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https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/25/nbc-ronna-mcdaniel-chuck-todd-00148772
NBCâs McDaniel mess threatens to explode
Network insiders are watching to see if more hosts and contributors speak out about the ex-RNC chairâs hiring.
The uproar inside NBC over Ronna McDanielâs hiring spilled into Monday morning as more of the networkâs top personalities denounced the deal with the former RNC chair, escalating a battle over the relationship between powerful media companies and Donald Trumpâs loyalists.
The decision to hire McDaniel, which was unanimously supported by top network executives, has already divided and destabilized one of Americaâs most storied news organizations, with internal dismay flaring on text chains and Slack channels since the deal was announced late last week.
The dissent broke into the open Sunday when the networkâs top political analyst, Chuck Todd, pilloried executives moments after McDanielâs first network appearance, an interview with Kristen Welker on âMeet the Press.â
âThereâs a reason why thereâs a lot of journalists at NBC News uncomfortable with this,â Todd told Welker, citing prior âgaslightingâ and âcharacter assassinationâ from McDanielâs RNC.
Welker and producers at âMeet the Pressâ knew in advance what Todd was going to say, according to people familiar with the situation, and did not discourage him from speaking out.
The on-air protests represent what could be a seminal moment in political media as news organizations continue to grapple with how to responsibly represent voices from the Trump right on their screens and in their pages without handing their platforms over to election deniers or bad faith actors who have attacked and attempted to discredit their own reporters.
âWe werenât asked our opinion of the hiring but, if we were, we would have strongly objected to it for several reasons,â Joe Scarborough said Monday at the top of âMorning Joe,â MSNBCâs flagship morning broadcast, with co-host Mika Brzezinski adding, âWe hope NBC will reconsider its decision. It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on âMorning Joeâ in her capacity as a paid contributor.â
They then played a reel of McDanielâs various comments questioning the outcome of the 2020 election.
Network insiders are now watching to see if other hosts and contributors speak their minds, as well, with eyes particularly peeled for MSNBCâs prime-time lineup Monday, where tent-pole anchor Rachel Maddow is set go live at 9 p.m.
Itâs yet unclear whether the NBC-McDaniel relationship can survive the uproar. It was forged last year when NBC executives wooed her to land a Republican presidential debate, a high priority at the network. CNN had beat NBC in the race to host a Trump town hall, and securing a debate took on extra significance.
Through that process McDaniel built a good rapport with NBC News executives Carrie Budoff Brown, senior vice president of politics, and Rebecca Blumenstein, president of editorial. They secured a deal, at a price: McDaniel insisted MSNBC could not simulcast the debate.
After McDaniel announced last month she would leave the RNC, she signed with CAA and went looking for a TV contract. While in talks with other networks â she had serious discussions with CNN and ABC â NBC always had the inside track. âRonna had a good experience with Carrie and Rebecca and felt more comfortable than with some of the other networks,â a person close to McDaniel said.
The McDaniel deal was unanimously supported by leaders of all their networks, according to an NBC insider, including by Rashida Jones, president of MSNBC. The internal backlash began on Friday morning after Budoff Brown sent an email announcing that McDaniel would appear âacross all NBC News platforms.â
That sent panic through MSNBC, prompting Jones to tell employees that there were no plans to have McDaniel on the network, as the Wall Street Journal first reported. The NBC insider clarified to Playbook that there was no ban on McDaniel at MSNBC and that the cable networkâs shows can use McDaniel as they see fit.
Interviews with executives, hosts, correspondents, and producers in the wake of Toddâs public excoriation revealed a breakdown in trust and communication among the companyâs balkanized and ideologically fractured divisions.
To start, there is the message sent by hiring McDaniel on a nearly $300,000-a-year contract amid a growing sense inside the Washington bureau that Comcast sees its news division, which has been subject to recent layoffs and other cuts, as a divisive nuisance to be stripped down.
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