NBC severed its relationship with Ronna McDaniel, but its issues remain
Ronna McDaniel was introduced by NBC News as a paid contributor, then eighty hours later, amid a flurry of media rumours, the network fired her from the same position. However, the NBC Universal News Group leadership had a terrifying experience over those 80 agonising hours.
Following a flurry of media speculation, NBC News Group CEO Cesar Conde withdrew his invitation for the former chair of the Republican National Committee to join the team in a memo addressed to staff on Tuesday night.
Conde stated, “After hearing valid concerns from many of you, I have decided that Ronna McDaniel will not be a contributor to NBC News.”
Not that Conde had much of an option. One by one, his biggest stars rushed to the airways to criticise the choice to recruit McDaniel, posing an unprecedented challenge to the crisis-ridden NBCU boss—I’ve been informed he handled a crisis from an unidentified place outside of 30 Rock. Conde’s email was unexpected only because it arrived 48 hours later than expected, transforming an initial issue into one of the greatest corporate communications mishaps in recent memory.
An executive informed me on Tuesday that McDaniel was relieved of her NBC News credentials immediately after Conde did so. Conde acknowledged “full responsibility” for McDaniel’s hiring in his note. But he also indirectly blamed the staff, stating that her retention was “a collective decision of some members of our leadership team.” In reality, people I know well in this matter have informed me that NBC executives are in disarray internally, with different groups inside the NBCU News Group pointing fingers at one another.
The episode has demonstrated who actually runs the company—and it’s not Conde and the company—despite the blame game that has ensued. For days, NBC refused to fire McDaniel, but in the end, they had to give in to self-indulged pressure. Another media executive told me, “It’s now’very clear who’s in charge,’ after demonstrating weak leadership entirely.”
The Peacock family is debating who was actually at fault, while the corporation is dealing with yet another PR disaster. Conservative leaders have long accused the network of being biassed against right-wing viewpoints under Donald Trump’s leadership.
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On the Truth Social site, Trump expressed his annoyance by declaring, “These radical leftists are crazy and the top people at NBC are weak.”
Ari Fleischer, who worked for President George W. Bush as press secretary before, stated on Twitter: “NBC is implying that if you support Trump, you are not aligned with them. Alright. Let NBC serve just Democrats.
The story is undoubtedly intellectually dishonest. McDaniel’s Republican affiliation was not met with much opposition, both within and outside of NBCU. She was also not a Republican who supported Trump. No, the opposition stemmed from McDaniel’s active involvement in the scheme to rig the 2020 election. She also had a lengthy history of demonising MSNBC and NBC News, in addition to her awful past.
However, even as NBCU faces criticism from the right, its top performers and journalists are getting rapid recognition. Rachel Maddow went on Joy Reid’s show shortly after Conde sent his email, and both of them commended Conde for reversing his path.
Maddow stated, “I think this is a show of strength and a show of respect for the people who work at this company and who make us who we are.” “I appreciate that he was open to taking the lead on this and changing course.”