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The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. But that appears to be the case over at 30 Rock, where the cable news network, formerly known as MSNBC, announced multiple programming changes this week that aren’t really changes at all.
Morning Joe with Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski will reduce its offering from four hours to three by leaving the 9 a.m. hour, with former 11 p.m. hour host Stephanie Ruhle taking over. Brzezinski and Scarborough cited long hours as the primary reason for the reduction.
Ali Velshi will now anchor the 11 p.m. hour, formerly hosted by Ruhle.
Alicia Menendez, the daughter of disgraced former New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, will take over the 12 to 2 p.m. EST time slot with a new solo show, replacing longtime host Chris Jansing.
Luke Russert, son of the late Tim Russert, will join The Weeknight at 7 p.m. alongside former Kamala Harris chief spokeswoman Symone Sanders and former RNC Chair and rabid anti-Trumper Michael Steele.
Chris Hayes, who had lost his Monday 8 p.m. slot for All In, will now regain it and be on Monday through Friday.
There are other changes, but you get the idea. MS Now isn’t adding any talent, nor is it losing any existing talent outside of former CNN anchor Ana Cabrera, who recently announced her departure. Instead, it’s a matter of rearranging the deck chairs on a network that simply refuses to put on anyone who supports the current Trump administration even half-heartedly.
We saw this Pyongyang-like censorship play out two years ago when MSNBC hired former RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel as a contributor. And in a scene that could only be described as inmates taking over the asylum, MSNBC “talent” revolted on air in an effort to send an unambiguous message to network executives: We run the show here, not you.
“We weren’t asked our opinion of the hiring, but if we were, we would have strongly objected to it for several reasons,” Joe Scarborough said at the time.
“We hope NBC will reconsider its decision,” echoed Brzezinski. “It goes without saying that she will not be a guest on Morning Joe in her capacity as a paid contributor.”
Former Meet the Press host Chuck Todd, who was let go from MSNBC and NBC last year, publicly called on his bosses to atone for their sin during a Meet the Press interview with his replacement, Kristen Welker.
“I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation, because I don’t know what to believe,” he said.
The decision was reversed after Rachel Maddow, its highest-paid host, called out the NBC brass.
“The fact that Ms. McDaniel is on the payroll at NBC News, to me that is inexplicable,” Maddow said on her 9 p.m. show. “And I hope they will reverse their decision.”
Two days later, McDaniel was gone. The inmates won. The message was unmistakable: Unless we approve of anyone hired first, there will be hell to pay.
The hubris and self-importance here are something to behold, even in an industry driven by ego and vanity and attention.
“I will just say that journalists are a fractious bunch, and in our big company with all sorts of journalistic entities, you have all sorts of different people working in this business doing all sorts of different work,” Maddow told then-MSNBC host Joy Reid after the axe fell.
“And so I want to associate myself with all my colleagues at MSNBC and NBC News who have voiced loud and principled objections to our company for putting on the payroll someone who hasn’t just attacked us as journalists, but someone who is part of an ongoing project to get rid of our system of government,” Maddow added.
First off, Maddow is not a journalist. She never has been. This is the leading propagandist of the Trump-Russia collusion host that she still, six years after the release of the Mueller report, believes is true. This is also the same “journalist” who once hugged Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders onstage on national television after moderating a primary presidential debate. This is also the same person who said Trump “never encouraged Americans to get vaccinated” (he did). And the same anchor who for years called Dick Cheney a “monster” and a “maestro of terror” during his time as vice president, only to attend his funeral because he and his daughter Liz endorsed Kamala Harris.
As for Todd, he has repeatedly insisted there is no liberal bias in media, despite every objective study on the matter showing that there absolutely is. It’s also the same Todd who claimed the media wasn’t at fault for not covering Joe Biden’s obvious cognitive decline during his presidency. And the same Todd who vowed never to have anyone on his program who didn’t fully embrace the climate crisis.
And that’s the thing that drives such deep distrust in media: This fervent assertion made by many members of the media, who are absolutely biased, is really just solid journalists holding the powerful accountable without fear or favor to either party.
All that said, it simply does not matter what time-slot anyone occupies there until it makes real changes to its anchors and reporters. That includes at least attempting to offer analysts who may be in support of the current president, who won the last presidential election not only by sweeping the Electoral College but capturing the popular vote.
It also means ditching the ridiculous strategy of putting Maddow in the chief anchor seat on election nights or for coverage of big events such as the State of the Union, all while bringing on absolutely no one as commentators who will offer even a passing positive comment regarding Trump. It’s patently predictable.
At Fox News, for contrast (where I serve as a contributor), the approach is the complete opposite. Actual news anchors Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum are featured, while analysis comes from the Right and Left, respectively. Trump may be praised, he may be criticized, but it’s both responsible and, yes, far more interesting to watch.
And during Trump’s State of the Union address in February, Fox News was watched by a total of 11.5 million viewers. At MS Now, it was watched by just 2.1 million.
MS Now may be moving some chess pieces around in an effort to spice things up, but the song remains the same.
“Trump bad. Democracy is at stake.”
“Liberals good. Only Democrats can save democracy.”
PAUL SOUNDS LIKE HE’S RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT
And not only is it the same song, but one that consists of the same note over and over again while expecting a different result.
Some call that insanity.
