MSNBC’s news chief, Rashida Jones, is out. Rachel Maddow — who’s been working one a day for the last couple of years — is back five days a week for 100 days beginning January 20th.
The two things are not unrelated. Cause and effect. MSNBC is on the ropes as it’s being spun off. If Jones had gotten Maddow to come back, she’d still have her job. One plus one equals two.
Susan Zirinsky is back running CBS News this week. Zirinsky represents the CBS News old guard. (She was also the basis for Holly Hunter’s character in “Broadcast News.”) She’d left, retired, walked away. Now she’s returning to fix “60 Minutes” and “CBS Sunday Morning.”
What happened? A disaster at “60 Minutes” this past Sunday didn’t help. The show laid the blame for the middle east turmoil on Israel. The word ‘genocide’ was used freely. Many viewers gasped as they processed what was being said on screen.
Jonathan Greenblatt, head of the Anti-defamation League, wrote: “I’m outraged that @CBSnews’ @60minutes would air such a biased and one-sided piece, villainizing Israel and berating US support for its ally.”
He continued: “60 Minutes is supposed to be the gold standard for broadcast journalism, but they completely dropped the ball last night. Where are the counter perspectives to those interviewed? Where is the mention of the nearly 100 hostages – including Americans – STILL in captivity!? What kind of journalism is that?”
All these changes are not coincidences. Watch MSNBC re-center itself after losing almost all of its viewers since the election in November. And “60 Minutes’? They went over the line with Cecilia Vega’s report blaming Israel for continuing the war with Hamas. As much as we all love most “60 Minutes” reports, Vega’s was beyond the pale.
Look for changes there immediately.
