A journalist has accused the managing editor of politics for NBC and MSNBC of trying “to bully me on behalf of the” Democratic National Committee.
In a series of 24 tweets, Yashar Ali claimed that Dafna Linzer behaved unethically after he received a tip Thursday from a trusted source about the dates of the first 2020 primary debates. Ali claims he followed up with the DNC after his source told him the debates were set for June 26 and 27, which were going to be announced on MSNBC at 4 p.m.
According to Ali, the DNC asked him to hold off on publishing the scoop in his newsletter so they could notify state parties first.
Shortly afterwards, she called him in “a menacing tone” to ask him to hold the story so the DNC could make its calls. Ali said, “She wanted me to wait so they could call state party leaders.”
2. Dafna, who oversees the political coverage for NBC and MSNBC, was calling to bully me into delaying the publication of an innocuous scoop and at no point did she advocate for her network, it was only about the DNC.
Here’s how this all started…
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) March 29, 2019
Ali noted that it was possible the DNC may not have requested Linzer contact him. Neither the DNC nor MSNBC responded to requests for comment from the Washington Examiner.
“I’m not naive to the fact that this incident is going to be twisted by some with an agenda to discredit the media and say they collude with political parties,” Ali tweeted. “But I think its more important to expose bad behavior then keep it under wraps. What Dafna did was unethical.”
Ali argued that it’s common for reporters to introduce those involved in politics to other reporters and claimed that is “advocating for more coverage, not less.” Rather, Ali charged that Linzer’s behavior was done on behalf of a political party.
“What I can’t figure out is (and no one else I spoke to could understand), why open yourself up to this for a stupid story? How was this worth it?” Ali concluded.
Linzer has been in her current post since 2015. She was previously at the Washington Post and is married to Barton Gellman, the former Washington Post investigative reporter.
