Steve Capus: "Pretty Easy Balancing Act" For Andrea Mitchell's Coverage Of Financial Crisis

New York Times:

Alan Greenspan's name has come up dozens of times on MSNBC in the last month, but never during the 1 p.m. hour. That's the hour anchored by Andrea Mitchell, who is married to Mr. Greenspan, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve.

For years Ms. Mitchell, the veteran NBC News correspondent who specializes in foreign affairs and politics, has carefully kept her potential conflict of interest in check. But in the last month, as the weakness of the nation's economy has dominated cable news and the campaign trail, Ms. Mitchell has faced the kind of ethical quandary that energizes the staff of the Columbia Journalism Review.

The Review raised questions about Ms. Mitchell's status in an Internet article in late September. The writer, Megan Garber, observed that Mr. Greenspan is inextricably linked to the fate of the financial markets and wondered whether the MSNBC and NBC viewers "are best served by an anchor and reporter who is, in so many ways, so close to the story she's covering."

Steve Capus, the president of NBC News, called the article "overly simplistic." The news division has allowed Ms. Mitchell to continue covering the presidential election, even when the candidates have debated the financial crisis, and has decided on a day-by-day basis what stories are not appropriate for her to cover.

"To me it's a pretty easy balancing act," Mr. Capus said in an interview Sunday. "She knows where to draw the line."

Read the whole story: New York Times

Comments

[honeydiva]

I hope all of those corporations go down....th­at's the plan and they are scared. that's why the keep putting out b s like "20 whatever days is a lifetime" everyone is hoping for the worse. 0ld is backed by all of those corrupted corporations. it's a shame that a lot of folks still get their news from these lying bias networks.

[honeydiva]

the know good an well that it's a conflict of interest. that squinty eyed guy and the drunken woman is more than that...the squinty eyed guy is a rove disciple and the drunken woman's brother works on 0ld's campaign. m s n b c is just foxt light.

[boogiewoman]

Who watches her a 1 o"clock in the afternoon? Oh, all the unemployed workers because of her husband.

[newpotusplease]

Don't understand why the stories are always about Mitchell's marriage to Greenspan but never about David Gregory's marriage to Fannie Mae VP and General Counsel Beth Wilkinson, seems to me that the press only notices conflicts of interest when they involve the female reporters.

NBC-Mr. Capus- needs to address each of these relationships, not just Ms. Mitchell's.

[hmmmmmer]

I use to think she was ok, but lately her apologist attitude about McCain has gone too far. Her husband was listened to like he was a god, but apparently he flew too close to the sun.

[SmootyBooty]

Off with her head!

[PKSSK]

Her bias was on clear display this morning when she and S c a r b o r o u g h laughed and joked about K r u g m a n recieving the Nobel Prize. In effect, they both clearly expressed in words and behavior their displeasure and the unworthiness of Mr. K r u g m a n for such a high achievment. I use to respect her, today that respect disappeared, as it did a long time ago for her husband!!!!

[billblow3]

Lets be real here everyone. The media is in the tank for McCain/Palin it's so obvious, just look at all the crap these two have done on the trail and getting away with it, Mcsame is all over the place with his campaign, one minute he's here the next minute he's over there, calling all the people at his rally, (((( MY FELLOW PRISONERS )))), no media coverage, he and Palin promoting hate at their rallies and the media is making accuses for it, people are just mad, people are just mad at politics, calling Obama a Arab,a muslim, he hates america, people shouting, kill him,bomb him, off with his head, treason, he's going to make white america scared to come outside, people at his rallies calling reporters racist slurs, so on and so on and the media just brushes it off like no big deal.

[ebanks84]

Andrea is and has always been on the right and she knows how far to go NOT to bring her husband to fault. That, in itself, should make her ineligible to even be a commentator on the issue of finance but the GOP looks out for their own, just like the m^asons do.

[DuPageDem]

Of course it's easy. NBC and GE, Andrea and Alan, Bush and Paulson have identical interests: Continued transnational corporate dominance of every aspect of our lives. No conflict there.

[AurigaRa]

one of these days Greenspan will have to flee the country. Some
guy who lost his small business will be looking for him. That's when
Andrea will have to make a choice - Alan or your job.

I say good riddance.

[engineer68]

MSNBC, why is this woman still on the air? There must be some resumes' on file at human resources. We do not need to hear from Mitchell any more.

[jeanruss]

I have thought for a long time that either she should recuse herself from these discussions or have a disclaimer that she is married to Greenspan. It's important for people to know this info when they listen to her reports. She really can't report impartially on these important issues.

[cheferic]

The Columbia Journalism Review is energized by Andrea Mitchell's ethical dilemma in a conflict of interest because of her husband's former job?that is what energizes them? Not blatant falsehoods and plagiarism in the New York Times resulting in them firing a reporter?Not Ann Coulter being accused of plagiarizing the Los Angeles Times?Not the White House press sectertary?Not Fox News?Not republican spin calling a distinguished professor a terrorist and having that be reported .The former head of the Federal Reserve has a wife who is a professional journalist with articles that touch upon his former office, and that is what energizes them ,well at least the priorities of the Columbia Journalism review are as ridiculous as the rest of journalism is right now.

[stillfresh]

We watch MSNBC almost exclusively at home, except for David Gregory and unfortunately now, Andrea Mitchell. She has no business whatsoever anchoring news about this economic situation. Like a good judge, she should recuse herself. Her long marriage to Mr. Exuberance has always been a problem. It's just a bigger one, now.

[RobinLandseadel]

"Like a good judge, she should recuse herself. "
Exactly. This really is absurd, kinda like Rove on Fox.

[PKSSK]

Excellent comment, agree totally!!!