(Headline USA) NBC journalists reportedly are worried that the network’s decision to hire and then fire former Republican National Committee head Ronna McDaniel will hurt their standing with GOP sources.
NBC announced on Tuesday that it fired McDaniel less than a week after hiring her as a paid contributor. The decision came after swift backlash from on-air talent at both NBC and its sister network, MSNBC.
“I want to personally apologize to our team members who felt we let them down,” NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde wrote in a memo to staff. “While this was a collective recommendation by some members of our leadership team, I approved it and take full responsibility for it.”
While several NBC and MSNBC hosts publicly cheered McDaniel’s firing, reporters for the outlet raised concerns that it could further alienate them from Republicans, noting they’ve already received “angry texts” from GOP sources.
According to Semafor, the firing “threatens to undo years of [NBC News] repositioning itself as friendly to Republican officials and viewers,” with some staffers saying “they believe the move will only continue to strengthen complaints by Republicans that the network doesn’t want to hear their perspectives.”
One NBC News journalist claimed that “political reporters here didn’t take part in the backlash, nor did they get to give input on the hire. But they’ll be the ones who have to pick up the pieces with sources who are now dismayed with the organization.”
McDaniel’s firing has also exacerbated tensions between NBC News and MSNBC leadership. Senior NBC figures were reportedly upset with how the situation had been handled, while MSNBC employees expressed frustration with NBC for hiring her in the first place.
“And I just have to say, when somebody does the right thing, I feel like it should be acknowledged as publicly as we acknowledged our outrage,” MSNBC host Joy Reid said after McDaniel was fired. “I know how I feel about it. I’m grateful to Cesar for actually making the right decision. I think it was the right decision.”
