A former MSNBC producer quit MSNBC in late July. Following her departure, Ariana Pekary detailed the toxic culture inside the four walls of the network.
She said she pondered quitting her job since before the 2018 midterm elections but was convinced to stick it out.
Last month, she finally reached her breaking point:
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. 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.
She then quotes an industry insider who admits their business is a “cancer and there is no cure.”
According to Perkay, the “cancer” risks human lives in the middle of a pandemic by maliciously shifting their focus:
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.
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.
Pekary also said “context and factual data” are considered too complex for audiences–inferring the network thinks viewers are dumb– and it’s rare producers will choose to do a topic without thinking about how it rates.
In essence, the networks are poisoning our politics and Pekary confirmed it.
