When MSNBC moved to replace Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews with David Gregory in the anchor's chair during election coverage, relegating the more opinionated hosts to commentary and analysis, the New York Times declared that the "experiment" of putting "politically incendiary hosts" in the anchor chair appeared to be "over."
Davidson Goldin, former editorial director of MSNBC and a co-founder of the reputation management firm DolceGoldin, told the Times, "The most disappointing shift is to see the partisan attitude move from prime time into what's supposed to be straight news programming."
So it may have been something of a surprise Wednesday evening — as it was for Inside Cable News — to see MSNBC's opinionated darling Rachel Maddow anchoring the coverage of George Bush's primetime address on the financial crisis. From ICN:
Yes, the address is occurring in the middle of Maddow's hour. But appearances are everything for MSNBC these days and the appearance of yet another ideological talking head anchoring MSNBC's news coverage says a lot about what NBC's priorities really are. To quote Roger Daltry Pete Townsend: Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
The Olbermann/Matthews experiment may be over, but the fundamental thinking behind it; namely taking the hot hand and riding it regardless of the appropriateness of such a move, is still in vogue at 30 Rock. If Maddow's ratings weren't hot right now and she wasn't getting all this press you can bet your paycheck that NBC would have put a journalist in to anchor the coverage. This is so blatant it's embarrassing.
An MSNBC representative explained:
The speech was during her hour, therefore she anchored the coverage as part of her program.
What do you think? Vote in the poll below to settle the question: Should MSNBC allow Rachel Maddow to anchor breaking news events? There are a few videos of Rachel from Wednesday night below the poll to help you make up your mind.