MSNBC producer quits, “We are a cancer and there is no cure”

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A former MSNBC producer wrote a scathing open letter explaining why she recently left the cable news network, Fox News reported.

Ariana Pekary wondered how she could keep working at her job for a year-and-a-half. Then the day came when she couldn’t do it any longer. she appears to be a woman of the left, but with integrity. She’s right about one thing, they are a cancer.

BAD DECISIONS EVERY DAY

“July 24th was my last day at MSNBC. I don’t know what I’m going to do next exactly but I simply couldn’t stay there anymore,” Ariana Pekary wrote on her personal website. “My colleagues are very smart people with good intentions. The problem is the job itself. It forces skilled journalists to make bad decisions on a daily basis.”

“It’s possible that I’m more sensitive to the editorial process due to my background in public radio, where no decision I ever witnessed was predicated on how a topic or guest would ‘rate.’ The longer I was at MSNBC, the more I saw such choices — it’s practically baked in to the editorial process – and those decisions affect news content every day,” Pekary said. “Likewise, it’s taboo to discuss how the ratings scheme distorts content, or it’s simply taken for granted, because everyone in the commercial broadcast news industry is doing the exact same thing. But behind closed doors, industry leaders will admit the damage that’s being done.”

She then quoted someone she described a “successful and insightful TV veteran” who said: “We are a cancer and there is no cure… But if you could find a cure, it would change the world.”

Pekary, who described herself as an “integral member” of the MSNBC primetime show “The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell,” used the “cancer” analogy to describe MSNBC’s coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and the racial unrest in recent months, writing: “The model blocks diversity of thought and content because the networks have incentive to amplify fringe voices and events, at the expense of others… all because it pumps up the ratings.”

THEY’RE A CANCER

“This cancer risks human lives, even in the middle of a pandemic. The primary focus quickly became what Donald Trump was doing (poorly) to address the crisis, rather than the science itself. As new details have become available about antibodies, a vaccine, or how COVID actually spreads, producers still want to focus on the politics. Important facts or studies get buried,” Pekary explained.  “This cancer risks our democracy, even in the middle of a presidential election. Any discussion about the election usually focuses on Donald Trump, not Joe Biden, a repeat offense from 2016 (Trump smothers out all other coverage). Also important is to ensure citizens can vote by mail this year, but I’ve watched that topic get ignored or ‘killed’ numerous times.”

“I’ve even heard producers deny their role as journalists. A very capable senior producer once said: ‘Our viewers don’t really consider us the news. They come to us for comfort,'” Pekary wrote. “Now maybe we can’t really change the inherently broken structure of broadcast news, but I know for certain that it won’t change unless we actually face it, in public, and at least try to change it.”

She concluded her letter by telling her readers to reach out to her, writing “More than ever, I’m craving a full and civil discourse.”

Bari Weiss, the former New York Times op-ed staff editor who recently resigned from the newspaper with her own letter, praised Pekary’s “integrity” on social media.


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andersm0
Guest
andersm0
3 years ago

There’s not a whisper of hope the legacy media intend to change their model. This is it, folks. Ongoing deceit until the day after forever.

robert adkins
Guest
robert adkins
3 years ago

America thirsts for honest reporting. Regardless of what your higher ups say about ratings, the public craves real journalism and real reporting. Ratings is a game media outlets play among themselves. The cancer can be cured but some of you will have to pull away. In time you’ll prevail, but it will be hard and the price will be high.

The Prisoner
Guest
The Prisoner
3 years ago

She is wrong on so much. They are not smart people and do not have good intentions.

If they are reporting based on ratings, then why are they so low in ratings?

There’s nothing good to cover on Biden. The O’Donnell show is junk. He spews hatred and fake stories.

She has no idea what is going on with the virus panic, has no analytical mind, barely scratched the surface on the subject.

Dee Dee
Editor
Dee Dee
3 years ago

Hearing the truth out of any media outlet is an anomaly. What a brave woman! She left the reservation, so she should get ready for character assassination from not just MSNBC, but all the fake media outlets. They have to circle the wagons!