Col just sent me a link to the NY Post’s coverage of MSNBC’s inter-office squabbling between
- Keith Olbermann,
- Chris Matthews,
- David Schuster,
- Joe Scarborough,
- and Tom Brokaw.
Col called it REAM BUILDING IS FOR SUCKERS, and I love it.
You can find links to the back story behind the alpha-male jockeying all over the interwebs — on Huffington Post and Wonkette, for example. There are snarky comments between anchors, immature hand gestures, and accusations of (oh my!) oversleeping. Don’t even get me started about crazy Uncle Pat (Buchanan) who needs his daily dose of Aricept. The dude is losing it.
You know what? Team cohesiveness is important, but I think the conflict at MSNBC is kind of fun. I never thought I’d see the day where Tom Brokaw and Joe Scarborough were aligned on journalistic ethics. All kinds of people from divergent points of view are coming together during this election season. Is this further proof that Obama is a uniter and not a divider?
In any event, I think the Gen Xers on MSNBC are looking great during the DNC convention coverage. These kids are showing up and doing it live. It’s time for Rachel Maddow, Chuck Todd, and (the currently misused) David Gregory to be added to the GE and NBC executive succession plan.
The lesbian policy wonk, the numbers geek, and bad dancer are the future of NBC News. Hey, this is America, and I think they are doin it right.
Laurie,
I thought when I saw your twitter post that it said “DREAM” not “REAM”…and then I thought… well… how HR.
MSNBC is much more fun to watch than the other cable news networks in that you know there will be conflict and oddly, they are having fun with this. Fox (or Faux in my case)is trying every ounce of their body to spin this to the neocon side (Obama/Biden - Osama Bin Laden? Please) and CNN is boring.
By the way, best coverage of the convention…PBS and watch it on HD, and you know what’s amazing? Little to no graphics. If you’re thinking, yes, I’m a dork.
@heather I have a dream/that team building/will one day/no longer exist.
@Tracy I’ve been a CSPAN girl for coverage but I turn on MSNBC when the speeches are over. I don’t have HD — no wait, I do, but it’s on a TV that I don’t know how to operate.
I can’t help thinking that this is all jockeying for position after Tim Russert’s death. Maybe lack of succession planning? Otherwise it is funny to watch the “old guys” attempt to seem relevant. It is absolutely amazing to look at the whole NBC news organization before Tim Russert and after Tim Russert and see how one personality can completely change the group dynamic.