Mika Brzezinski interview…
The Observer’s Paul Harris has an interview with MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski about Paris Hilton…
Mika Brzezinski’s Blackberry is currently receiving new messages at the rate of about one a minute. Some come from friends and colleagues, but most are from complete strangers. To nearly all, she is a heroine.
‘I had one woman send me an email and she told me was weeping tears of joy that someone finally took a stand,’ the American TV news anchor says. Brzezinski’s achievement was to raise a defiant fist in the face of one of the most powerful forces in the modern world: celebrity. Working for US cable news channel MSNBC, Brzezinski decided last week to refuse to read a news story about Paris Hilton.
To the amazement of viewers of the news show Morning Joe, she simply looked into the camera and apologised for the decision to put the hotel heiress’s release from jail at the top of news, ahead of an important political story linked to the war in Iraq. ‘I didn’t choose it,’ she said of the Hilton story. When her co-host, Joe Scarborough laughed at her words, she simply refused to read the story. ‘No,’ she said, ‘I hate this story and I don’t think it should be the lead.’ Then she put the Hilton story down and began to read the rest of the script, opening with the phrase ‘To the news now…’
I was watching when she did this. By far the best moment on Morning Joe thus far, at least from what I’ve seen.
Comment by berberry — July 2, 2007 @ 9:56 am
It’s fine if she didn’t want to do the story, but this was a huge publicity stunt on her part.
All she had to do was to tell someone behind the scenes to ask someone else to report on that part of the story. Now it is SHE who has become the story.
Comment by Missy — July 2, 2007 @ 10:02 am
It was probably planned ahead if that’s what you mean, Missy. But having someone else report the story wouldn’t have worked. SHE is the news anchor on that show, not someone else, and whether she planned to ahead of time or not, she publicly pulled rank on the show’s producers, apparently successfully. I can’t see how insisting on a higher standard of journalism can be so neatly relegated to a “publicity stunt”. If you’re correct - and you may be - then I would expect to see Mika leading her newscast with a frivolous story one day soon. But for the time being I think it’s unfair to flippantly assume that her motives are suspect.
Comment by berberry — July 2, 2007 @ 10:44 am
I don’t get why this is getting so much attention. It was a joke…
Comment by Flangus — July 2, 2007 @ 10:55 am
Publicity stunt or not, somebody, anybody needed to do this ‘on-air’. Good for her.
Comment by Peoplepeople — July 2, 2007 @ 11:29 am
berberry, it was the idea of her ripping up the script, and the use of a cigarette lighter and a paper shredder that was theatrical in nature, to me, anyway.
And I don’t watch the program, but when I’ve flipped through channels, it seems like they’ve got a team of people working there. If she, as newsreader, didn’t want to do the story, she could have just let someone else handle it. They are all talking about news in that format anyway, I believe.
I am no Paris Hilton fan, but the way in which Mika slammed this story was a sure way to direct attention to herself.
Comment by Missy — July 2, 2007 @ 11:54 am
Well in that sense she did let someone else handle it. They talked about Paris when Mika’s segment was over. I guess the ripping of the script was a bit dramatic, but it’s fine with me if she really means it and intends to cover only serious news during her segment.
Comment by berberry — July 2, 2007 @ 12:03 pm
There is no difference between other news anchors/hosts saying outlandish things to create buzz. Mika just did it in a different way. And lets face it, all the nets could use some new viewers.
Comment by Terance — July 2, 2007 @ 12:29 pm
So we now have “news readers” making editorial decisions on air at Msnbc ?
So what is her excuse for all of the other garbage that they discuss all Mourning long ? To say that she is not covering PAri but she will yuck it up with Trump and Joe about “how hot she is” Is disingenuous at best.
Her gimmick would be somewhat believable if she if she maintained some element of professionalism. But the show is like a bunch of high school kids gossiping about their classmates more times than not.
So keep up the good work Ms. Mika. Before Joe you were believed to be a “serious” news reader, now your just another person who sells out for a rating point.
Oh yeah seems that Ms, now “has something to talk about”…… Nice work Danny boy.
Hmmm - June 2, 2007 @ 1:03 pm
Comment by Hmmm — July 2, 2007 @ 1:03 pm
If you’d listen to what she actually said, she refused to cover the Paris story DURING HER NEWS SEGMENT. I don’t remember anyone anywhere ever claiming that Morning Joe was exclusively hard news.
Comment by berberry — July 2, 2007 @ 1:49 pm
Terance, I would definitely agree that this thing Mika did was meant to create buzz. But I can’t agree that the nets need more viewers. I think we’d be lots better off if people drastically cut their TV viewing rather than just changing the channel. Fat chance, I s’pose.
Comment by berberry — July 2, 2007 @ 1:57 pm
“If you’d listen to what she actually said, she refused to cover the Paris story DURING HER NEWS SEGMENT…”
OK. So I got rid of the question mark at the end and replaced it with - !
So we now have “news readers” making editorial decisions on air at Msnbc !
Hmmm - July 2, 2007 @ 2:06pm
Comment by Hmmm — July 2, 2007 @ 2:06 pm
Yes, exactly! A news reader who apparently has more sense than the MSNBC producers. Whatever you want to say about Morning Joe (the best I can say for it is “I miss Imus”), Mika was right on this point: Paris Hilton getting out of jail was NOT serious news.
Comment by berberry — July 2, 2007 @ 2:12 pm
That’s Hot.
She’s Hot.
Comment by Hmmm — July 2, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
I am sick of Mika’s sour face. She frowns and huffs and puffs more than anyone I have seen.
She does not have the statue to add any authority to her remarks.
Get over yourself, Mika!
Comment by Cella — July 2, 2007 @ 2:43 pm
I really like Mika, and find her a pleasure to watch. I don’t know what it is, but I enjoy her the most on Morning Joe.
Comment by Lark22 — July 2, 2007 @ 4:13 pm
Brezenzki has a twenty year history of militant leftist advocacy poorly disquised as “news”. Can we hope that she sets fire to or shreds said history and future militancy?
Comment by Tom — July 2, 2007 @ 5:48 pm
Is she part of THE Brezinski, Brezinski’s?
Comment by Roger C. — July 3, 2007 @ 11:04 am
Her father is Zbigniew (sp?). He’s on a book tour rightnow… should be on MJ soon, if not already.
You folks have been uncharacteristically kind to Mika in these comments. I’ll add to the Mika praise. She’s not too cocky yet… but I hope she keeps that moxie in reserve for whenever it’s appropriate.
Comment by kevbo — July 3, 2007 @ 3:33 pm