Depressing news:
David Gregory will take the reins as moderator of NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the Huffington Post has learned. Gregory has been a leading contender for the permanent spot since Tom Brokaw stepped in as interim moderator following Tim Russert’s death in June.
In recent weeks, a short list including Gregory, Andrea Michell, Gwen Ifill, and Chuck Todd had been considered the top candidates for the position, while Katie Couric and Ted Koppel were viewed as dark horses.
I hope this is wrong.
jnfr
Gregory is pretty dull as an interviewer, and he gets a little whiny when he thinks conservative ideas aren’t getting enough airplay on his show. But it’s been years since I watched more than snippets of MtP anyway. I wasn’t one of the Russert fans.
Incertus
He always seemed like the frontrunner to me, so this wasn’t surprising. I watch MTP about once a month as it is, so it’s not a big deal for me either. It will be interesting to see whether or not Gregory continues Russert’s policy of trying to get more women and people of color on the show, or if it’ll be all white men all the time.
Joshua Norton
Ugh. Another right wing talking hair-do. I saw him being interviewed once and he was positively beaming because Chimpy gave him his own personal nick-name (something like "Little Stretch". )
It was obvious that it wasn’t so much an honor as it was
a) Chimpy can’t remember names to save his own ass, and
b) The master getting to rename his new slaves.
What a tool.
arguingwithsignposts
Would have rather seen Rachel Maddow, actually. Her liberal bent would obviously be a liability, but she’s intelligent and asks tough questions of everyone.
greynoldsct00
Noooo! Chuck Todd should do that. Ugh
ed
Yeah, ’cause Bob Schieffer’s so awesome.
The Moar You Know
This is only bad news if you ever considered Press The Meat to be either watchable, informative or relevant – and I always found it to be none of those.
Joe
So, so, so, so, so boring.
I hope this is just a trial balloon. He’s just another hairdo.
We need someone like Chuck Todd aka Someone Who Knows What They Are Talking About.
Laura W
@Indylib:Discussion began in last night’s Taibbi thread.
(I am testing out my newfound (maybe) ability to link to a post in another thread.
Indylib #22, because it looks like it’s not gonna work. Maybe it’s not even possible?)
My pref. are: Maddow, Todd, Shuster, in that order. Shuster is sharp and quite willing to press points and confront idiocy and talking points spewing. And like I said last night, he took on the majority of the MSNBC air time post-election (and during) and no matter the time of day or how many hours he’d been on, he always looked and sounded sharp and alert. I’ve grown to like him.
Listen, could be worse than Gregory. Andrea. Lord.
MBunge
They picked Gregory because he’s the closest thing to a Russert imitator they could find. Whether that’s enough to keep MTP on the top of the Sunday show mountain is questionable, but this is a great example that our meritocracy has its limits. I mean, NBC has three people who have already demonstrated they’re better at the whole TV host thing than Gregory – Matthews, Olbermann and Maddow. Yet, none of those folks could be seriously considered for the spot.
Mike
Walker
It is not like Brokaw was a shining example of competence this election cycle.
Gus
Big deal; he’s no worse than Timmeh or Brokaw.
Laura W
@Walker:One word: soporific.
redjellydonut
The final nail in the coffin of a once important news program. Tim Russert’s awful interviewing had rendered the show borderline unwatchable for quite some time, but the arrival of weaselly, obsequious fraud of a journalist like Gregory is the final insult. I hope this report is wrong.
Laura W
@MBunge:
Luke must’ve been unavailable.
Brett
Well, that was stupid. Gregory is boring as hell to listen to, as well as a terrible questioner.
Todd probably wouldn’t be as aggressive, but he’s shown himself to be a decent interviewer, and he actually knows what he’s talking about.
Joshua Norton
Of course, now that the Repug Reign of Error is over, they’re all going to try to get all alpha-male and macho again.
Three major "stories" that seemed to deserve endless breathless conjecture and banner headlines usually reserved for announcing things like World Wars were about Hillary along the lines of 1. Will there be cat fights with the people who didn’t support her? 2. She’ll be making less than Rice and 3. Who will replace her when she steps down (along with much speculation as to when that will be.)
Is there going to be all Hillary – all the time angle to every story they do from now on?
They’re all a waste of air space.
lovethebomb
Cheney’s press spokesman always said that MTP was his best platform when they needed to catipult the propaganda, i.e. selling an illegal invasion as a "war." Tim was an establishment standard bearer : his job was to pooh pooh dissent from the actions of government and do everything he could to legitimize the criminal acts of Bush and Cheney. In that respect, Gregory will do nicely, only now that wingtards are out of power, he will do everything he can to delegitimize the Obama administration. Yawn.
Laura W
@Joshua Norton:
I was thinking the same thing this morning when again, every "story" is the relationship drama Hillary is alleged to bring. How will she and Obama get along? Will she have access? Can she pick her own staff? How will she and Biden get along? Powers? I realized that as much as I was looking forward to tracking Obama’s actions and decisions and policies from day one, the constant focus on the alleged drama the media lives to fabricate vis-a-vis Billary is going to turn me off to the news very quickly. Primary fatigue redux. Deja Hillary Vu. Bleh. I need some air. First dry and sunny day since last Friday.
Conservatively Liberal
People like Keith and Rachel only work at MSNBC because they draw viewers in and that sells ads. Keith and Rachel will not kiss GE corporate ass so if they falter GE will cut them loose in a heartbeat.
Guys like Gregory will tongue-bathe the sphincters of the GE corporate masters to keep their job, so they will pander to the party that their masters worship. It’s what you do when you have nothing else to offer. Gregory is absolutely worthless as a reporter and a host. He tries to manufacture outrage between sides with inane questions that have little to no substance to them. He likes to make up his own little negative political soap operas and then push them off on his guests, usually the Democratic ones.
MTP is at the bottom of my viewing list now, Gregory is too painful to listen to.
Screamin' Demon
Can’t we just dig up Lawrence Spivak and be done with it?
I believe that’s now known as tossing one’s salad, or so I’m told. Ah, those crazy kids today and their crazy slang — what will they think of next? ;)
Zifnab
@Conservatively Liberal: It’s worse than that. Gregory is a true believer. He’s more than happy to parrot the wingnut line because he’s been sipping the kool-aid, too.
I’m not really interested in a moderator like Olbermann who is more ego than substance. And Maddow is good, but she doesn’t have the stage presence so I don’t see her going very far.
But Gregory is a whiny little turd. I see him getting smacked around by both sides on a regular basis. He’s going to come across as weak and servile with a GOoPer slant and people aren’t going to be interested in watching him. Russert at least knew how to dominate the stage. Gregory, not so much.
Binah
I would have liked to have seen Gwen Ifill take the MTP post. Maybe Chuck Todd as a second choice. As much as I love Rachel Maddow, she’s been labeled as a partisan.
I’m disappointed with David Gregory being chosen (if he has).
Bill H
Olbermann as "more ego than substance" is right on; entertaining in the evening, but hardly the stuff of MTP. Maddow is a) not really as smart as she thinks she is and b) I, personally, get really tired of listening to her endless giggling at her own jokes that are not as amusing as she thinks they are. I loved her as a guest commenter on Olbermann, but her show is unwatchable. Gwen Ifil would provide me with a nice nap; no way could I stay awake through an entire hour of her monotonic drivel. Chuck Todd would have me actually watching the show. Andrea Mitchell would have me shuddering for the whole hour even if the television was turned off, just knowing she was there.
Gregory, as suggested, "will do everything he can to delegitimize the Obama administration."
wingnuts to iraq
@Bill H:
You’re wrong about everything you wrote.
timb
If it makes you feel any better, the conservatives hate him as much as we do. Maybe he will be a colossal failure and NBC will re-institute actually meeting the press by having 3 or 4 reporters asking questions!
Hyperion
If the choice is good news, bad news, or no news, I’m going with no news.
MTP is mainstream media at its most refined. Watch it only to recalibrate your MSM moron meter. I achieve the same by reading the columnists at NYT and WaPo.
Anna Granfors
There’s simply no reason to watch ANY of the Sunday bobbleheads, as long as there’s someone YouTubing ’em for the more outlandish lies. That’s why the intertubes were invented–to be the filter between the corporate media and the reality-based.
And there’s ample alternatives, from CSPAN to Pacifica (Democracy Now! on a national basis), many good local Pacifica problems–see KPFK’s (Los Angeles) offerings, especially Ian Masters on Sunday (just in case you’re jonesing for *some* political news during that time period), much of Air America, Nova M, and some brilliant smaller programs–This Is Hell, from WNUR in Chicago on Saturday, Peter B. Collins’ daily program that originates from KXRA in Monterey, and Steve Benen’s PoliSciFi Radio from theradiator.org on Sundays.
There might yet come a day where Rachel Maddow is the rule, not the exception, but for the time being, watching the Sunday bobbleheads is a waste of time, unless you WANNA get pissed off.
Laura W
@Bill H: I actually agree with all of your points, as much as it saddens me to feel that way about Rachel’s show. (I do believe she is smart enough, and could be serious enough, and fair enough, to do MTP however.) I found myself with her show on last night and not listening to one real sentence.
I think part of the prob is MSNBC’s requirement that the hour be part "entertainment". I hate her "talk me down" stunt, and the last 5 min. of "contemporary culture" is horrid. I go to bed before that comes on. But I feel the same way about the second half of KO’s show (Oddball, Best, Worst persons), for the most part, and Tweety’s whatever he calls it with the circus music. Sideshow. Gag. Can they not just fill a one-hour slot with interesting?
If you think Rachel is bad with some of the too-cute-by-half stuff, did you catch Allison Whatever (Stewart?) subbing for her last week. Omilord. I feared my face would freeze in permanent grimace. Had to look away. It was that "embarrassed on her behalf" syndrome.
Zifnab
@timb:
Madness! Besides, where are we going to find 3 or 4 real reporters in this day and age?
linda
the man who shook his ass for the texas turdblossom now has the prominent seat for general electric’s continuing propaganda parade…
check his ratings — they routinely drop between the two showings of hardball. guaranteed to fail. heh.
Jim Pharo
What did you guys think — NBC was going to suddenly "wake up" and grow a journalistic pair?
Don’t be fooled by the presence of Keith and Rachel — what goes on at MSNBC is almost like the JV as far as the suits who run NBC are concerned. Gregory is the obvious choice – obsequious, not too bright, can speak on live air and not wet himself or otherwise embarrass the network, etc.
Plus, I DO think he’s a seat warmer until they can hand it to Luke…
Meantime, for those people who actually watch MTP, Gregory will fit right in — all pap and pablum, all the time.
The Grand Panjandrum
It took them this long to decide they wanted that Howdie Doodie’s looking blowhard to take over? Jesus Babbling Christ. NBC going down in flames …
Just Some Fuckhead
Don’t watch it anyway so now I don’t have to quit watching it.
Laura W
Wow. I am now forced to re-think my previous relatively high opinion of Sullivan. I have no idea what he’s saying here, pretty much, and I loathe Larry King, whereas I just dislike Gregory, so that obtuse point loses me as well.
Shit.
I hate it when I get confused.
gmknobl
Corporate lackeys. This makes me actually pine for the days of Dan Rather.
Maddow would have been a much better choice, even is she’s been labeled as liberally biased, she’s actually biased toward truth and real reporting and news, not schlock yellow journalism. She is what being in the news business was all about. Now, since they’ve been bought out, they are only about this when it suits them.
Suzii
I might tune in if he had a regular segment of gushing with some guest about his thrilling days as a Karl Rove Backup Dancer. Or maybe teaching the guest some seriously awesome KRBD moves? Can’t think of anything else he could contribute to the public discourse.