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Fired by MSNBC for Giving Voice to Iraq War Opposition, Phil Donahue (1935-2024) Was Courage Personified
The journalist and TV show host, who died Sunday at the age of 88, made his mark on our society. He fought for the underdog. He did it with style and grace and a wonderful sense of humor. He changed my life and the lives of so many others.
Aug 19, 2024
Phil Donahue passed away Sunday night, after a long illness. He was beloved by those who knew him and by many who didn’t.
He started as a local reporter in Ohio, was a trailblazer in bringing social issues to a national audience as a daytime broadcast TV host, and then he was pretty-much banished from TV by MSNBC because he—accurately, correctly, and morally—questioned the horrific U.S. invasion of Iraq.
In the 1970s, Phil took progressive issues and mainstreamed them to millions through his syndicated daytime show. He was a pioneer in syndication. He also pioneered on the issues; his most frequent guests on his daytime show were Ralph Nader, Gloria Steinem, and Rev. Jesse Jackson. They appeared dozens of times as Phil boosted civil rights, women’s rights, and consumer rights. He regularly hosted Dr. Sidney Wolfe warning of the greedy pharmaceutical industry and unsafe drugs. Raised a Catholic, he also featured advocates for atheism.
Mainstream media obits will likely focus on his daytime TV episodes that included male strippers or other titillation, but Phil was serious about the issues—and did far more than most mainstream TV journalists to address the biggest issues.
I was a senior producer on Phil’s short-lived MSNBC primetime show in 2002 and 2003. It was frustrating for us to have to deal with the men Phil called “the suits”—NBC and MSNBC executives who were intimidated by the Bush administration and resisted any efforts by NBC/MSNBC to practice journalism and ask tough questions of Washington before our young people were sent to Iraq to kill or be killed. Ultimately, Phil was fired because—as the leaked internal memo said—Donahue represented “a difficult public face for NBC at a time of war.”
But before we were terminated, we put guests on the screen who were not commonly on mainstream TV. We offered a full hour with Barbara Ehrenreich on Labor Day in 2002; a full hour with veteran journalist Studs Terkel; interviews with progressive members of Congress, including Bernie Sanders and Dennis Kucinich; and segments with the "maverick" Texas Observer columnist Molly Ivins; and offered platforms to foreign policy experts like Phyllis Bennis and Laura Flanders as well as Palestinian advocates, including Hanan Ashrawi.
No one on American television cross-examined Israeli leaders like Phil did when he interviewed then-Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, and later, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak. They seemed stunned—never having faced such questioning from a U.S. journalist.
But “the suits” ruined our show when they took control and actually mandated a quota system favoring the right wing: If we had booked one guest who was antiwar, we needed to book two that were pro-war. If we had one guest on the left, we needed two on the right. When a producer suggested booking Michael Moore—known to oppose the pending Iraq war—she was told she’d need to book three rightwingers for political balance.
Three weeks before the Iraq war started, and after some of the biggest antiwar mobilizations the world had ever seen (which were barely covered on mainstream TV), the suits at NBC/MSNBC terminated our show.
- YouTubeyoutu.be
Phil was a giant. A huge celebrity who supported uncelebrated indy media outlets. He loved and supported the progressive media watch group FAIR (which I founded in the mid-1980s.)
Phil put Noam Chomsky on mainstream TV. He fought for Ralph Nader to be included in the 2000 presidential debates. He went on any TV show right after 9/11 that would have him to urge caution and to resist the calls for vengeful, endless warfare that would pointlessly kill large numbers of civilians in other countries. He opposed active wars and the Cold War with the Soviet Union. He supported war veterans and produced an important documentary on the topic: “Body of War,” on the life and death of Tomas Young.
Phil Donahue made his mark on our society. He fought for the underdog. He did it with style and grace and a wonderful sense of humor. He changed my life. And others’ lives.
He was inspired by the consciousness-raising groups he saw in the feminist movement and he sought to do consciousness-raising on a mass scale . . . using mainstream corporate TV. He did an amazing job of it.
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50 Arrested in Jewish-Led Protest of Gaza Genocide at Biden TV Taping
"The president needs to start answering to the American people—not the far-right Israeli government indiscriminately bombing the people of Gaza," said Jewish Voice for Peace.
Feb 26, 2024
The historic wave of Jewish-led protests against U.S. complicity in Isreal's genocidal war on Gaza continued Monday as members of the group Jewish Voice for Peace were arrested for occupying NBC headquarters in New York City in a bid to disrupt the taping of President Joe Biden's appearance on a popular late-night TV show.
JVP activists wearing shirts reading "Not In Our Name" unfurled banners and chanted slogans inside 30 Rockefeller Center in Midtown Manhattan, where Biden was taping an interview with the eponymous host of the "Late Night Show With Seth Meyers."
"Biden, Biden, you can't hide, you are funding genocide," the protesters chanted. Banners implored the president to "Stop Arming Genocide" and push for a "Lasting Cease-Fire" in Gaza, where more than 100,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded and around 90% of the population has been forcibly displaced since the October 7 attacks on Israel.
"President Biden's deadly foreign policy has expedited weapons sales to Israel," said Jewish Voice for Peace New York, which also criticized the administration for ignoring the International Court of Justice's provisional ruling last month that Israel is "plausibly" perpetrating genocide, suspending funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, and vetoing three U.N. cease-fire resolutions.
"The president needs to start answering to the American people—not the far-right Israeli government indiscriminately bombing the people of Gaza, destroying 70% of infrastructure, including hospitals, universities, and the electricity and water grids," the group added.
Jay Saper of JVP said Monday that "our Jewish tradition teaches us that life is precious."
"As Jewish New Yorkers, we are absolutely outraged that President Biden is actively supporting a genocide against the Palestinians of Gaza," he added.
In addition to taping Tuesday's "Late Night" episode, Biden and Meyers visited the on-site Van Leeuwen ice cream parlor, where the president ordered mint chip in a sugar cone. While there, a reporter asked when there would be a cease-fire in Gaza.
"My national security adviser tells me that we're close, we're close; it's not done yet," Biden replied. "My hope is by next Monday we'll have a cease-fire."
Early in the war, Biden
proclaimed his "rock-solid and unwavering" commitment to Israel while refusing to call for a cease-fire. As Israeli bombs and bullets killed and maimed tens of thousands of Palestinians—mostly women and children—the president asked for over $14 billion in additional U.S. military aid to Israel, which already receives nearly $4 billion from Washington annually. Biden also repeatedly circumvented Congress to expedite emergency military assistance to the key Middle East ally.
Even after calling Israel's bombardment of Gaza "indiscriminate" and "over the top," Biden has continued to provide the country with military and diplomatic support.
Demonstrations led by JVP and other Jewish-led groups, chiefly IfNotNow, have filled the streets of cities from coast to coast, shut down major transit hubs, occupied landmarks, disrupted Biden's campaign events, and much more in the name of demanding an immediate cease-fire and an end to U.S. complicity in the Gaza genocide.
"The president needs to start answering to the American people. Not the genocidal Israeli government," JVP activist Eve Feldberg said on Monday. "And the people have made it clear: We want a cease-fire now and weapons embargo on Israel."
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The US Mainstream Media Beats the China War Drums
A recent NBC Nightly News segment perfectly illustrates the media’s usefulness in the hawks’ endeavor to seek a more confrontational relationship with the rising superpower.
Aug 14, 2023
As the United States tries to navigate a new world order in which China has emerged as its primary competitor and at times rival, hawks in Washington, the weapons industry, and other financially or politically interested parties are seeking to base that relationship on fear, confrontation, and animosity rather than healthy competition and cooperation.
A seemingly unwitting ally in that pursuit is the U.S. mainstream media, and a recent NBC Nightly News segment perfectly illustrates its usefulness in the hawks’ endeavor.
The story focused on a recent joint Chinese-Russian naval exercise near the Alaska coast and it had all the elements to lead one to the conclusion that only a more militaristic and confrontational posture would be the most appropriate response.
Quincy Institute Research Fellow Jake Werner, whose expertise focuses on U.S.-China relations, called the NBC story “an unusually glaring example of ostensibly independent U.S. media uncritically adopting” a militaristic approach to the world.
First, hype the threat. Anchor Peter Alexander set the story up as “just the latest close call” between Russia and China and the U.S. without saying exactly what the close call was.
NBC reporter Aaron Gilchrist then said the military exercises were “being called an incursion” without saying just who was saying that, and later he referred to the drill as an “aggressive maneuver” without describing what was aggressive about it. In fact, Gilchrist even acknowledged that the Russian and Chinese navies “never entered U.S. waters.”
Second, the segment completely ignored the wider context and the complexities of U.S.-China and U.S.-Russia relations, which could have helped to explain Russian and Chinese motives for conducting these drills so close to American territory, including the possibility that they were responding to similar U.S. military activity close to their own respective countries.
And lastly, this all led to the idea that more money for the Pentagon is in order. “Alaska senators today (are) renewing calls for increased investment in military power in Alaska,” Gilcrhist said—without any examination of whether that is even necessary.
A spokesman for U.S. Northern Command said that U.S. military assets were deployed “to assure the defense of the United States and Canada” and that the Russian and Chinese patrol “remained in international waters and was not considered a threat.” That description of events stands in stark contrast to NBC’s Alexander and Gilchrist calling it a “close call,” “an incursion,” and an “aggressive maneuver.” And NORTHCOM’s statement in no way implies that the military needs more assets to address the issue.
(This also isn’t the first time Russian and Chinese naval vessels have patrolled the region and it isn’t the first time NBC Nightly News has hyped the China threat.)
Quincy Institute Research Fellow Jake Werner, whose expertise focuses on U.S.-China relations, called the NBC story “an unusually glaring example of ostensibly independent U.S. media uncritically adopting” a militaristic approach to the world.
“An even-handed approach would have noted that the U.S. is doing the same thing (with greater frequency) and that China doing so is part of an escalatory action-reaction dynamic to which the U.S. is very much also contributing,” Werner told RS. “Instead, China’s action is an ‘aggressive maneuver,’ while examples of the U.S. doing the same thing are actually featured—but without the necessary context and only to make the claim that China is aggressive.”
Indeed, Blake Herzinger, a research fellow at the United States Studies Center in Australia, agrees. According to CNN, he echoed NORTHCOM’s assessment that the Chinese and Russian naval exercise was not a threat and that they “acted according to international law just as U.S. Navy vessels do when operating off the Chinese or Russian coasts.”
But, he added, “Chinese responses to similar [American-led] operations in the Indo-Pacific… hype up imagined threats and broadcast their military response as efforts to eject invaders from their waters.”
So while both sides are threat-hyping these respective naval exercises, on the American side, it appears that the U.S. mainstream media is the one doing all the heavy lifting.
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NBC NORAD Segment Was Essentially an Ad for the Military-Industrial Complex
The message of NBC’s reporting was clear: Russia and China are coming, and we need a robust military to defend ourselves from these threats.
Aug 08, 2023
The “Chinese Spy Balloon” has been an important story for fueling New Cold War animus against China, but it is based on a dubious premise. While the phrase “Chinese Spy Balloon” has been repeated ad nauseam in the U.S. press (FAIR.org, 2/10/23), no publicly available information exists to support that claim (Caitlin’s Newsletter, 2/14/23). While some officials still claim without proof that “we know for sure it was a spy vehicle,” the level of fearmongering from the press was certainly unwarranted. U.S. intelligence agencies had actually tracked the balloon since its launch at Hainan Island (Washington Post, 2/14/23), and after intercepting the balloon with fighter jets, according to the head of NORAD, they quickly “determined it wasn’t a hostile threat” (NBC News, 7/20/23).
Even if the balloon was spying, the Pentagon quickly asserted that there would not be “significant value added over and above what the PRC is likely able to collect through things like satellites in Low Earth Orbit.” Or as the Pentagon spokesperson put it: “Does it pose a significantly enhanced threat on the intelligence side? Our best assessment right now is that it does not.” Another Pentagon official later acknowledged that the balloon “did not collect [intelligence] while it was transiting the United States or flying over the United States.”
Based on weather models, The Washington Post (2/14/23) noted that the most likely cause of the balloon’s unusual course was unexpected wind patterns, raising “the possibility that China didn’t intend to penetrate the American heartland with its airborne surveillance device.”
This hysterical reaction by the U.S. not only had consequences on the global stage, but also had the effect of riling up the U.S. public in anti-China fury.
Despite the lack of any clear threat, the Biden administration blew it out of the sky, along with several other balloons. According to President Joe Biden himself (2/16/23), these latter balloons were all “most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation, or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research.” This was almost certainly true in at least one case (Guardian, 2/17/23).
This hysterical reaction by the U.S. not only had consequences on the global stage, but also had the effect of riling up the U.S. public in anti-China fury. As a complement to that, it was also used to fuel concern about our ostensibly inferior military systems, giving advocates an opportunity to demand more resources for the war machine. NBC’s recent segment, “Inside NORAD’s Mission to Defend U.S. Airspace” (7/24/23), is a prime example about how to leverage balloon hysteria into boosting the military-industrial complex.
‘Infamous Chinese Balloon’
The factual content of the segment, presented by NBC fixture Lester Holt, is as follows: NBC recounted the Chinese balloon episode, and toured an Alaskan NORAD base. Base personnel’s routine missions include flying air tankers to refuel F22s, so they can intercept other harmless balloons. The technology they have is more than capable of tracking balloons, but NORAD is seeking new technology anyway.
As plain facts, the story hardly comes across as a “story.” However, the stage-managed presentation served a dramatically different purpose. NBC’s framing is structured so that the new technology NORAD is seeking is portrayed as an important part of America’s defense.
For the NBC report, the first Chinese balloon wasn’t a non-event blown out of proportion, but something that “shined a light” on the “strategic importance” of Alaskan military bases “as adversaries like Russia and China demonstrate new capabilities.” NBC didn’t bother including the Pentagon’s admissions that the balloon was not an intelligence threat, or the likelihood that it drifted into U.S. airspace by accident. Instead, it allowed the earlier pervasive assumption that the balloon represented some kind of crisis to justify the rest of the coverage.
This segment can best be compared to an advertisement: Instead of selling shoes, soap, or cars, they’re selling a rapidly expanding budget for the machinery of global empire.
The entire segment also fails to cite any “new capabilities” demonstrated by Russia or China. In fact, if anything, NBC described an even lower intensity than normal: Holt reported that there have actually been fewer Russian planes getting anywhere near U.S. airspace since the Russo-Ukrainian war started. Despite this, Holt asked F16 instructor pilot Maj. Brent Rist, “Is the threat level increasing?” More remarkably, the pilot responded, “I think the threat level is increasing.” If there are fewer Russian planes, then what would the threat be? Nothing was said to support this or follow up, but the key line was delivered unchallenged.
NBC announced that the routine interceptions of other harmless balloons were “critical” missions, citing another balloon interception “just weeks after that infamous Chinese balloon crossed the U.S.” Here, too, NBC decided not to address the actual threat that this balloon posed, so the audience was left to accept on faith that this and similar missions are in fact “critical.”
At one point, Holt asked a radar operations commander whether or not NORAD’s technology was capable of detecting those kinds of balloons. The answer was a resounding yes; the commander explained that the warning systems were set to alert for objects traveling at higher velocity, but operators have since adjusted their warnings to look for other objects.
The segment immediately cut from there to reporting about how NORAD was looking for new technology that could “see over the horizon.” Instead of questioning why NORAD needed new technology, despite the demonstrated lack of threat and the adequate capability of current systems, NBC used the common neutral news segue “this comes as”—a phrase that implies a relationship without having to explain what exactly it is. That slippery language hid the obvious contradiction between the lack of threat and the desire to increase costs.
Selling Shoes, Soap, or Empire
NBC’s report went to great lengths to avoid questioning the most expensive institution in the federal government. Instead, the segment was tailor-made to appeal to the common American reverence for the military. Images of men in uniform looking serious, complex machinery whirring away, suited-up pilots and action shots of soaring jets that could have been from Top Gun, and Lester Holt on a military plane, with distorted audio as he addressed the audience through his radio headset. All of this heightened the idea that the military is exciting, thrilling, and important. The fact that their “critical” job consists of attacking harmless balloons didn’t get in the way of promoting the militaristic American mythos. The message of NBC’s reporting was clear: Russia and China are coming, and we need a robust military to defend ourselves from these threats. The balloon was just a practice run for more threats from Russia and China. The images on screen did the job of reinforcing this message, despite the fact that there was no logical argument about any danger presented to the audience.
But propaganda isn’t about creating a coherent position, but rather about eliciting an emotional response from the audience. This segment can best be compared to an advertisement: Instead of selling shoes, soap, or cars, they’re selling a rapidly expanding budget for the machinery of global empire. Much like the over-reliance on think tanks funded by military contractors (FAIR.org, 6/30/23), this sort of coverage contributes to the overall hawkish character of U.S. corporate media.
All of this relies on the internal assumptions of the New Cold War paradigm, in which the U.S. is facing off against Russia and China in a quest for global dominance. As in the old Cold War, much of the escalation comes from U.S. strategy, but American audiences are kept in the dark about that.
ACTION ALERT: You can send messages to NBC Nightly News at nightly@nbcuni.com (or via Twitter: @NBCNightlyNews). Please remember that respectful communication is the most effective.
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MSNBC Declines to Voluntarily Recognize Newsroom Union Effort
Organizers said that "we want to support one another and make this an even better place to build a career."
Jun 17, 2021
As current and former employees, media colleagues, and labor rights advocates on Thursday celebrated an announcement that MSNBC's workers have decided to form a union, the cable news channel's president made clear that leadership won't voluntarily recognize the effort.
"At a time when journalists and journalism itself are under siege, we want to join our peers who have paved the road before us in standing up for our rights."
--MSNBC bargaining unit
MSNBC is owned by a division of NBCUniversal, which is a subsidiary of Comcast. In a series of tweets, the editorial staff of MSNBC and The Choice--a news channel on the streaming service Peacock--said that over 200 workers have signed a union petition to join the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE).
"We are organizing to advocate for equal pay for equal work; diversity at every level of production; clear job descriptions and access to career development; a say in the post-Covid-19 workplace; and fair compensation for the hours we all spend to deliver the news," organizers said.
"We are standing up for each other and our work--because this is who we are," organizers added. "After 10 months of organizing, we are asking for voluntary recognition of our union and look forward to constructive negotiations with MSNBC and Comcast for a fair contract. #ThisIsWhoWeAre."
The tweets echoed a lengthy statement from the MSNBC bargaining unit shared by WGAE, which said in part that "at a time when journalists and journalism itself are under siege, we want to join our peers who have paved the road before us in standing up for our rights."
"We are proud that the hard-working newsroom employees at MSNBC decided to unionize with the WGAE," said Lowell Peterson, the union's executive director. "They join thousands of their colleagues in the news and entertainment industries who recognize that collective bargaining is the most effective way to win a voice at work and to build sustainable careers."
WGAE represents about 7,000 workers, including newsrooms at ABC News, Bustle, CBS News, Fast Company, HuffPost, The Intercept, Salon, Slate, VICE, and Vox as well as Gizmodo Media Group and Hearst Magazines.
"We hope and expect MSNBC to remain true to its commitment to progressive values by respecting its employees' decision and recognizing our union promptly."
Rashida Jones, president of MSNBC, said Thursday in a statement to the New York Times that "we're looking forward to continuing the type of direct, open, and honest communication that has already resulted in meaningful change at the network."
In a message to employees that circulated on social media, Jones said that the network will not recognize the union without a secret ballot election supervised by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB.)
"I respect our employees' right to decide whether they want to be represented by a union, and I believe our employees should be able to make such an important decision through a standard election process," she said.
"An election supervised by the government allows all affected employees the chance to express their view on unionizing through a secret ballot," Jones added. "It is important to give everyone who would be included the chance to understand what this would mean before making their choice."
The Hill noted that "unions have long criticized requests for NLRB secret ballot elections as being designed to give management opportunities to dissuade employees from joining the union."
MSNBC show hosts Chris Hayes and Joy-Ann Reid expressed support for the union effort on Twitter:
Others in the media industry, including former MSNBC employees, highlighted pay concerns among off-camera workers and called the union effort "overdue."
The American Federation of Teachers--the nation's second-largest education union--and the Labor Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives also expressed support for the organizing at MSNBC:
Andrew Joyce, a segment producer at "The Rachel Maddow Show" who helped lead the MSNBC union effort, told the Times that "we as journalists believe that democracy works, as a nation, state, country, city or in a workplace; things work better when policies are made with input from the people."
The developments came as The New Yorker, Pitchfork, and Ars Technica unions announced that after more than two years of negotiations between the NewsGuild of New York and Conde Nast, they averted a strike and reached an agreement in principle on first contracts.
Congratulating the unions on "accomplishing a groundbreaking agreement that sets new standards for fair compensation, equity, and job security in our industry," president Susan DeCarava said that the NewsGuild of New York "is immensely proud of all that our members have achieved due to their unflinching solidarity and resolve in addressing long-standing inequities at Conde Nast."
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'Craven Ratings Stunt:' NBC Rebuked for Booking Trump Town Hall Opposite Biden's on Rival ABC
Calls for #NBCblackout on Thursday night after network accused of "caving to the Trumpian impulses the network helped hone."
Oct 15, 2020
Entertainers and journalists who have worked with NBC in the past and present were among those who expressed outrage on Thursday over the network's decision to air a town hall event with President Donald Trump, with many critics calling for a viewer "blackout" at the network.
After Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's campaign called for the second presidential debate to be held virtually following Trump's Covid-19 diagnosis earlier this month, the president said the event would be a "waste of time" and the debate was canceled, leading ABC to plan a 90-minute town hall event featuring the former vice president, beginning at 8:00 pm Eastern.
"You are enabling the president's bad behavior while undercutting the Presidential Debate Commission and doing a disservice to the American public. We believe this kind of indifference to the norms and rules of our democracy are what have brought our country to this perilous state."
--100+ current and former NBC employees
NBC Universal News Group chairman Cesar Conde announced Wednesday that the network would air its own town hall with Trump beginning at the same time, a decision that's being decried by NBC staffers and media critics as one that plays into the ratings-focused president's hands.
As the Daily Beast reported, critics and employees at the network--the longtime home of Trump's reality shows, "The Apprentice" and "Celebrity Apprentice"--say the president will likely bring high ratings to the network as Americans tune in to watch the spectacle of Trump answering questions and spreading misinformation about the coronavirus pandemic and other issues.
"This decision is not just journalistically incorrect, but morally incorrect," said television writer Nell Scovell.
Columbia Journalism Review editor Kyle Pope compared the situation to the first presidential debate during which Trump shouted over Biden and Fox News moderator Chris Wallace.
NBC News executives are apparently unconcerned about voters' ability to hear from both candidates as Election Day approaches, Pope tweeted, calling the programming decision "a craving ratings stunt, caving to the Trumpian impulses the network helped hone."
The president promoted his town hall at a rally in Greenville, North Carolina by accusing the network of previously hosting a town hall for Biden that was "a joke," referring to NBC's parent network as "Con-cast," and claiming he's being "set up" by NBCUniversal.
"Excellent programming decision by NBC," tweeted CNN communications official Matt Dornic.
In a letter to Conde, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, and NBCUniversal chairman Jeff Shell, more than 100 entertainment professionals including current NBC stars Mandy Moore, Justin Hartley, and Chrissy Metz wrote that the question of whether to air Trump's town hall in competition with Biden's event "is not a partisan issue" but is rather "about the political health of our democracy."
"President Trump refused to participate in the virtual debate scheduled for Thursday night by the Presidential Debate Commission," the letter reads. "By agreeing to air his town hall as counter-programming opposite Vice President Biden's town hall on ABC, you are enabling the president's bad behavior while undercutting the Presidential Debate Commission and doing a disservice to the American public. We believe this kind of indifference to the norms and rules of our democracy are what have brought our country to this perilous state."
Shakina Nayfack, a transgender actress who stars in the NBC show "Connecting," spoke out shortly after the network announced the town hall on Wednesday, slamming executives for "a platform to someone who wants to abolish my rights."
Actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who has starred in several popular NBC shows, was among those on social media who called for an #NBCBlackout, while former "Today" co-host Katie Couric called the network's decision "bad for democracy."
Former "Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien, who was pushed out of his role after only nine months, jokingly compared NBC's decision to air Trump's town hall to his own experience with the network.
"I can't remember the last time I was this shocked by an NBC programming decision," O'Brien tweeted.
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On Eve of NBC-Hosted Debate, Sanders, Warren, Harris, and Booker Join Call for Network to Allow Outside Probe of Sexual Violence
"Donald Trump has been credibly accused of sexual harassment and sexual abuse by dozens of women. We, as a party, have to offer voters a clear and unquestionable difference come November when it comes to these important issues."
Nov 18, 2019
Expressing concern that the Democratic Party has not clearly aligned itself with survivors rather than corporate entities which protect and enable people accused of abuse, four presidential candidates on Monday called on NBC and its parent company Comcast to commit to an independent investigation into the network's "toxic culture"--including reports of sexual violence--before Wednesday's Democratic primary debate.
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) demanded of Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tom Perez that the party's leadership pressure NBC into opening a thorough probe into "the toxic culture that enabled abusers and silenced survivors."
"Everyone on the side of survivors has a role to play in using their influence to push Comcast and NBC to do the right thing. The DNC has leverage as a critical media partner in the 2020 election and they owe it to survivors to use it."
--Shaunna Thomas, UltraViolet
" Donald Trump has been credibly accused of sexual harassment and sexual abuse by dozens of women," the senators wrote. "We, as a party, have to offer voters a clear and unquestionable difference come November when it comes to these important issues. We cannot do that when we prop up and support companies that have systematically covered up numerous incidents of sexual violence with no accountability or changes of leadership."
The letter was coordinated by women's advocacy group UltraViolet, which has for weeks demanded an outside investigation into NBC leadership's alleged cover-up of longtime anchor Matt Lauer's sexual misconduct and other credible claims of the company's toxic culture.
The group applauded the lawmakers for adding their voices to the call for justice for survivors at NBC.
Last month, UltraViolet held a rally and press conference outside NBC's headquarters in New York and delivered to the company more than 20,000 petitions calling for the firing of top network executives; safety for accusers at the network through anonymous reporting channels and protection from retaliation; and an independent investigation into NBC's decision not to air reports about at least three powerful accused sexual abusers in order to cover up accusations against Lauer.
The group said that the candidates' letter signifies that Sanders, Warren, Booker, and Harris support current and former NBC employees who "have courageously put their livelihoods on the line to demand change and accountability."
"UltraViolet and our 1.2 million members have their backs, and we are proud to say that Senator Cory Booker, Senator Kamala Harris, Senator Bernie Sanders, and Senator Elizabeth Warren have their backs too," said Shaunna Thomas, executive director of UltraViolet. "Everyone on the side of survivors has a role to play in using their influence to push Comcast and NBC to do the right thing. The DNC has leverage as a critical media partner in the 2020 election and they owe it to survivors to use it."
Former NBC producer Rich McHugh, who worked with journalist Ronan Farrow on reporting about Harvey Weinstein's alleged serial sexual abuse which the network refused to air in 2017, echoed the call on social media.
"NBC employees are still upset, angry, and fearful, and yet part of the solution is simple: independent investigation," McHugh wrote.
The company has claimed that its own internal investigation into sexual misconduct at the company following Lauer's firing in 2017 was sufficient, particularly because female lawyers led the probe, according to HuffPost journalist Emily Peck.
"Yet there is clearly something wrong with a work environment reluctant to hold management accountable," wrote the senators. "That's what allowed the behavior of powerful abusers inside the company to go unchecked."
"Comcast should have and needs to do more to shift the work culture and pursue significant structural changes in order to prevent future harassment and abuse at NBC and MSNBC," they added. "Until that happens, employees are at risk."
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'A Collective Voice': NBC News Digital Staffers Vote to Unionize
"If there was any doubt, recent weeks have been a stark reminder that there is strength in numbers, workers are better with job security, and the people doing the journalism should have seat at the table."
Oct 30, 2019
Staffers with NBC News Digital voted to unionize, they announced Wednesday, in a move the employees hope will help provide them "a collective voice in decisions that will benefit the entire company, providing much-needed transparency, and ensuring a safer workplace."
"We seek to build a more equitable workplace in order to enhance the quality and breadth of our journalism and continue to work in the newsroom that we love," the NBC News Guild said in a statement.
In a memo to staff responding to the announcement, NBC executive vice president of digital Chris Berend sounded an initially conciliatory note.
"I want you to know we are deeply committed to a fair and healthy workplace for all our employees," said Berend. "We welcome this dialogue from within our digital organization, and any constructive conversation aimed at building the future of NBC News Digital and ensuring that we're the best we can be."
The guildmembers said they were moved to unionize in part because of NBC's mishandling of racist incidents and incidents of sexual harassment and assault, a major topic of news in recent weeks with the publication of journalist Ronan Farrow's book "Catch and Kill." The book details how the company deprioritized Farrow's reporting on former Hollywood producer and alleged serial rapist Harvey Weinstein in order to protect former NBC personality Matt Lauer from exposure from allegations of multiple instances of rape and sexual harassment.
"NBC News has mishandled serious incidents of sexual misconduct and racism without the transparency and sensitivity such issues require," the guild's statement said. "We have seen the company repeatedly invest in on-air talent and PR management, while mental health support, digital and physical security, and individual professional development remain underemphasized and underfunded."
According to The New York Times:
The workers involved in the organizing campaign write articles and produce videos for several websites, including NBCNews.com and Today.com. They said they hoped to win a number of concessions, including eliminating pay disparities between white men and women and minorities, an improved severance policy, better job protections and more guidance about the company's long-term plans for the digital division.
They also want to speak publicly, without concern for their job security, about controversies at the news division. Being part of a union, they say, would allow them to go public with criticisms of their bosses.
The unionization announcement won the support of journalists, progressives, and politicians.
"Congratulations to workers at NBC News Digital," tweeted Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), a candidate for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. "As we fight the corporate consolidation of media across the country, we must make it easier, not harder, for all workers to organize and join unions."
In a tweet, NBC News reporter Brandy Zadrozny expressed solidarity with her unionizing coworkers and referred to a tumultuous month in digital media that, as Common Dreams reported, saw the shuttering of news site Splinter and an aggressive push from the private equity owners of G/O Media, which also owns sports and culture site Deadspin, to kill the latter's editorial independence.
"If there was any doubt, recent weeks have been a stark reminder that there is strength in numbers, workers are better with job security, and the people doing the journalism should have a seat at the table," said Zadrony.
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MSNBC Anchor Chris Hayes Praised for Denouncing 'Path of Least Resistance' Taken by Network Executives
"Chris Hayes is modeling exactly where our journalism should be in 2019. Too many outlets bend to the powerful when the very institutions they represent are supposed to operate as a check on that power."
Oct 15, 2019
Issuing a harsh rebuke to his own employers for taking "the path of least resistance" by declining to report on allegations of sexual assault against movie producer Harvey Weinstein, MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes on Monday night was widely applauded for taking a different path.
In his closing monologue on his show "All In with Chris Hayes," Hayes compared NBC News executives with hundreds of Republican lawmakers and government officials who refuse to speak out publicly against President Donald Trump amid reports that they privately express grave concerns about his policies and decision-making.
"The insidious destructive force of the path of least resistance is everywhere you look," Hayes said. "Heck, I feel the tug of it myself as my own news organization is embroiled in a very public controversy over its conduct."
Hayes's former NBC colleague, journalist Ronan Farrow, spent months reporting on allegations against Weinstein in 2017--allegations which would help spark the worldwide #MeToo social justice movement.
But, Farrow suggests in his new book, Catch & Kill, the network refused to air the reporting out, correctly predicting that the Weinstein story would lead to scrutiny of one of its own longtime anchors--former "Today Show" host Matt Lauer.
"In Farrow's view, he was unable to break through what was effectively a conspiracy of silence from NBC News management," Hayes said.
Watch:
While NBC has claimed Farrow's reporting was not adequately sourced to air, the reporter went on to publish an explosive article in The New Yorker about the Weinstein allegations just two months later.
After leaving NBC News, Hayes said, Farrow was able to do "the kind of journalism that you want to do as a journalist, that everyone who works in this business should want to facilitate."
On social media, Hayes won applause for taking what many media critics called a brave stance against his powerful employer.
Journalism professor and media critic Jay Rosen wrote that Hayes's statement could mark the beginning of a reckoning at NBC--through a possible change in leadership or an independent investigation into Farrow's departure from the network.
After Hayes's monologue, Rosen wrote, "status quo won't hold."
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Yes, Corporate Media Pushes an Agenda
What’s hot in the press? War, greed and capitalism.
Oct 09, 2019
It has been said that ideologies are like accents. Everybody has one, even if they swear they don't.
This is especially true where the U.S. news media is concerned. Ostensibly, American journalism is a pursuit of the truth. Its purpose is to reflect reality rather than shape it. Reporters pride themselves on a commitment to fairness and accuracy, and they are quick to defend their employers against accusations of bias. In some sense, they regard the objectivity of their profession as self-evident. But no matter how upstanding these individual reporters might be, they are but one part of the corporate media machine. A larger system that is fiercely ideological.
Put in simpler terms, most news outlets uphold the status quo. Call it what you like: orthodoxy, common sense, conventional wisdom. It all boils down to the dominant views held by the ruling class. Namely, the rich and powerful.
The ideology that results from this is pro-war, pro-business, and most importantly, pro-capitalist.
A cursory look at the mainstream media is enough to prove it. James Bennet, the editorial page editor for the New York Times, explicitly stated that the outlet was "pro-capitalism" in a closed-door meeting with staffers. The Wall Street Journal is a mainstay of the free market, with an audience that consists of financial elites. Their editorial board smearing leftists like Bernie Sanders for "siding with a dictator" when he urged against intervention in Venezuela. And FOX News bombards the airwaves with a right-wing, anti-socialist message on a daily basis.
As much as the mainstream news informs and educates, it also distorts and omits. It upholds truisms and tunes out dissident voices--sometimes when those voices are needed the most.
Some of this can be blamed on the nature of these outlets. They are profit-driven businesses, after all. Owned by some of the richest people on the planet. As such, we can reasonably assume that they wouldn't be used to spread an anti-capitalist message.
But mere self-interest can only explain so much. As noted by Adam H. Johnson, a media analyst at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), there is also an ideological factor at play. The media class, he argues, believes that "capitalism is a non-negotiable good." And the idea "that there could be another way of looking at things, or that these assumptions should be challenged on a fundamental level, is tantamount to Flat-Eartherism."
In the news, this outlook manifests in a variety of ways. From the framing of left-wing political candidates to the depiction of the poor -- which often lacks context. But it is their portrayal of organized labor that warrants particular discussion.
Not content to be simply pro-capitalist, the corporate media is also overwhelmingly anti-labor.
The academic research on this topic leaves little room for denial. When it comes to labor unions, media coverage is consistently negative. The news focuses on strikes and violent confrontations, often exaggerating their frequency, and pays little attention to successful negotiations or community outreach programs. Providing their audience with a distorted picture of labor activities.
One particularly egregious example concerns the portrayal of Teacher's Unions during the No Child Left Behind Program. Rebecca Goldstein, an Associate Professor of Secondary and Special Education, concluded that Time Magazine and the NYT both painted an extremely negative image of Teacher's Unions, framing market reforms and the NCLB program as the only solutions that could fix public education. A shameful campaign against the interests of teachers.
To many, this kind of union-bashing in the media will come as no surprise. Organized labor is often marginalized in the political discourse. It receives very little coverage in the mainstream press (as James Berger wrote in 2015), pushed to the side so that more focus can be paid to the business world. A topic of far greater importance--at least according to conventional wisdom.
And so, what is considered the sensible view in politics is echoed by the media. A full-throated defense of capitalism, the primacy of business over labor, and, of course, unquestioning obedience when it comes to the foreign policy establishment.
Earlier this year, William Arkin, a veteran national security reporter for NBC, resigned from the network. And in a parting email to his colleagues, he criticized the network for its pro-war turn and valorization of the security state.
Specifically, he expresses his disappointment watching NBC and much of the news media "become a defender of Washington and the system". He talks about the network's reaction to Donald Trump's election: how they've championed the national security establishment and the FBI, a "historically destructive institution." And he is incredulous that they have embraced "highly partisan" former officials who "masquerade as analysts".
As Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept notes, these "analysts" include torture advocates like John Brennan, former intelligence spooks like Frank Figliuzzi and ex-Bush apparatchiks like Juan Zarate. All of whom have a vested interest in defending the institutions they've spent so long serving. And CNN is hardly any better with its roster of former FBI agents and security officials.
The welcome paid to Brennan and Zarate, who both played a key role in the disastrous Iraq War, is probably the most galling detail here. To paraphrase Arkin, these are the people largely responsible for the current state of the Middle East: where not one country is safer today than it was 18 years ago.
But then again, the news media has always paid homage to the wisdom of U.S. Foreign Policy. In the build-up to Iraq, networks from Fox NEWS to ABC to CBS all used framing words and phrases that were complementary to the Bush administration's push for war. The New York Times Editorial Board has not opposed a single U.S. war since Reagan's invasion of Grenada. And multiple outlets have spread outright lies about American enemies like North Korea and Iran--much to the benefit of the foreign policy establishment.
Part of the problem is that the U.S. media accepts the claims of government officials at face value. During the Vietnam War, the Johnson administration claimed that North Vietnam had launched an "unprovoked attack" in the Gulf of Tonkin. This assertion, later exposed as a falsehood, was repeated uncritically by the Washington Post and NYT. Much like reports of Iraq's Weapons of Mass Destruction and pro-Maduro forces burning trucks of food and medicine in Venezuela--both untrue--were treated by the media as gospel.
Again, here we have a media reluctant to challenge the orthodoxy of powerful establishments. Credulous when it comes to the testimony of the state and the military-industrial complex. They assume that our officials, with the exception of an "anomaly" like Trump, are forthright and well-intentioned. Even as they wreak havoc on the world with their foreign adventurism.
Today, the news media has a deeply incestuous relationship with government officials and moneyed interests. Yet, they are rarely, if ever, told what they can and can't say by their corporate owners or the state.
Instead, the media simply reproduces the values of a culture that is pro-war and pro-capitalism. The mainstream views. The views upheld by serious people in high places. Not like those dreamers and radicals who oppose them.
Stephen D. Reese, a Professor of Journalism at the University of Texas, spelled out this process in his 1990 study: "The news paradigm and the ideology of objectivity: A socialist at the Wall Street Journal". Where he argues that the news media plays an essential role in maintaining the political system.
To wit, he contends that the news media does not depict reality. Instead, they maintain the boundaries of acceptable political discourse. They establish what is normal and deviant by the way they portray people and ideas. They do this because they are interlocked with other powerful institutions, which means protecting the status quo is also in their interests. And while individual journalists may go up against government officials and corporate interests from time to time, it is always a "reformist antagonism". Never a challenge to the underlying principles of our current political system.
Looking at the evidence presented so far, it is difficult to say that Reese is wrong. Indeed, little else can explain why the U.S. media is so hostile to the idea of an organized working class and so deferential to the military. Why else does their depiction of the world seem so at odds with our own? Why else do they portray a reality where foreign intervention is almost always justified? And big business matters more than the lives and fates of everyday people?
It's because the U.S. media pushes an ideology. As much as the mainstream news informs and educates, it also distorts and omits. It upholds truisms and tunes out dissident voices--sometimes when those voices are needed the most.
Readers and viewers aren't necessarily being fed lies. But they're not exactly getting the truth either.
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