Attacks waged on Republican pundits, politicians and policies by a variety of MSNBC hosts apparently are not indicative of the network’s ideology, as MSNBC President Phil Griffin claims the network is absent of one.
Griffin sat down with The Daily Beast’s Lloyd Grove to discuss the upcoming changes viewers can expect to see from the network in an article published Thursday. In the interview, which was published on the heels of Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus’ boycott of the network, Griffin differentiates between what most call a progressive lean, instead opting to classify it as a “sensibility.”
“I think we’ve never had an ideology. An ideology is a single thought across all programs. We’ve never had that,” Griffin insisted. “Obviously I hire people who fit the sensibility. We do stay true to facts. You have to build your argument. That’s why I call it a sensibility.”
Many Republicans point to MSNBC’s blatant liberal bias, with the content of its programs often bolstering the Obama administration and the White House’s policies. And with its official tagline “Lean Forward,” which bears striking resemblance to President Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign slogan, its difficult not to claim the network maintains a progressive ideology.
But Griffin refuted such a statement, pointing to its day-to-day lineup of shows, which gradually evolves from a bipartisan feel in the morning to analysis into the night.
The morning, the network head said, starts with Morning Joe, the “bipartisan agenda setter,” which runs from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Then, the station transitions to a “newsy block” from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., which features Tamron Hall and NBC News’ Chuck Todd. From there, Andrea Mitchell takes over, followed by newly installed Ronan Farrow for a “more topical” transition to “The Cycle” and “Now with Alex Wagner.”
“Then you have the big voices of Ed Schultz, Rev [Al Sharpton], and Chris [Matthews],” Griffin told Grove of its transition to analysis, “and then the big deeper thinkers of Chris Hayes, Rachel [Maddow], and Lawrence [O’Donnell].”
When speaking about competitor Fox News — which boasts 145 straight months as the top cable news network, MSNBC of late has claimed the number 2 spot — Griffin said he sees an ideology in network head Roger Ailes’ programming.
“I think they do have an ideology,” he said, “because every Republican who’s in trouble goes on to that network to be taken care of … They’re owned by News Corp., which is Rupert Murdoch. Roger Ailes runs it, and he comes out of the Republican Party.”
MSNBC, to the contrary, is not the place for damaged Democrats.
“If you’re a Democrat in trouble, we’re not a place where we’re going to rehabilitate you,” Griffin said. “You’re not going to get a free ride if you did wrong.”
Though Griffin has spent six years at MSNBC’s helm and turned a $300 million profit, several of its anchors have had to issue apologies for offensive comments. Hosts Martin Bashir and Alec Baldwin resigned from the network as a result of their indiscretions, and anchor Melissa Harris-Perry was forced to give a tearful apology after making a joke at the expense of 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s infant grandson.
Then, the network posted a tweet to its official Twitter account alleging Republicans “hate” interracial families. Priebus called for a boycott of the network until Griffin personally apologized, which he did hours later.
“I personally apologize to Mr. Priebus and to everyone offended,” Griffin said in a statement. “At MSNBC we believe in passionate, strong debate about the issues, and we invite voices from all sites to participate. That will never change.”
Read the rest of Grove’s interview with Griffin here.
