power to be an anti-democracy election denier. And we hope NBC will reconsider its decision.
On Monday night, Maddow was somewhat more animated, declaring on-air about McDaniel:
She helped set in motion the part of the plot that involved sending fake Trump electors to Congress from states that Trump did not win so Republicans in Washington could use those fake, fraudulent elector slates to contend that maybe Trump did win those states, even though he didn’t…. In Michigan, where the fake electors are themselves now on trial, she told the state of Michigan in writing explicitly, “do not certify the election results.” The Detroit News has reported that with Donald Trump on the phone with her, she directed Michigan election officials to not certify the vote.
From the outside, it looks like, with its McDaniel hire, NBC News was trying to please her political idol Donald Trump. NBC’s aim may have been to have an “in” with Trump for interviews, etc., regardless of whether he wins the 2024 presidential election. A more cynical view is that NBC News was deliberately making a political move towards the Republicans and especially Trump, in case he wins the election, to gain access and curry favor thereafter. Either way, NBC News’ blatant political calculation is about as far from journalism (where the job is to report news fairly, accurately and thoroughly, and avoid conflicts of interest) as can be for a news organization.
With the advent of Fox “News,” NewsMax and other politically-biased media outlets, we are unfortunately past the time where so-called “news” organizations merely stick to facts and reporting, and separate that news programming from clearly-labeled “editorial” material. Indeed, the memo that NBCUniversal News Group Chair Cesar Conde released after letting McDaniel go shows that the company doesn’t seem to have a clue about what it did wrong:
No organization, particularly a newsroom, can succeed unless it is cohesive and aligned. Over the last few days, it has become clear that this appointment undermines that goal…. Our initial decision was made because of our deep commitment to presenting our audiences with a widely diverse set of viewpoints and experiences, particularly during these consequential times.
Obviously, NBC News’ lack of cohesion and alignment was merely the result of its poor judgment in hiring McDaniel, not the problem itself.
So perhaps even in this age of media bias, it’s a hopeful sign that the fierce backlash against NBC News in this case shows that there are limits to what some folks will accept from their “news” media outlets.
Photo by Peter & Joyce Grace, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/vHFtmM
