Former Meet The Press host Chuck Todd went on his old show and criticized NBC News for hiring Ronna McDaniel in exchange for access.
Todd said as part of a panel after Kristen Welker interviewed McDaniel:
Let me deal with the elephant in the room. I think our leaders owe you an apology for putting you in this situation. I don’t know what to believe. She is a paid contributor for NBC News. She didn’t want to ruin her contract. She wants us to believe that she was speaking on behalf of the RNC for which the RNC was paying. You have credibility problems. Is she speaking for herself? Are you speaking on behalf of those who pay you? You said it once at the RNC, I speak for the party. I understand. She’s part of the job, so how about here?
I will tell. I think your interview did a good job of exposing, I think, a lot of other contradictions, and look, there’s a reason why a lot of NBC News journalists feel uncomfortable with this because a lot of our professional relationships with the RNC Over the years they have been met with gaslighting and defamation. So, you know, that’s where you start and so when NBC made the decision to give NBC News credibility, you have to wonder what it’s going to bring to NBC News and when we do deals like this, and I’ve been at this company for a long time I do for access. Sometimes it’s access to an audience. Sometimes it’s about access to an individual and we can have a journalistic debate about it, and I’m willing to have that debate, and if you had told me we were hiring her as a technical advisor for the Republican convention it would be defensible.
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We’re talking to her, but let’s see what she does in interviews and maybe look at it with real journalists and see if it’s a two-way thing, what she can bring to the network. So I think, unfortunately, this interview will always be seen through the prism of who is he talking to? I think you did everything you could do. You put yourself in an impossible situation by booking this interview and the ground was pulled out from under you and she was paid to show up. It’s a shame for the program and I’m glad you did the best you could and that’s why we’re here to support it.
Todd’s videos:
Chuck Todd goes on Meet The Press and asks NBC about hiring Ronna McDaniel for access, “What does she bring to NBC News and when we do deals like this, and I’ve been at this company a long time, you do it for access.” pic.twitter.com/AdeXqkggOG
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) March 24, 2024
Chuck Todd has received a lot of justified criticism for his time at Meet The Press, but the one thing Todd has always been honest about is that Meet The Press is access journalism, and he didn’t have to be too hard on Republicans because they would threatened not to. come to the show.
If Todd is right, and Meet The Press booked the interview with McDaniel, and then NBC News announced she was joining the network, journalistically, that’s a terrible thing to do. If you notice, McDaniel was not listed as an NBC News contributor, which highlights what Chuck Todd was talking about. Why was McDaniel there? Was he speaking as a former RNC chairman or as an NBC News employee?
The whole situation is a disaster. The fact that Chuck Todd goes on Meet The Press and hammers the internet like he has is a sign that the domestic backlash is large and growing.
There is a way out for NBC News, and that is to cancel the deal with Ronna McDaniel and apologize to NBC News reporters, staff and viewers for their mistake.
Anything less will be a big problem for the future of the network.
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Jason is the managing editor. He is also a member of the White House press pool and a congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a bachelor’s degree in political science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
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