March 27, 2024

"The Ronna McDaniel Debacle and the Test for Talking Heads."

"I made the move from political operative to media analyst. Here’s how it can actually work."

Writes Jeff Greenfield, at Politico. Greenfield is "a five-time Emmy-winning network television analyst" who moved from political operative to media analyst way back in the 1970s.
Why did the NBC News brass think it a nifty idea to hire someone who had slammed its own journalists and actively participated in an attempt to undo an election?...

In announcing the decision to cut ties with McDaniel, NBCUniversal News Group Chair Cesar Conde told employees she was first hired out of a desire to present audiences with “a widely diverse set of viewpoints” and that the company now intended to “redouble our efforts to seek voices that represent different parts of the political spectrum.”

But will the anchors on MSNBC welcome a different pro-Trump arrival? Joy Reid has said she would happily host Republicans and specifically cites former GOP Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, two of Trump’s harshest critics. With respect, I think Reid is missing the point: “never Trump” Republicans do not expand political diversity at the network....

And would MSNBC’s audience accept a pro-Trump addition to the network’s lineup?... Years ago, Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer told me she went home each night and watched MSNBC. Why, I asked, after endless hours in the Senate, do you do that? “Because,” she said, “it’s like sinking into a nice warm bath.”...

54 comments:

Rocco said...

[McDaniels] was first hired out of a desire to present audiences with “a widely diverse set of viewpoints”.

All the way from Democrats to loyal opposition Democrat Lite.

rehajm said...

In announcing the decision to cut ties with McDaniel, NBCUniversal News Group Chair Cesar Conde told employees she was first hired out of a desire to present audiences with “a widely diverse set of viewpoints” and that the company now intended to “redouble our efforts to seek voices that represent different parts of the political spectrum.”

An alternative, more plausible theory is they Megyn Kellyed her…

wendybar said...

Glenn Greenwald

@ggreenwald

Hilarious. Today
@jrpsaki
said there's a difference between NBC hiring her right from the Biden WH and hiring Ronna McDaniel right from the RNC: namely, that Pskai doesn't lie like McDaniel does.

The same Jen Psaki spread this CIA lie two weeks before the 2020 election:

Jen Psaki
@jrpsaki

Hunter Biden story is Russian disinfo., dozens of former intel officials say.

Kevin said...

Shorter NBC: Democrats don't really believe in diversity.

Achilles said...

Fascists just can't see themselves. They are forced to resort to rhetorical despotism because they are just depraved.

Greenfield is "a five-time Emmy-winning network television analyst"

"NBCUniversal News Group Chair Cesar Conde"

They are just really dumb people. The whole lot of them. That these 2 mediocrities will actually publicly write and say the things they do and actually be held up as leaders is entertaining. The people that follow this are even dumber than they are.

Rich said...

Diverse viewpoints are fine, but lies are not.

The facade of journalism to better inform viewers survived. I guess. The people making hiring decisions about on air talent obviously don’t care about anything but ad revenue.

Kevin said...

They gave her a word association test and when they said, "bloodbath" she replied "auto industry".

Automatic failure.

Mr. O. Possum said...

Same as it ever was.

boatbuilder said...

I guess this means that Steven Miller is right out...

(He would be great, and the ratings would go way up).

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Only hiveminds and pro-democrat party talking points and Biden-corruption-excusing is allowed at NBC.

donald said...

Hence Rich’s viewpoints are not fine.

Bob Boyd said...

Nobody was trying to "undo an election". The election hadn't been certified yet. The protestors were trying to get their representatives to delay certification until an investigation of numerous apparent irregularities could take place. IMO, that was not unreasonable. Insisting everyone pretend there were no irregularities was the unreasonable position and the one NBC is still insisting on.

Yancey Ward said...

I thought McDaniel was a terrible RNC chair- the RNC should have fired her ass after 2022, but I hope NBC pays her the value of her contract, which I assume was already signed and witnessed. If the contract was signed, I expect NBC to try to stiff her by claiming that she misled them about her politics- that should be good for a few chuckles.

Iman said...

Toobin… got his chips cashed in, Jeff.

This explains so much:

Schumer (438) 1. German: unexplained
2. North German (Schümer): nickname from Middle Low German schumer 'good-for-nothing', 'vagabond'

wendybar said...

Ari Fleischer
@AriFleischer

NBC should never get to host a GOP primary debate or townhall. GOP Senators/Congressmen should not go on Meet the Press. No NBC anchor should participate in a presidential debate.

What NBC is saying is if you’re for Trump, you don’t belong. Good. Let NBC be for Democrats only.

Static Ping said...

This is the point when we are no longer discussing if MSNBC is a real news source. This is proof that it is propaganda, as declared openly by both the company itself and its employees. Not that anyone who paid the least bit of attention and had any self-respect had any doubts, but anyone who still clings to the notion that MSNBC even attempts to be unbiased is now objectively a liar, an ignoramus, or mentally ill.

Hey Skipper said...

Why did the NBC News brass think it a nifty idea to hire someone who had slammed its own journalists and actively participated in an attempt to undo an election?

Examples?

Seriously, this phrase keeps getting trotted out, absent anything like specifics. Maybe she did, or didn't, I have no idea. Sure like to be informed so that I could judge for myself, though.

You know, part of that whole "news" thing.

tcrosse said...

Back in the early 60s Greenfield was the editor of the Daily Cardinal.

jaydub said...

"Diverse viewpoints are fine, but lies are not."

You should be thankful that same standard is not applied to your comments. If it were no one here would have ever heard of "Rich." Seriously, your political hypocrisy is breathtaking! You will enthusiastically advocate for a person who cannot even address a tragedy like the Key bridge collapse without lying about having crossed it many times by train even though it has no train tracks. The same someone who falsely claims to have attended law school on a full scholarship immediately after lying about having attained three undergraduate degrees. Who falsely claims to have been arrested in South Africa while trying to visit Nelson Mandela in prison, who lies about his son Beau having died in Iraq when he died from cancer in Washington, who continually accuses a poor truck driver of having caused an accident in which his first wife and a child were killed, when it was determined by police that the accident was actually caused by his wife running a stop sign. The lies about him never discussing business with Hunter when multiple eyewitnesses were present on multiple occasions when he did. The list goes on and on. Biden lies so much he is no longer even able to sort the false stories from the true ones.

It takes a lot of hutzpah to complain about someone else lying when your own political champion is the epitome of mendacity and has been for forty years.

Also, you're a poo-poo head!

Achilles said...

Rich said...

Diverse viewpoints are fine, but lies are not.

The facade of journalism to better inform viewers survived. I guess. The people making hiring decisions about on air talent obviously don’t care about anything but ad revenue.


Trump "Fine people" hoax.
Russian Collusion Hoax.
Trump airplane rape hoax.
Kavanaugh rape hoax.
Trump dressing room rape hoax.
Nordstream Pipeline Attack
Hunter Biden Laptop Russian disinfo hoax.

Self Awareness = 0.0

loudogblog said...

Rich said...
"Diverse viewpoints are fine, but lies are not."

You're ignoring the giant double standard here. What you're really saying that it's OK if the people on your side produce lies and misinformation, but it's evil and deserving of cancelling when the other side does it. Dude, both sides put out lies and misinformation. That's the way that politics works. That's why the media needs to present all sides of the issues; so that we can, personally, decide what to believe.

Original Mike said...

The list of democrat/left political operatives that landed in "journalism" is as long as Zack Edey's arm. Do these people have no self awareness or do they simply not care?

rwnutjob said...

Idiots didn't understand that she was on their team. all they knew is that the had an unearned (R) by her name & that made her Hitler.

Bushman of the Kohlrabi said...

51 intelligence experts just reminded me that every NBC personality that complained about this hiring repeatedly lied to the American public for 5 years by actively promoting the Russia Collusion Hoax.

Maynard said...

What is the point of responding to KJP? I mean Rich.

He is obviously a DNC plant. Expect more on this site as the election nears. Many will report being life long Republicans.

Gusty Winds said...

Libs on X are saying, "MSNBC has plenty of Republicans on air. Nicole Wallace, Charlie Sykes, Joe Scarborough..."

Give us a break.

But I don't care. McDaniel did a horrible job for the GOP. I don't give a shit what she has to say.

Gusty Winds said...

Achilles said...
Self Awareness = 0.0

Rich has to be getting paid to post bullshit this deep.

Rabel said...

"It depends," wrote Mr. Greenfield.

He doesn't back up his assertion that McDaniel was unfit. It is based on assumptions about what she would say before she said anything.

Larry J said...

Why would any Republican go on any of those network shows? Why should they allow interviews from any of those "journalists"* who work for the networks or newspapers like the NYT and Washington Post? It just doesn't make any sense.

*As the InstaPundit calls them, they're "Democrat operatives with a byline."

MadTownGuy said...

loudogblog said...

"You're ignoring the giant double standard here. What you're really saying that it's OK if the people on your side produce lies and misinformation, but it's evil and deserving of cancelling when the other side does it. Dude, both sides put out lies and misinformation. That's the way that politics works. That's why the media needs to present all sides of the issues; so that we can, personally, decide what to believe."

True enough, but I'll add an adage of a former manager of mine when I was still learning about the insurance claims biz:

"Observation and deduction without investigation is worthless."

Some folks decide what to believe without ever looking into facts and instead rely on their biases. Digging down into primary sources can be hard work, but there's no substitute.

Joe Smith said...

I've heard all the clips.

The idiots at NBC/MSNBC were concerned that she wouldn't 'align' with their point of view.

They used to pretend to be neutral, but now they just flat-out admit they exist to kiss democrat ass.

Clowns...

Joe Smith said...

Joy Reid needs to give white people their hair back.

Appropriator...

Howard said...

You all are quite invested like Kukla Fran and Ollie. You're outrage is noted. AGI will now allow you your dopamine ration.

Former Illinois resident said...

So at NBC, diverse viewpoints don't matter, and increasing viewership to increase ad revenues also doesn't matter.

Ass-kissing democrats does matter. Pucker-up NBC.

Quayle said...

Please, please, please! I would expect that we in the Althouse comment forum would by now see things clearly.

They fired her because the CFO got worried about offending their target viewers and that it would lower their numbers, and thereby lower their advertising revenue.

These "news" organizations are more than ever, for-profit enterprises. They aren't about informing and unifying. They are about viewers and revenue.

Currently there is no market for "both sides reporting". (Alternatively, it is too small. Or possibly - I doubt it, but possibly - it is a large market that is untapped for whatever reason.)

But the real answer is that the CFO and all executives that get paid large bonuses based on revenue and profit, got worried it would offend their core target viewers and they canned it.

pious agnostic said...

..actively participated in an attempt to undo an election

Finally, an excuse to dust off my "Beg the Question" smugness.

Mason G said...

"Why would any Republican go on any of those network shows?"

Perhaps they mistakenly think that, after all the years they've devoted to assisting the Democrats in furthering Democratic goals, they'd be welcomed?

Earnest Prole said...

NBC should try telling the truth: We learned the hard way that our tribe isn’t supposed to mix with their tribe.

gadfly said...

Jeff Greenfield took us from "how it was" to "how it is" without recognizing the important differences, beginning with his analytical journalism on multiple networks to misidentifying Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney as "Never Trumpers" - a term neither have ever used.

As a matter of fact, according to FiveThirtyEight, Kinzinger supported Trump's positions in Congress 90% of the time and Cheney backed Trump 93% of the time. When Trump attempted his January 6 coup, both voted for impeachment and actively participated in the Congressional investigation of Trump and his cronies - which included Ronna Romney-McDaniel. In fact, Liz Cheney said that McDaniel "enabled criminality and depravity in her support for Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election."

As for MSNBC, active participants at that network include TheBulwark members Charlie Sykes and Tim Miller who are first conservatives and second Republicans. Then there is Kellyanne Conway's ex-husband George. Surprisingly, another RNC Chair appears on evening shows - Michael Steele. Anchor Nicolle Wallace, before MSNBC, served as George W. Bush's Communications Director and advisor for John McCain's 2008 campaign.

So Jeff Greenfield is confused even after having written "Then Everything Changed."

Jupiter said...

They're a bunch of criminal scum. She should have known better. Lie down with dogs ...

cfs said...

Howard said...
You all are quite invested like Kukla Fran and Ollie. You're outrage is noted. AGI will now allow you your dopamine ration.

----

Speaking of investments and AGI (whatever that is in Howard's world), I'm invested in AGI=Alamos Gold. It closed today at $14.55 (up .95). Gold is up and over $2190 today. If you purchased 1200 shares of AGI at $8.25 three years ago (as I did) you are sitting quite pretty today. I sold a third of the shares to bank my profits on that stock. I may kick my butt on that decision later but I don't shoot for bull's eyes but instead are looking to make sure I leave something for my grandchildren to have available as they work to survive the democrat's (such as Howard) evil communist tendencies. All my other gold, silver, and copper stocks were up as well.

Progressives try to pretend that the economy is great and that consumers simply love paying 25 percent more for groceries, utilities, insurance, etc. They love being lied to by the media because it makes them feel good about themselves as they hate former President Donald Trump for no reason. The left cannot admit they are wrong, were wrong, and will probably be wrong tomorrow about almost every subject they attempt to discuss. Whether it is the economy, Covid and the deadly vaccines, the southern border chaos, what happened on Jan 6th, or Joe Biden's mental acuity, Democrat voters cannot face the truth about their party's failures. Therefore, democrats such as Howard and Rich have no recourse but to lie.

boatbuilder said...

Quayle: But the real answer is that the CFO and all executives that get paid large bonuses based on revenue and profit, got worried it would offend their core target viewers and they canned it.

I might buy that if Fox hadn't taken Tucker off the air.

There is quite obviously a yuge market for target viewers who are not hard-core lefties, which the execs seem to wilfully, actively and spitefully avoid. Why have none of the major networks set up a network to grab that market share? (Especially since Fox is strenuously throwing it away).

Pure ideology--or perhaps "news" in service to political ends is more lucrative than news in service to customers.

lonejustice said...

Trump thought that McDaniel was the best person to lead the RNC. That is why he supported her.

Achilles said...

Larry J said...

Why would any Republican go on any of those network shows? Why should they allow interviews from any of those "journalists"* who work for the networks or newspapers like the NYT and Washington Post? It just doesn't make any sense.

If your purpose is to represent republican voters you would be correct and it would make no sense.

But the Republican Party is a corporate entity that was not created to represent any actual voters. It was created to be controlled opposition and channel the political efforts of half the country down a guided path that was suitable for the globalist Oligarchs.

Once you understand this you will understand why NRO and David French and Murdoch Inc and Daily Wire exist.

They all hate Trump because he outed the whole charade.

AMDG said...

NBC employs Al Sharpton who incited a riot and a fire where people died. If their on air personalities are cool with that then they are in no position to criticize the hiring of McDaniel.

Jim at said...

Gadfly lists a Who's Who of NeverTrumpers and tells us they're not NeverTrumpers.

Why do you even try? Do you really think we're that stupid?

The Vault Dweller said...

A rule of thumb I've heard on the internet is that the less moderation a forum has the more right-wing it becomes and the more moderation a forum has the more left-wing it becomes. A reasonable inference from that is that much of the Modern Left's ideas cannot survive scrutiny and criticism. I suspect a lot of the talent over there understands this and doesn't want their 'good thing' ruined.

Chuck said...

Greenfield doesn’t seem to get it, which surprises me because I think he’s a smart and principled guy. Greenfield:

But will the anchors on MSNBC welcome a different pro-Trump arrival? Joy Reid has said she would happily host Republicans and specifically cites former GOP Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, two of Trump’s harshest critics. With respect, I think Reid is missing the point: “never Trump” Republicans do not expand political diversity at the network....

So, no; they are not going to accept a “pro-Trump arrival.” Not if that pro-Trump arrival has a history of supporting the attempted coup. Not if that pro-Trump arrival attempts to gaslight the public about Trump’s history and rhetoric. There are tragically few Republicans whose Trump support doesn’t involve that sort of gaslighting. But there are some, and I’m pretty certain that they could be part of a discussion at MSNBC. The biggest problem in that regard isn’t an MSNBC problem, it’s a TrumpRepublican problem. Any criticism of Trump gets a senior elected Republican excommunicated.

But Greenfield has exposed the flaw in his own argument. MSNBC isn’t banning conservative thought; they simply don’t want to converse with anyone who adheres to the lying and gaslighting that are now essential features of Trumpism. Jeff himself acknowledges all of the conservatives who could be invited for discussion at MSNBC. He named Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. He could add Jonah Goldberg, Steve Hayes (who was on Meet the Press last Sunday and is a regular), Bill Kristol, Brendan Buck (currently on an MSNBC contract, I believe), etc, etc.

The harsh reality is that Trumpism is now like Holocaust denialism, Flat Eartherism, or segregationism. It is the 21st century’s version of Secessionism. It is ultimately not open to discussion.

It certainly isn’t about shutting off conservatism. Conservatism has no relation to Trumpism.

wendybar said...

"Why would any Republican go on any of those network shows?"

Why would any Republican retire now, and give the house to the Progressive party to hasten the downfall of America??

wendybar said...


It certainly isn’t about shutting off conservatism. Conservatism has no relation to Trumpism.

You can also say ...Conservatism has no relation to modern Republicans either. WHAT are they conserving? (except hatred for Trump and his supporters?)

Chuck said...


Blogger wendybar said...

…WHAT are they conserving? (except hatred for Trump and his supporters?)

You say that like it was a bad thing.

Jim at said...

"It is ultimately not open to discussion."

And yet, here you are. Running your fucking mouth. After you've been told - repeatedly by our hosts - to leave.

Discuss that, boy.

LKReinitz said...

Jeff Greenfield -- how I went from being a political operative to a journalist -- by being a democrat

GuyFromNH said...

Don't forget that the famed Jeff Greenfield --- still an active and respected member of the blessed media --- was a key player in the CNN "Operation Tailwind" fiasco back in 1970.