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Home > Blogs > The Cycle
The Cycle

Abrams says nascent firm won’t hire journalists with a conflict

Posted November 25, 2008

After former MSNBC host Dan Abrams announced the launch of Abrams Research, a consulting shop that will hook companies up with PR advice straight from the mouths of journalists, the new company was immediately panned in the media community as mousetrap for conflicts of interest.

However, Abrams, the former host of Verdict with Dan Abrams, told PRWeek on November 24 that his agency will largely focus on creating a roster of bloggers, freelancers, retired journalists, or those on a leave. Abrams also responded that he has no interest in working with reporters or editors at major media institutions – both The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times told New York magazine that the agreement would be a conflict of interest – that have standards prohibiting such an arrangement.

“There is going to be no one in the network who has any sort of employment agreement, standard, or contract that says they can’t do outside work. So as a practical matter, that means we wont have full-time employees of major media outlets; all the ones I know of have specific standards and practices,” he told PRWeek, adding that the company will also use its own guidelines. “I have no interest in inducing anyone to do anything that they can’t do.”

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Filed under: Agency-client relationship, Journalism 2.0, Media, Public Relations

Tags:Abrams Research, Dan Abrams, MSNBC, New York Magazine, New York Times, Verdict with Dan Abrams, Wall Street Journal

MSNBC pulls Olbermann, Matthews from anchor chairs

Posted September 9, 2008

Following on-air tensions among its election-season hosts at the Democratic National Convention, MSNBC has removed prime-time anchors Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews. David Gregory will lead the cable network’s coverage of the debates and election night, while Olbermann and Matthews will stay on as analysts.

The New York Times’ Brian Stelter that NBC Nightly News anchors Brian Williams and Tom Brokaw “have told friends and colleagues that they are finding it tougher and tougher to defend the cable arm of the news division.”

TVNewser’s Chris Ariens reported that insiders from NBC News and MSNBC told him prior to the change and on background that the Matthews-Olbermann tag-team “[Is] a completely untenable situation” and “It’s not going to be workable forever, to have two anchors like that. It’s just too bizarre.”

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Filed under: 2008 Campaign, Media, Politics

Tags:Brian Stelter, Brian Williams, Chris Ariens, Chris Matthews, David Gregory, Democratic National Convention, Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, NBC Nightly News, New York Times, Tom Brokaw, TVNewser

More weigh-ins on MSNBC

Posted September 8, 2008

Per our article - and many others, of course - MSNBC’s anchor strife and left title continues to get more scrutiny in the

Executives at the channel’s parent company, NBC Universal, had high hopes for MSNBC’s coverage of the political conventions. Instead, the coverage frequently descended into on-air squabbles between the anchors, embarrassing some workers at NBC’s news division, and quite possibly alienating viewers.

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Filed under: 2008 Campaign, Media, Politics

Tags:Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, NBC

MSNBC’s left turn not obvious to everyone

Posted August 22, 2008

MSNBC’s , announced Tuesday, to remove legal analyst and former network GM Dan Abrams from its 9 pm time slot in favor of commentator Rachel Maddow, by The New York Times’ Brian Stelter as a move to the left in search of higher ratings. Stelter noted that ratings of Keith Olbermann’s Countdown have nearly doubled since he began delivering “special comment” on-air editorials, usually criticizing President Bush. Therefore, placing the generally liberal Maddow in a coveted spot where MSNBC could conceivably gain ground on ratings leader Fox News Channel, would seem to be a logical – some would say obvious – step.

The Huffington Post’s Rachel Sklar, for the most part, concurs. However, the management of the Huffington Post, curiously, did not. Sklar’s column was published on a Poynter Institute forum by media blogger Jim Romanesko because the post was not “congruent with HuffPost’s editorial position against the media’s penchant for viewing everything through a left/right prism.”

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Filed under: 2008 Campaign, Blogs, Media, Politics, Web sites

Tags:Brian Stelter, Countdown, Dan Abrams, Fox News Channel, Huffington Post, Jim Romanesko, Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, New York Times, President Bush, Rachel Maddow, Rachel Sklar

McClellan disclosure tour not over yet

Posted July 29, 2008

Former White House press secretary turned best selling author Scott McClellan set off another round of outrage when he told Hardball host Chris Matthews that part of the Bush Administration’s messaging strategy during his tenure was the funneling of favorable talking points to friendly TV commentators, naming Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly.

McClellan qualified the statement, reported by TVNewswer, by saying, “I think that happens both ways when people go on other networks that are favorable to Democrats.”

MSNBC host Keith Olbermann expressed shock – shock! – at the tactic, while O’Reilly, with typical meekness, called McClellan “idiot,” adding, “He wants to sell his stupid book.”

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Filed under: 2008 Campaign, Blogs, Media, Politics

Tags:Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, Scott McClellan, Sean Hannity, TVNewser, White House

Murdoch: Too much editing at WSJ

Posted May 29, 2008

Rupert Murdoch’s interview at The Wall Street Journal’s D: All Things Digital conference signals potential tough times ahead for Journal editors and subscribers minding their wallets.

Murdoch, according to the Journal and paidContent.org, called the number of editors working on the average Journal story (8.3) “ridiculous.” He added that newspapers too often are “writing articles to win Pulitzer Prizes” instead of reporting on subjects that interest readers.

He also noted that the Journal has some catching up to The New York Times to do – at least as far as the cost of a subscription goes – commenting, “At the moment, the average subscription price of the Journal brings us about $125 a year. The New York Times is over $500. There is a long way to go in money from our readers.”

Murdoch also made it clear that he wouldn’t hire MSNBC host Keith Olbermann again. “No, I fired him five years ago,” he said, according to the Journal. “He’s crazy.”

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Tags:Keith Olbermann, MSNBC, New York Times, Pulitzer Prize, Rupert Murdoch, Wall Street Journal

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For both journalists and communicators, the news cycle never ends. At The Cycle, PRWeek’s editorial team offers commentary and viewpoints on how the latest marketing, business, political, and cultural news impact the PR industry.

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