The agreement with a former RNC chair who supported election skeptics jeopardized NBC News’s reputation and ultimately failed to win over anyone.
More About Ronna McDaniel:
Reporter for Hollywood Check out the article from The Leadership Vacuum That Caused NBC’s Ronna McDaniel Failure. Now for the specifics
It was a bad day for Ronna McDaniel on Tuesday. Or is she, once again, Ronna Romney McDaniel, as she now acknowledges that the 2020 election was not rigged? Ronna McDaniel went from having a well-known role on NBC to having neither a role nor an agent after CAA dumped her. For NBC News, it was also a difficult day.
the lack of direction that resulted in Ronna McDaniel failure at NBC
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It was a bad day for Ronna McDaniel on Tuesday. Or is she, once again, Ronna McDaniel, as she now acknowledges that the 2020 election was not rigged? Ronna McDaniel went from having a well-known role on NBC to having neither a role nor an agent after CAA dumped her.
Cesar Conde, the head of NBC News Group, had a difficult day as well and felt compelled to “personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down.” In his letter to the workforce, Conde stated that this was “a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team,” so he didn’t exactly fall on his sword by himself.
However, he admitted that he held the last say.
In their conversations with McDaniel, Blumenstein and senior vp politics of NBC News Carrie Budoff Brown took the lead. Budoff Brown said, “It couldn’t be a more important moment to have a voice like Ronna’s on the team,” in a memo to staff members announcing McDaniel’s hiring. Ronna McDaniel will support our leading coverage as we prepare for the longest general election season in recent memory by offering an insider’s view on national politics and the future of the Republican Party, which Ronna McDaniel led through some of the most difficult and turbulent times in political history.
Whoever is at fault or not, the whole scandal exposed who is in real charge of the business, and it isn’t Conde & Co. The NBCU C-suite ultimately gave in to pressure from their talent, even though they spent days burying their heels in and refusing to fire McDaniel. It’s “very clear who is in charge” now that the “weak leadership was put on full display,” as another media executive told me.
“Is Cesar no longer in the room?” inquired a fellow media executive.
The Peacock family is fighting over who was actually at responsible, and the corporation is dealing with a new PR crisis. Right-wing figures, led by Donald Trump, have already attacked the network, accusing it of being dominated by woke intolerant people.
McDaniel is at least being compensated. Thus, no crime, no harm, correct? Not quite, though. This was not just a case of her losing her job; Ronna McDaniel was forced to portray herself as the coup-promoting, election-denying Trump operative that Ronna McDaniel has been due to the ramifications at NBC. She was not going to quickly switch to (the nonexistent) “Team Normal.”
Although it’s uncertain if McDaniel will take NBC to court, she might demand the whole amount of her two-year, $300,000 contract. She would probably not be allowed to appear on another channel if she accepted the money under the terms of the “pay-to-play” contracts for TV news. Ronna McDaniel might also attempt to work out a deal that would give her a shorter noncompete in exchange for at least some of that money. According to Politico,Ronna McDaniel is speaking with Hollywood lawyer Bryan Freedman, who arranged the compensation deals for Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson as well as CNN’s Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo after their dismissals.
After NBC News’ anchors objected on television, the former head of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, was recruited and later fired.Give credit…Associated Press/Rebecca Blackwell
I apologize to Dick Wolf, but NBC’s news department has had the best drama this past week.
The former Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel was hired by NBC News on Friday to work as a political analyst. When Ms. McDaniel was being questioned by Kristen Welker on “Meet the Press” on Sunday morning, former host Chuck Todd said to his replacement that their employers “owed you an apology” live on the show. The anchors of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” criticized the hire by Monday morning. Rachel Maddow of MSNBC compared it to hiring “a mobster to work at a D.A.’s office” by Monday night.
And on Tuesday, after just a half-year as an NBC News contributor, Ms. McDaniel was formally fired.
A few years ago, employing a former political heavyweight could have led to complaints from opposing party members, criticism from press watchdogs, or anonymous worker complaints. However, it occurred, and life continued. This type of intense, live protest was unique as Ms. McDaniel’s employment was unique.
In part, the NBC debacle demonstrated how difficult it is for media outlets to cover politics in these peculiar times. It was also a struggle over how willing they should be to accept concepts and behaviors that, in the wake of January 6, transcend traditional political discourse.
Ultimately, the staff uprising against Ms. McDaniel had little to do with her opinions on health-care policy or entitlement reform. It has to do with her remarks and deeds in relation to the efforts to rig the 2020 election. Ronna McDaniel backed former President Trump’s attempts to have the election results overturned in order to retain his position throughout November and December of 2020. At one point, she even called Michigan election authorities to request that they postpone certifying the state’s results.
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Even while Ronna McDaniel rejected Mr. Trump’s most absurd theories about election tampering, Ronna McDaniel persisted in her belief that President Biden hadn’t “won it fair,” as evidenced by an interview she made in 2023 with Chris Wallace. (In an attempt to diffuse tensions, Ronna McDaniel referred to Mr. Biden as “the legitimate president” during her interview with Ms. Welker.)
That story is obviously intellectually dishonest. The fact that McDaniel is a Republican was not the point of contention for those both inside and outside of NBCU. It wasn’t even that she was a Republican who supported Trump. No, the objection was based on the fact that McDaniel actively participated in the scheme to rig the 2020 election. Apart from that shameful past, she has a long history of defaming MSNBC and NBC News.
That being said, NBCU will now have to deal with the right’s slanderous accusations, which will come in the days, months, and even years to come.
NBCU will also have to deal with McDaniel, who, according to a person familiar with the situation, has been interviewing attorneys for the past 24 hours or so in preparation for a potential legal battle with the network. I’m told that by Tuesday, McDaniel’s relationship with NBCU had become so strained that Ronna McDaniel was not notified of her termination by network executives. Rather, McDaniel discovered her dismissal through news articles.
Even if NBCU is receiving criticism from the right, the company’s executives were promptly commended by prominent figures and journalists. Conde reversed course and was praised by Joy Reid and Rachel Maddow when he appeared on her show shortly after he sent out his memo.
Conde, according to several network insiders, is the top executive involved in the move that caused a stunning public outcry at NBC News. The outcry continued throughout the day and night on MSNBC, with host after host criticizing the hire. As if Maddow needed a reminder to push back, some news division bosses are erroneously accusing Chuck Todd of lighting the fire on Meet the Press. Todd isn’t going anywhere, according to a reliable source, as he signed a three-year contract when he departed Meet the Press.)
An NBC veteran wonders if higher-ups, including Roberts, weren’t at least made aware of the agreement prior to its announcement. “You do not hire an election denier without having it vetted,” says the individual, at the very least raising the possibility that Cavanagh was involved.
Another seasoned insider claims that if such wasn’t the case, then leadership issues are to blame: This guy says about NBC News, “It kind of stinks from the head.” News has to be overseen by someone out of all the firm divisions.
It’s possible that NBC did not support Ms. McDaniel’s behavior and allegations by hiring her. However, it conveyed the idea that they don’t automatically rule you out of a six-figure contract to provide hot opinions on television.
For access-related reasons, networks occasionally hire former political insiders; a CBS executive stated that the network’s controversial 2022 hiring of former Trump staffer Mick Mulvaney was motivated by this. Occasionally, networks may be motivated by concerns about public impression and optics, as conservatives are known to watch shows like “Law & Order” and “NCIS.”
In response, NBC News stated that Ms. McDaniel was hired for journalistic purposes, citing her ability to provide “an insider’s perspective on national politics and the future of the Republican Party.” An executive from the network made this announcement.
Indeed, news outlets have a duty to educate their audience about the world, even if it means presenting them with viewpoints they disagree with. This holds true even for politically biased media sources like MSNBC; sometimes, understanding your enemy requires paying attention to them.
That’s what interviews are for! But for a long time, TV news has been a platform for former politicians like Jen Psaki, Donna Brazile, Michael Steele, and Sarah Palin. The system’s objectivity is called into question only by this conduct. Can you truly rely on politically connected partisans to provide you objective information about their past and prospective future colleagues? If news networks aggressively sought out different viewpoints instead of depending solely on the opinions of regular panelists, would viewers benefit more from that?
The question of whether McDaniel fits the same mold as those previous hires is more significant, though: That is to say, is election denialism—that is, overt actions taken to thwart a valid election—just another contentious political issue that reasonable people can differ on, like energy policy or tax rates?
If this were the case, not only would it simplify matters for NBC, but it would also benefit all other news organizations attempting to present an accurate picture of the facts while covering a political movement whose leader has made an election lie the cornerstone of its ideology. Taking steps such as employing Ms. McDaniel may be interpreted as a deliberate rejection, an effort to will a political normalcy that no longer exists.
Nonetheless, TV news’s fundamental task continues to be to present facts above fiction. Another is to have trustworthy individuals on the show. Contributors to politics may have biases and viewpoints, but they should at least be truthful.
However, Ms. McDaniel provided a fresh justification for feeding Mr. Trump’s illusions about stealing elections during an interview on “Meet the Press”: To begin with, Ronna McDaniel never trusted them
That’s helpful to know, though! However, why wouldn’t Ms. McDaniel be just as willing to say anything to keep this position now if Ronna McDaniel was willing to be a little less herself to keep a job back then, when her words might have mattered?
Maybe in a party bureaucracy, it’s acceptable to voice your opinions in order to advance. It is a clue that you should find another line of work with a solid news organization.
