Overnight, CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy reported that there’s a contingent of NBC News staff that are “troubled by and have expressed dismay” at MSNBC hiring Biden Press Secretary Jen Psaki to host a show before she even left her post. And during Thursday’s Reliable Sources Daily on CNN+, host Brian Stelter expressed his honest surprise that the folks at NBC would have an issue with the obvious unethical move.
“I’m surprised there’s any concern about this to be honest,” Stelter declared. He was perplexed and suggested it was “obvious” by the extra letters they were different entities. “Everyone knows what MSNBC’s brand is, everyone knows what NBC News’s brand is. They’re two separate things. Is that not obvious to everyone?”
Darcy seemed almost confused that Stelter was taking that line of argument to defend this unethical use of the revolving door. “If you’re Chuck Todd, you’re hosting a show on MSNBC. If you’re Hallie Jackson or Andrea Mitchell or they’re hosting shows on MSNBC,” he noted of the crossover relationship between the sister networks.
It was a point he made just before Stelter expressed his surprise. “NBC News journalists like Chuck Todd hosting shows on MSNBC. And so, fair or not it does reflect on some of the most prominent figures over at that network,” Darcy said.
Despite admitting that NBC and MSNBC “cross-pollinate,” Stelter launched into unfounded predictions that MSNBC and NBC News Now (their streaming service) were “going to be two different lanes, two different things, two different worlds.” The former would “increasingly be that clearly liberal opinion channel” while the latter “seeks to be straight down the middle.”
But that’s what the difference between NBC and MSNBC was supposed to be but they willfully threw that out the window.
As a bit of a counter, Darcy argued that the news of Psaki’s new gig posed two linked breaches of ethics for the network:
One is that the news about her going to MSNBC came out and broke while she’s still the White House press secretary. So, there are some ethical issues there as well.
(…)
But the other thing is that, there’s really no gap between Psaki going from the White House podium to hosting a show on MSNBC.
Bringing up some others who’ve made the jump from the White House to media jobs hosting shows, Darcy pressed Stelter on the swiftness of the transition. “I’m not sure, maybe you can tell me, has anyone else done this other than Jen Psaki yet?”
“You mean so quickly? There was certainly a transition period for guys like George Stephanopoulos from the White House into ABC. Psaki’s moving that up,” Stelter seemed to quip.
Back in 2019, Stelter demanded “outrage and backlash” for Trump Press Secretary Sean Spicer appearing on Dancing With the Stars. Yet he ended this Psaki segment with a rhetorical shrug: “I think it is a sign of where we are in this world, for better or worse, it is a sign of how merged these worlds are.”
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CNN+’s Reliable Sources Daily
April 7, 2022
11:11 a.m. EasternBRIAN STELTER: So, let’s get your reporting, Oliver, overnight about NBC. There is certainly some – some dis – how would you describe it, inside NBC and MSNBC, some concern about the hiring of Jen Psaki as a commentator and as a host for MSNBC and Peacock.
OLIVER DARCY: Yeah, I think concern is a gentle way to put it really, Brian. I was talking –
STELTER: [Laughter]
DARCY: I spent most of my day yesterday talking to NBC News staffers and kind of getting a feel for the mood inside NBC News after it was announced – or not announced, but after it was reported by us and other that MSNBC intends to hire Jen Psaki to host a show on Peacock after she exits the White House in a few weeks.
You know, I think they are angry, they are concerned about how this might tarnish the NBC News brand and, you know, Noah Oppenheim, the chief over at NBC News, he addressed staffers and he basically told them, “Look, what we do is different than what MSNBC’s opinion arm does and this shouldn’t affect your work.”
But the bottom line is that they do have a relationship. Right? You have –
STELTER: Of course.
DARCY: NBC News journalists like Chuck Todd hosting shows on MSNBC. And so, fair or not it does reflect on some of the most prominent figures over at that network.
STELTER: I’m surprised there’s any concern about this to be honest. Everyone knows what MSNBC’s brand is, everyone knows what NBC News’s brand is. They’re two separate things. Is that not obvious to everyone?
DARCY: Well – I mean – again – like – If you’re Chuck Todd, you’re hosting a show on MSNBC. If you’re Hallie Jackson or Andrea Mitchell or –
STELTER: Okay.
DARCY: – they’re hosting shows on MSNBC. And so, yeah, I think to people it might be somewhat obvious, but it’s still does end up reflecting on them because they are – to some extent – MSNBC host as much as they are NBC News anchors and journalists.
STELTER: Yeah, I think what’s going to happen is, MSNBC is going to increasingly be that clearly liberal opinion channel –
DARCY: Yeah.
STELTER: -- and NBC News Now is going to be their streaming news operation that seeks to be straight down the middle. There’s going to be two different lanes, two different things, two different worlds, which is a big change from a few years ago when they were trying to cross-pollinate and make them all the same.
DARCY: Yeah. I do think too that the thing that is maybe raising some alarm here is – there’s a couple points. One is that the news about her going to MSNBC came out and broke while she’s still the White House press secretary. So, there are some ethical issues there as well.
We know that – I reported last week that Jen Psaki is not going to – she’s going to recuse herself from doing NBC News and MSNBC interviews and she won’t be in discussions about other people appearing on those networks. But you can see the ethical dilemma that it presents. If you’re [Kristen] Welker, who pressed Psaki about the ethics of this on Friday, you’re basically grilling a future colleague of sorts on the issues. So, it’s a little awkward.
But the other thing is that, there’s really no gap between Psaki going from the White House podium to hosting a show on MSNBC. It’s a little different, I think, than her being a contributing analysis on someone else’s program. And, you know, that’s a little bit, I think, more accepted. But the fact that she’s going to be hosting her own show without any gap between her time in the White House and MSNBC, I think is a little different.
Obviously, like with Nicolle Wallace and Stephanopoulos and Dana Perino, they’ve all been White House press secretaries or in the White House communications division and hosted shows later on. But going from—
STELTER: Right.
DARCY: -- right back-to-back, I think, is what also is kind of raising some eyebrows. It’s new. I’m not sure, maybe you can tell me, has anyone else done this other than Jen Psaki yet?
STELTER: You mean so quickly? There was certainly a transition period for guys like George Stephanopoulos from the White House into ABC. Psaki’s moving that up.
DARCY: She’s going there directly.
STELTER: This deal’s not even done yet. She hasn’t even signed the deal yet. She won’t sign it till May because she’s still in her job at the White House. I think it is a sign of where we are in this world, for better or worse, it is a sign of how merged these worlds are.
