There has been a growing trend in Old media Organizations in which progressive employees start a war with their employers over an editorial position that does not align with their position.
Among the most memorable clashes in recent years are the social media rampage by New York Times staffers over Tom Cotton's infamous op-ed in 2020 and CNN staffers' open attacks on the network's Trump town hall in 2023.
In 2024, this trend has spread across many media outlets. These were the biggest newsroom outbursts of the year:
NBC's hiring (and firing) of Ronna McDaniel
NBC News was hit by a firestorm fueled by its employees after the network announced in March that it had hired former employees. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel As a shareholder.
The practice of major news organizations hiring former lawmakers, government officials and political insiders has been around for decades and has been largely uncontroversial. But a group of talent at NBC, particularly from its liberal cable arm MSNBC, publicly disavowed McDaniel's appointment, citing her alleged actions in trying to prevent the certification of Michigan's 2020 election results.
“We were not asked for our opinion on the hiring, but had we been, we would have strongly objected to it for several reasons, including, but not limited to, as the lawyers would say, Ms. McDaniel's role in Donald Trump's rigged election scheme,” said Joe Scarborough of MSNBC. On Morning Joe: “She's pressuring election officials not to certify the election results while Donald Trump was on the phone.”
NBC News has sparked backlash across the network over its brief hiring of former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel. (Screenshot/NBC)
Rachel Maddow, MSNBC's biggest star, He criticized NBC's “inexplicable” decision. to hire McDaniel and expressed his hope that the network would reverse its decision.
Several of the network's liberal talent, including Chuck Todd, Nicolle Wallace, Joy Reid, and Jen Psaki, also spoke out against the move. Todd was unforgettably angry on “Meet the Press” after McDaniel was interviewed by colleague Kristen Welker, in what turned out to be her only appearance as a contributor.
“I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this position, because I don't know what to believe,” he said.
Just four days after NBC News announced McDaniel's hiring, It has been terminated.
“There is no doubt that the last few days have been difficult for the news group,” Cesar Conde, president of NBCUniversal News Group, told employees in a memo. “After hearing the legitimate concerns of many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will no longer be a contributor to NBC News.”
Conde acknowledged that McDaniel's hiring undermined the goal of a “cohesive and consistent” newsroom and issued an apology to his staff.
“I want to personally apologize to those members of our team who felt we let them down,” Conde wrote. “Although this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I agreed with it and take full responsibility for it.”
CBS News internal buzz over Dokoupil-Coates interview
In October, the left-wing staff at CBS News criticized their colleague, “CBS Mornings” co-host Tony Dokoupil, for a harsh but civil interview he conducted with progressive author Ta-Nehisi Coates.
Dokoupil, who is Jewish and has children living in Israel, questioned Coates, whose new book, “The Letter,” is highly critical of Israel and has been rebuked by defenders of the Jewish state. For shallow analysis Of complex conflict.
“The content of this section would not be out of place in an extremist’s backpack,” Dokoupil told Coates for one section about his trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories, asking him “why do we leave out so much” and “what is it? That particularly bothers you about having a Jewish state considered a safe place.” For the Jews?
CBS host comments on anti-Israel views in new book: It appears to have come from an 'extremist'
“CBS Mornings” co-anchor Tony Dokoupil has drawn the ire of his liberal colleagues for his handling of an interview with anti-Israel writer Ta-Nehisi Coates. (CBS/screenshot)
CBS leadership reassured the offended employees that after review they concluded that the interview did not meet the company's “editorial standards,” The Free Press reported, That got audio from a staff meeting.
While a source familiar with the matter said Fox News Digital Because Dokoupil would not be punished during the interview, he was forced to meet with the network's internal race and culture unit after the complaints. According to the New York TimesThe conversation “focused on Mr. Dokoupil's tone of voice, phrasing, and body language” during the interview.
New York Post Also mentioned That Dokoupil expressed his remorse to employees at a meeting was described by a network insider as “there were tears. (People were) very upset.”
Some have rallied to his defense, such as CBS News legal correspondent Jean Crawford, who defended him during a network conference call, and Shari Redstone, president of CBS News' parent company, Paramount Global, who called the network's handling of Dokoupil “a mistake.” ” CBS CEO George Cheek I issued a memo Standing alongside the leadership of the news network.
The Los Angeles Times and Washington Post exploded over lack of support
Some of the nation's most prominent newspapers made their own headlines by ending their decades-long practice of endorsing presidential candidates.
Los Angeles Times The movement started With a decision by its owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, that the newspaper would not make any endorsements in the 2024 race. They were upset that they were unable to formally put their support behind Vice President Kamala Harris, which led to a slew of resignations, including that of Times editorial editor Mariel Garza and editorial board members Robert Green and Karen Klein.
Times columnist Harry Litman tendered his resignation in December, citing the paper's “shameful capitulation” to Trump after Sun-Shiong made initiatives to water down the paper, such as bringing on conservative commentator Scott Jennings. To the renewed editorial board.
Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong led a trend of high-profile newspapers not offering a presidential endorsement in the 2024 election. ((Patrick T. Fallon/AFP | Marco Tacca/Getty Images | Fox News Digital))
Days after the Times's release, The Washington Post announced it would no longer be endorsing presidential races. The paper's billionaire owner, Jeff Bezos, has halted a planned editorial endorsement of Harris as well — and the paper has endorsed the Democrat in every presidential election since 1976 except when it dropped any endorsement at all in 1988.
The move sparked an outpouring of anger from the newspaper's union to its prominent columnists, 20 of whom signed an open letter condemning the newspaper's decision. Several members of the editorial board resigned, and editor-at-large Robert Kagan resigned.
Not only did the newspaper suffer internal bleeding, but it sparked a boycott movement among its liberal readers. The newspaper reportedly lost 250,000 paying subscribers as a result, and was already on track to lose $77 million this year.
Billionaire Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post, has rescinded his newspaper's endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, sparking an uproar in the newsroom.
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Bezos wrote an op-ed defending the decision, citing growing distrust of the media.
“We must be precise, and we must be believed to be precise. It is a bitter pill to swallow, but we have failed to meet the second requirement.” Bezos wrote. “Most people believe that the media is biased. Anyone who does not see this pays little attention to reality, and those who fight reality lose. Reality is the unbeatable champion. It would be easy to blame others for our long and continuing downfall. Credibility (and therefore Decline in influence, but the victim mentality won't help. Complaining is not a strategy and we have to work harder to control what we can control to increase our credibility.
“Refusing to endorse presidential candidates is not enough on its own to move us up the confidence ladder, but it is a meaningful step in the right direction. I wish we had made the change sooner, in a moment further away from reality.” Bezos later admitted that the election and the emotions surrounding it were insufficient planning, not a deliberate strategy.
