MSNBC Chief Goes from Scorning Patriotic Coverage to Hyping It

Media Research Center ^ | April 17, 2003 | Brent Baker

[Mr. Mulliner]

MSNBC Chief Goes from Scorning Patriotic
Coverage to Hyping It

     In a remarkable transformation, upon figuring out that appearing patriotic helps in the ratings, MSNBC chief Erik Sorenson has gone from disdaining pro-American patriotic programming to championing it.

     In November of 2001, Sorenson grumbled that if you make “any misstep...you can get into trouble with these guys and have the Patriotism Police hunt you down." In a New York Times story he ridiculed those concerned about the tone of post-9/11 coverage: “These are hard jobs. Just getting the facts straight is monumentally difficult. We don't want to have to wonder if we are saluting properly. Was I supposed to use the three-fingered salute today?"
     Jump ahead to Wednesday's New York Times this week and reporter Jim Rutenberg noted, the MRC's Rich Noyes observed, how MSNBC now “has patriotic flourishes throughout the day,” including “the regular screen presence of an American flag” and “an 'America's Bravest' studio wall shows snapshots of men and women serving in Iraq.” Sorenson acknowledged that he's realized that “after Sept. 11 the country wants more optimism and benefit of the doubt.”

     Excerpts of the two New York Times stories:

     -- November 7, 2001 story on coverage of the war on terrorism:

....Much of the criticism comes from a group of conservative media voices and outlets, including Rush Limbaugh's radio talk show, The New York Post's editorial page, The Drudge Report and some commentators on the Fox News Channel. Much of the information for their critiques has been assembled by a conservative media watchdog organization called the Media Research Center, which hires full-time monitors to watch the network newscasts.

These outlets have kept tabs on the media for some time and were on the opposite side of the White House for the Clinton presidency.

How their criticism will affect coverage of the war is an open question. But news executives at CNN, ABC and MSNBC said they were conscious of the criticism while making their day-to-day decisions about coverage.

“Any misstep and you can get into trouble with these guys and have the Patriotism Police hunt you down," said Erik Sorenson, president of MSNBC. "These are hard jobs. Just getting the facts straight is monumentally difficult. We don't want to have to wonder if we are saluting properly. Was I supposed to use the three-fingered salute today?"...

     -- April 16, 2003, “Cable's War Coverage Suggests a New 'Fox Effect' on Television,” by Jim Rutenberg:

....MSNBC has patriotic flourishes throughout the day. Along with the regular screen presence of an American flag, Mr. Bush's portrait is featured on MSNBC's main set and an "America's Bravest" studio wall shows snapshots of men and women serving in Iraq.

Neal Shapiro, the NBC News president, said MSNBC hired Mr. Scarborough and Mr. Savage to add political equilibrium to its lineup of hosts. Before the war, Mr. Shapiro said, all of them -- Chris Matthews, Phil Donahue, Bill Press and Pat Buchanan -- opposed the war. Mr. Donahue's program was canceled in February.

"If you have a range of opinion that leaves out a whole part of the country," Mr. Shapiro said, "you're unintentionally sending a message that 'you are not welcome here.' "

Erik Sorenson, MSNBC's president, said it was trying to differentiate its report from what he called a mainstream style of automatic questioning of the government.

"After Sept. 11 the country wants more optimism and benefit of the doubt," Mr. Sorenson said. "It's about being positive as opposed to being negative. If it ends up negative, so be it. But a big criticism of the mainstream press is that the beginning point is negative: 'On Day 2, we're in a quagmire.' "

MSNBC's programming moves were welcomed by L. Brent Bozell III, founder of the Media Research Center, a conservative media analysis group. "What Fox is doing, and frankly what MSNBC is also declaring by its product, is that one can be unabashedly patriotic and be a good news journalist at the same
time," Mr. Bozell said.

     END of Excerpt

     That story is online at www.nytimes.com.

[leilani]

"The guy's an ironman. He can go on for hours and not get punchy or flakey." -dennis w. YEAH! That's EXACTLY what's so amazing about him. I first stated noticing this about him during the "DC Sniper Crisis". This guy can go for 12 hours straight and be as sharp & on point interviewing whatever guests the exhausted producers can muster at the end as he was when he first walked on the set, and he can look as cool as a cucumber, straight out of central casting for "MEGA-ANCHORMAN, THE MOVIE" in the process. He makes all the high priced network "talent" look like total mush-brained weeniewusses.Those guys can usually only last an hour or so when they obviously begin to flag mentally (Dan Rather excepted - he has been flagged out mentally since 1974, so he's not even in competition). Damn, I wanna buy a case of whatever vitamins Holt is taking. Impressive stamina to say the least.