On day five of the massive public and internal outrage over NBC News’ hiring of Ronna McDaniel, who spread false claims about election fraud and allegedly conspired with the Trump campaign to attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, NBC News executives will meet to discuss the decision and the “fate” of the former Republican National Committee chair.
Variety reports “senior executives are gathering to conduct a review,” and “to hash out the growing controversy around her recent hire, according to two people familiar with the matter, in a bid to stop a growing insurrection by the NBCUniversal unit’s editorial staff.”
On Monday, many if not most MSNBC branded news and opinion show’s hosts denounced McDaniel’s hiring. Rachel Maddow, seen as the journalistic and moral leader of MSNBC, delivered to viewers a 29-minute history lesson essentially comparing McDaniel to others throughout history who have directly enabled and promoted fascists. Calling it “inexplicable,” she urged NBC News executives to rethink the decision to hire McDaniel, stating it is “strength” to acknowledge mistakes and correct them.
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“McDaniel’s hire,” Variety adds, “seen as a bid to gain access to the thinking of the current Republican party, was announced by Carrie Budoff Brown, the NBC News executive who oversees ‘Meet The Press’ and political coverage. But Budoff Brown reports to Rebecca Blumenstein, president of editorial for NBC News, and has little say over how McDaniel might be incorporated into ‘Today,’ MSNBC, ‘NBC Nightly News’ or ‘NBC News Now,’ the company’s streaming outlet.”
Some critics appear focused on Budoff Brown.
“Neither shocked nor surprised that Carrie Budoff Brown had a major hand in Ronna McDaniel’s hiring at NBC. I fondly remember when she fed me to the Trumpists to not lose access to the new Trump White House,” wrote Puck News founding partner and Washington correspondent Julia Ioffe. Ioffe is a Russia expert who has appeared on MSNBC and, like Budoff Brown, previously worked for Politico.
Award-winning TV writer and playwright Hal Corley also focused on Budoff Brown, writing: “Anyone who’s worked in television knows this moment in no longer about McDaniel; it’s only on Budoff Brown, @NBCNews exec who chose exploitation over journalistic ethics and democracy. Wallace, Reid, Maddow, O’Donnell excoriated the hire.”
Other critics aimed higher: NBCUniversal News Group chair Cesar Conde, who “has allowed the mess to spiral absolutely out of control,” according to CNN’s Oliver Darcy in the network’s Reliable Sources newsletter overnight.
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“While NBC News president Rebecca Blumenstein and senior vice president of politics Carrie Budoff Brown were most directly responsible for McDaniel’s hiring, a decision that MSNBC boss Rashida Jones did not object to it at the time, the buck ultimately stops with Conde, who hold the real power at the Peacock Network. McDaniel’s hiring could not have happened without Conde’s blessing,” wrote Darcy.
“Never has a network’s C-suite ever been so thoroughly flogged by its most high-profile stars in such no holds barred fashion. Saying that Conde simply has a crisis on his hands would be a contender for understatement of the year. It’s a five-alarm fire at NBCU News Group, and one of Conde’s own making.”