NBC backtracked as a result of criticism from its own newsroom, which it apparently didn’t consult. NBC's journalists objected because McDaniel actively worked to try to overturn the 2020 presidential election and made repeated statements designed to delegitimize the press.
Following McDaniel’s first interview as a paid commentator on Meet the Press, veteran NBC news anchor and chief political analyst Chuck Todd dressed down the NBC brass that hired her. Todd told program host Kristen Welker, “I think our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation. Because I don’t know what to believe. She is now a paid contributor by NBC News, so I have no idea whether any answer she gave to you was because she didn’t want to mess up her contract.” Todd went on to say, “There’s a reason why there are a lot of journalists at NBC News uncomfortable with this, because many of our professional dealings with the RNC over the last six years have been met with gaslighting, have been met with character assassination.”
Since the advent of CNN and the 24-hour news cycle, political pundits have played a central role in filling air time on TV news programs when there isn’t enough news to report. As the saying goes, “opinions are cheap,” which is especially true when comparing punditry to reported stories developed by journalists and fact-checked by editors.
In an excellent analysis of the role pundits play in TV news, NPR media correspondent David Folkenflik recently examined the issue:
On Why Networks Hire Pundits: “The networks … want to be able to rely on a stable of people to show up and be lively and informed on the air, often with little notice. They want to make sure they have voices reflecting an array of views from both parties. And they want exclusivity, which means they want to prevent the same high-profile figures from appearing on their competitors' shows.”
On The Questionable Loyalty of Pundits: “… To whom do the loyalties of these partisan figures lie? They should rest with the newsrooms that employ them and the viewers they serve. And yet the pundits often act as surrogates for the parties that made them. It's not clear they always believe what they're saying. And sometimes, they appear to be auditioning for future jobs.”
The TV news landscape is littered with paid pundits of many political stripes. From Donna Brazile to Reince Priebus, many have leveraged their roles serving in the government to land lucrative gigs giving their opinions on TV news shows. For news consumers, it’s impossible to know which commentators are being paid by networks and which are offering their views as unpaid independent sources.
Responding to McDaniel’s hiring by NBC at a reported annual pay of $300,000, NBC senior reporter Brandy Zadrozny posted on social media: "So many talented reporters laid off this year. Workers who provided the content, won the awards, built the credibility of their shops, and worked for a yearly salary at a fraction of what big name contributors get in fancy contracts to fill pundit boxes on TV."
She’s right. We need more journalists and fewer pundits.
