My winner of December’s “Worst PR Assignment” is MSNBC’s spokesman.
A few days ago amid mounting criticism, he declared straight-faced that his employer’s decision to reject live coverage of the Christmas Day terrorism attempt and, instead, drop quickie newsbreaks into canned tabloid programming was reasonable.
I wondered if he’d used the trick taught to me by a TV anchor who would drive the tines of a hidden fork into the palm of his hand when forced to read something likely to make him laugh.
But instead of leaving it at that, the flack pointed out that what aired -- mainly MSNBC’s usual grab bag of weekend white trasherama starring stalking spouses, psychopath teens, deranged pedophiles and chatty inmates -- does quite well in the ratings.
I’d bet Santa wasn’t the only one last week with a twinkle in his eye.
MSNBC’s got news avoidance issues. And it’s rightfully getting beaten up. Its initial non-coverage of the Northwest Airlines near-disaster, now one of the year’s biggest stories, is only the latest example. It previously skimmed last June’s dramatic weekend protests over the Iranian elections, a transformative news event that inspired global demonstrations, made a young murdered woman named Neda an icon and evolved Twitter into a serious social network.
There are other examples of MSNBC choosing to stay on the sidelines while its competitors successfully leveraged such opportunities: CNN reminding us of the worldwide news firepower it wields and Fox showing that it’s not conservative spin 24/7 but, at times, delivers solid journalism, too. Because while network news coverage of major off-the-clock stories might be critical for many reasons, including public service, most of all it’s a huge PR opportunity directly related to revenue, ratings and respect.
First, the most obvious: After the first few times when news viewers discover a network isn’t covering the moment’s big story, it’s tough to bring them back.
I have recent first-hand experience: While spending Christmas with my parents, avid TV news junkies with non-denominational viewing habits, intently following the terrorism situation, not one of us thought to switch over to MSNBC.
As viewers vanish, so do advertisers. But newsmakers do too. What official, expert or politician wants to appear on newscasts that audiences don’t know exist? Most networks wage quiet PR campaigns to woo such bookings to their shows. A series of decisions such as last week’s can set these efforts ’way back.
And a big news story is the single best place for networks to promote their stars. One reason the top anchors are paid so well is because they are, in essence, firemen: on hand mainly for showing off their incredible skills when the big fire erupts. No coverage? No starmaking.
Bad PR trickles down to broader employee relations. It’s tough for journalists to stay competitive or even enthusiastic when they’re not called in for the breaking big ones. It’s worse when they see what should be their airtime turned over to the residents of a Tennessee women’s prison, the 40th repeat of the Jeffrey Dahmer interview or “The Vampire Killings,” a documentary where “a self-described leader of a vampire cult murders a couple in Florida” (coming Saturday, Jan.
