The Politico’s Anne Schroeder Mullins blogs that Chris Matthews is a last second host sub for an ailing Tony Snow at tonight’s Washington Press Club Foundation dinner…

Earlier today the board found itself calling around to various VIPs asking if they could emcee with hours to go before the event – which, for all intents and purposes is a relatively hard job to do. You have to be witty and charming and have a bankroll of funny jokes for a very tough crowd that includes Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Making earmarks and fundraisers sound funny is not for the lighthearted. Anyway, more to the point: who bailed out the WPCF? MSNBC’s Chris Matthews.

Now, interestingly–ironically– the whole reason this club started decades ago was because the National Press Club wouldn’t allow women to join. Women in general is a huge theme for this dinner. And now, the guy who bails them out of trouble is Matthews, who mere weeks ago was being picketed by the National Organization for Women for his derogatory remark about HRC. What better way to mend your street cred with females than to get the WPCF out of a jam? And it’s a twofer, as obviously Matthews loves roles where he’s in charge.

In a must read, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Tim Cuprisin hits a home run in his critique of the talent issues at MSNBC, though Cuprisin gives Joe Scarborough a pass when he criticizes Olbermann’s insertion into straight news coverage because Scarborough himself has been inserted into straight news coverage.

The suspension of NBC correspondent David Shuster last week for an unfortunate and offensive crack about Chelsea Clinton points out a bigger problem on MSNBC:

Why are reporters hosting personality-driven shows?

Shuster, an experienced correspondent, was filling in for Tucker Carlson when he went on about the former first daughter’s role in her mother’s campaign.

Said Shuster: “Doesn’t it seem as if Chelsea is sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?”

Hillary Clinton’s campaign went ballistic, and Shuster was ordered to apologize and was suspended. There’s a back story here, including a couple anti-Clinton comments that aired on MSNBC, that led to the strong punishment for Shuster.

It was a poorly chosen word to describe Chelsea Clinton, especially as it comes from a guy who has to cover politicians. Still, the real question remains: Why was Shuster filling in for Carlson in the first place?

The New York Times’ Allessandra Stanley writes about MSNBC coverage of the Potomac Primaries…

At its best, which is usually on election nights or after a debate, MSNBC makes viewers feel that they are in a neighborhood bar with political insiders, listening in on the banter and smart assessments. At its worst, the cable news channel makes viewers feel they are in a neighborhood bar waiting on political insiders, the butt of their banter and smart-aleck assessments.

And Tuesday night, MSNBC tried very hard to be on its best behavior. Chris Matthews, who on “Hardball” often refers to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton by her first name, switched to “Hillary Clinton, Senator Clinton.” Mr. Matthews was so intent on not causing offense he introduced a senior Clinton adviser, Lisa Caputo, by saying: “What a nice person she is. And I mean this, she’s a friend of mine, they are all nice friends.”

MSNBC was the only one of the three cable news networks that showed Mrs. Clinton’s speech at a Texas rally almost in its entirety; Fox News and CNN cut away much sooner to the primary results. Tuesday night’s coverage of the so-called Potomac primaries on MSNBC was so polite it was almost comical: the channel’s usually brash, voluble anchors were like schoolboys sent to the principal’s office, straining to look penitent and extra attentive.

Portfolio’s Jeff Bercovici argues that Hillary should back off her fight with MSNBC…

While Clinton believes MSNBC has it in for her, a producer there told me recently that the network’s only bias is an institutional one shared by all media outlets. “Obama’s new, so he’s the story,” says the producer. “She’s been around for 16 years.”

The Clinton campaign’s decision to leak a letter of harsh criticism — after Shuster had already apologized twice, and been suspended from his job — was seen as a bullying move at MSNBC, where Shuster is well-regarded.

Eat The Press’ Rachel Sklar writes about the David Shuster situation…

But though he took the fall, it wasn’t entirely Shuster’s fault. Yes, he said something stupid (and offensive, and inappropriate). But let’s put it in context — the context of a network where conversation is free and easy and where spicy rhetoric has been robustly encouraged, because it’s been working in the ratings but also because frank, no-holds-barred commentary is fascinating and fun to watch. The risk, though, of skating close to the edge is sometimes you go over it. Probably no one means any harm. Probably they’re just being kidding around - but it creates a norm, and not always a great one. It’s within that kind of norm that talk becomes more casual, edgier. Shuster would never have made that comment were he to appear, say, on “NBC Nightly News” — it would have seemed wildly inappropriate and out of place for that no-nonsense, straight-up news environment. But elsewhere on the network, that line has become blurred — as Cenk Ugyur points out, more and more the news has been shot through with strong, spicy opinions, and that affects the atmosphere and that affects the discourse and that affects the norm.

That’s similar to what I said Friday…

FishbowlDC has a recap of Hillary Clinton’s comments to the Politico’s John Harris regarding MSNBC and the praise she gives FNC over their coverage of her. Oddly enough, the Politico’s website has an incomplete transcript of the interview as of 10:08pm PST…

Update: The Politico fixed its transcript…

JOHN HARRIS: Senator, you were offended the other day for reasons that I think a lot of people understood by comments that were made on MSNBC. And in the wake of that, I heard from some of the people on your staff who say, to their surprise, they actually think that Fox News is giving you a better break than MSNBC. Is that your perception?

SENATOR CLINTON: Well, there was some independent study that my staff sent me — we didn’t do it — but it was some independent study which seemed to suggest that, that in terms of the fairness of the coverage — you know, look, I’m a mom first. I’m a candidate second. And, you know, I really am troubled by this pattern of behavior and comments that you hear.
(more…)

MSNBC announced its coverage plans for the Patomac primaries…

Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann will anchor MSNBC’s special live coverage of the “Potomac Primaries,” in Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C., tomorrow beginning at 6 p.m. ET.

MSNBC will continue live coverage all day, with NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams, NBC News White House correspondent David Gregory, MSNBC anchor Dan Abrams and MSNBC Chief Washington correspondent Norah O’Donnell anchoring from New York and MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson and NBC News’ Andrea Mitchell anchoring live from Washington D.C.

MSNBC’s primetime lineup begins with “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” live at 5 p.m. ET; Olbermann and Matthews will anchor live coverage of primary returns from MSNBC Election Headquarters in New York beginning at 6 p.m. ET, with Williams and NBC News Washington Bureau Chief and moderator of “Meet the Press” Tim Russert joining to provide analysis, along with NBC News Political Director Chuck Todd. Panelists will include MSNBC political analysts Rachel Maddow and Pat Buchanan, and Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post.

The Huffington Post has video of The View’s Barbara Walters talking about David Shuster…

The Politico’s Mike Allen says the Shuster camp, for lack of a better word, is circulating an email…(via Fishbowl DC)

David Shuster’s friends and family circulate an “Enough Is Enough” e-mail, pleading for some consideration of the context of his foolhardy remark.

Update: And then there’s this…

The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz writes about the latest on the Shuster saga…

NBC executives say privately that they have acted appropriately to deal with a bad choice of words and are waiting to see whether the Clinton camp follows through on a threat to withdraw from an MSNBC debate in Cleveland on Feb. 26. A spokeswoman yesterday said only that the network stands by its previous comments.

Considering how she got whumped by Obama over the weekend and her campaign manager stepped down, gazing into my crystal ball I’d estimate the chances of Clinton pulling out of this debate at…oh…about zero!

She needs the publicity and there isn’t another debate scheduled this week that both Clinton and Obama have accepted. Ergo, she’s going to keep the NBC debate.

The TV Spy Watercooler hints at some form of protest to occur at 30 Rock if David Shuster isn’t reinstated soon. Caveat: It’s the TV Spy watercooler where anonymity rules and accountability and accuracy don’t. So it could all be the musings of a couple of agitators.

The David Shuster mess was one of the subjects discussed on CNN’s Reliable Sources with Howard Kurtz today. Transcript follows…

KURTZ: The youngest member of the Clinton family has been slimed. In a discussion of Chelsea Clinton’s role in her mother’s presidential campaign this week, MSNBC correspondent David Shuster had this to say…

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID SHUSTER, MSNBC: Chelsea is out there calling up celebrities saying, support my mom. And apparently she’s also calling the superdelegates.

Doesn’t it seem like Chelsea’s sort of being pimped out in some weird sort of way?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KURTZ: Pimped out? Excuse me? What an awful choice of words.
(more…)

BigHeadDC reports that the David Shuster situation made a brief appearance on Meet The Press this morning when Gwen Ifill brought the subject up and Tim Russert said that Shuster was suspended “indefinitely”…

Big Head D.C. is reporting that David Shuster was this close to being fired yesterday…

The Politico’s Kenneth P. Vogel and Michael Calderone write about Hillary Clinton’s letter to Steve Capus over the Shuster incident. Here’s the full text of the letter…

Dear Mr. Capus,

Thank you for your call yesterday. I wanted to send you this note to convey the depth of my feeling about David Shuster’s comments.

I know that I am a public figure and that my daughter is playing a public role in my campaign. I am accustomed to criticism, certainly from MSNBC. I know that it goes with the territory.

However, I became Chelsea’s mother long before I ran for any office and I will always be a mom first and a public official second.

(more…)

Paul Levinson blogs about Shuster and MSNBC and gives Dan Abrams a thumbs up for being even handed. There’s a lot of ideology in what Levinson writes about (even though he doesn’t realize it) but at the same time there’s something to be said about some of it, particularly where Matthews is concerned. I still remember him going off night after night during the second Clinton administration and the height of all the investigations.

But any news operation could be subject to the loose tongue of a reporter or commentator, and the problem at MSNBC regarding Hillary Clinton goes much deeper.

You can hear and see it just about every night on Chris Matthews’ Hardball. For some reason, he refers to a lot of things that Hillary Clinton has been doing in this campaign as being done not by Hillary Clinton but by “the Clintons”.

What’s that? If Matthews wants to claim that Bill Clinton as well as Hillary had something to do with a specific action or strategy of Hillary’s, let him say so. But the constant reference to Hillary Clinton as “the Clintons” undermines Hillary Clinton as an individual and is demeaning.

Keith Olbermann is no angel in his attitude towards Hillary Clinton, either. When Olbermann attacks Rush Limbaugh by constantly calling him a “comedian,” we all laugh. Olbermann’s tick-like verbal attacks and facial expressions are usually welcome when they are directed at Fox News. But they have no place in supposedly even-handed coverage of a Presidential campaign. And although Olbermann is not as out there against Hillary Clinton as is Matthews, his comments about her are all too often studded with sarcasm and derision.

Indeed, of the MSNBC nighttime regulars, only Dan Abrams has been consistently even-handed and non-ad-hominem.

Extreme Mortman adds a contribution to the whole “pimping” mess…

From an emailer…

At 6:58am yesterday on Morning Joe, they were showing the Conan O’Brien video at MSNBC - when Willie Geist said that he was “slumming it down here with the newsies.” Shuster, cuttingly said “Are we allowed to use words like slum?”

Gee… wonder what prompted that?

(via Olbermann Watch)

John, you are the last person who should be going anywhere near a story about someone saying the wrong thing on the air. You got off easy. Radio people tend to get fired when they do that sort of thing…

ICN is hearing that the fallout from the David Shuster suspension is rocking 30 Rock. Some staffers believe Shuster was thrown to the wolves for two reasons. One, to appease the Clinton campaign and “save” the debate to be aired on MSNBC between Clinton and Obama. Two, because they can; because Shuster is a small fry, a low man on the totem pole, and expendable. The argument would be it wouldn’t have happened to someone higher up, more important, like Olbermann or Matthews.

There may be something to both points. But at the same time I believe that’s totally irrelevent to the matter at hand. When you get right down to it, what Shuster said merited punishment of some sort. Suspension may have been severe but not something that shouldn’t have been on the table. The fact is Shuster has been dancing on the edge for years now in his reporting and commentary. When you live on the edge like that for that long, eventually you’re going to go too far. Just ask Don Imus. Imus, by the way, would be a rebuttal to the point that Shuster only got a time out because he’s small fry. They fired Imus and MSNBC’s morning ratings cratered and still haven’t recovered to where they were before he got fired.

This incident does however raise an issue that concerns MSNBC of late. And when I say of late, I mean over half a year.
(more…)

Today was Chris Jansing’s last day at 30 Rock.

Here are the twin Shuster apologies. This one occurred this morning on Morning Joe…

The second one occurred during Tucker. Media Matters has the video…

And this is what started it all…
(more…)

I held off on blogging this because I wanted to see if it would grow legs. Maybe not legs but something is growing. FNC’s Embed Producer Aaron Bruns blog about a minor dust up that’s growing between the Clinton campaign and David Shuster regarding the latter’s verbage used to describe daughter Chelsea’s support for her mother on the campaign trail…

Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson says he “can’t envision a scenario where we would continue to engage in a debate” on MSNBC — after correspondent David Shuster said former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton has been “pimped out” by the campaign.

Shuster was referring to reports that Chelsea has been calling uncommitted superdelegates to recruit them to support her mom; those unpledged delegates have become all-important in the Democratic race, since the two candidates have been splitting delegates pledged by state primaries and caucuses virtually down the middle.

Told on a conference call that Shuster had apologized, Wolfson said “I haven’t received any phone call. I’m not aware that the Senator Clinton or Chelsea Clinton have received any phone call. I’m not familiar with any apology. It’s the kind of thing that should never be said on a national news network.”

Update: Howard Kurtz in the Washington Post says Shuster is going to offer an on-air apology.

Shuster plans to apologize tonight on “Tucker,” the 6 p.m. show on which he was filling in for host Tucker Carlson yesterday.

“The comment was completely inappropriate, and we have called the Clinton campaign to apologize,” network spokesman Jeremy Gaines said today. Phil Griffin, the NBC News executive who runs MSNBC, called Reines, telling him that the comment was clearly wrong, and tried unsuccessfully to reach Wolfson.

Update 2: David Shuster has been suspended. TVNewser has the announcement of the suspension from all NBC broadcasts.

The New York Observer’s Felix Gillette profiles former MSNBC anchor (now designated Countdown guest host) Alison Stewart…

These days, Ms. Stewart continues to contribute the occasional piece to The Nightly News with Brian Williams and to fill-in occasionally on MSNBC. In the meantime, Mr. Wolff has started occasionally popping up, in a professional capacity, at his wife’s new work place. Every so often, Mr. Wolff (who, for years, worked at ESPN) contributes sports stories to the Bryant Park Project.

Ms. Stewart said her husband’s contributions have helped the show round out its general interest approach towards the news. “One of the things we’re doing here, which is weird for NPR, I guess,” said Ms. Stewart, “is we’re trying to have a real conversation about sports. And not just, like, the scrabble tournament is happening today.”

FishbowlDC notes that another expletive escaped on MSNBC’s air last night…

Correction: Originally this entry attributed the expletive to Matthews. That was my error. Sloppy. Very sloppy on my part. I could toss out excuses but it really doesn’t matter what the circumstances were, does it? Apologies to Matthews.

MSNBC’s release for its new Lockup series…

Following the success of the “Lockup” series, MSNBC introduces “Lockup: Raw,” a new franchise from the creators of “Lockup.” The “Lockup: Raw” series features never before aired footage of some of Lockup’s most memorable inmates and candid interviews with producers who have spent years inside prisons working on the series. “Lockup: Raw” airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT beginning February 11 on MSNBC.

In the four episodes of “Lockup: Raw” airing in February, producers from the “Lockup” series share dramatic accounts of filming in violent prisons. “Lockup” producers discuss what it’s like to be locked in cells for interviews with killers, to work through deafening yelling and disturbances that make documenting behind bars unsettling, and to risk their own personal safety. Each producer has his or her own unique story to tell. In addition, “Raw” revisits some of the most memorable wardens, guards, and inmates with brand new footage and producers’ perspectives on what it took to get it. Three episodes, “Hell in a Cell,” “Violence Behind Bars,” and “The Convict Code” will air on consecutive Monday evenings at 10 p.m. ET/PT beginning February 11. A fourth episode, “Criminal Minds,” which aired as a “sneak peek” in January, will re-air on February 18th at 11 p.m. ET/PT. More episodes of “Lockup: Raw” will come later this year. MSNBC produces “Lockup: Raw” in partnership with 44 Blue Productions.
(more…)

The New York Daily News’ Rush and Malloy have the latest exchange between Glenn Beck and Keith Olbermann…

At least Limbaugh has a friend in Glenn Beck. The younger conservative radio star declined to weigh in on Limbaugh’s “anal” expulsion Tuesday, which is probably a good thing, considering he’s recovering from hemorrhoid surgery. But Beck was happy to fire a few rounds at their mutual enemy, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann.

“[Olbermann] is never brave enough to say his political position on air,” contends Beck. Although he’s pleased that his latest tome, “An Inconvenient Book” has so far outsold Olbermann’s “Truth and Consequences,” Beck argues, “I don’t care about other hosts. I don’t need to throw people under the bus. If I saw Olbermann standing on the subway [platform], I might think for a moment about pushing him, but I wouldn’t.”

Olbermann responds: “The subway remark summarizes who Glenn is. If he (or anybody else) fell in front of a train, I hope I’d have the courage to emulate Wesley Autry and try to save him.”

The New York Observer’s Felix Gillette interviews Chris Matthews…

But this morning, in lieu of going for a walk, Mr. Matthews, who is 62, called the South African embassy. Recently, MSNBC announced that Super Tuesday would be broadcast live in South Africa, and Mr. Matthews, who spent two years in the Peace Corps, “spreading capitalism in the bush,” wanted to greet properly his faraway viewers. The nice woman at the embassy signed off on Mr. Matthews’ phrase of greeting: Sanibonani! Mr. Matthews planned to use the phrase later that night.

In the meantime, he continued to ponder the big factors in the campaign. History. Courage. Change. Hope.

“I’ve been following politics since I was about 5,” said Mr. Matthews. “I’ve never seen anything like this. This is bigger than Kennedy. [Obama] comes along, and he seems to have the answers. This is the New Testament. This is surprising.”

A trusted ICN tipster says MSNBC announced earlier that Chris Jansing will take over the coverage from 2am-5am.

MSNBC unveiled some new graphics technology as part of its Super Tuesday coverage. I only caught the tail end of Lester Holt’s segment but it involves real time VR style technology that is locked in place in 3D space but will change size/angle on the screen depending on the orientation, position, and movement of the camera. I had been hearing noises going back to the middle of last year that NBC was looking to integrate VR type technology into MSNBC’s broadcasts when the network moved to 30 Rock. It appears we’re seeing the initial implementation of that technology tonight. I say “initial implementation” because what I heard they were planning is far more intricate and complex in terms of VR than what we’re seeing right now. But that’s a subject for another day.

BTW, MSNBC is streaming live tonight on MSNBC.com…

ICN is hearing noises that Fox News Watch will be discussing Keith Olbermann this weekend.

Update: Video via Johnny Dollar…

In a must read, Variety’s John Dempsey writes about MSNBC and interviews Phil Griffin.

“Are any of CNN’s on-air personalities ever having any fun?”

In barking out that question, Phil Griffin, the NBC News executive in charge of MSNBC, practically leaps out of his chair, intent on making the point that his network may be gaining on CNN for an oddball reason: Griffin provokes his star personalities — led by Keith Olbermann — to at least look as if they’re having a good time, even when they’re voicing strong opinions and tangling with their guests.

Griffin is not confusing MSNBC with the Ringling Bros. Circus, but, looking for a leg up on his all-news rivals, he says, “I want our hosts to be witty and clever, colorful and exciting.”

MSNBC needs to keep tinkering with the on-air formula, because the network is still an also-ran, lodged in third place behind the dominant Fox News Channel and steady No. 2 CNN.

But glomming onto the hottest race for U.S. president in decades, MSNBC is pulling in more viewers than at any other time since the few months after 9/11. (CNN has also made significant gains due to the election, while Fox News has benefited the least of the three.)

Ok, primetime is doing well and has been a sign of good things for the network. But daytime news is in trouble in the ratings and Variety doesn’t go anywhere near that subject. That, in my opinion, makes the article look like it comes from “The Glass Half Full” file rather than an even handed examination of MSNBC.

Update: I should also note that while Dempsey may be correct that FNC had the smallest percentage gain, it did rank as the 4th highest cable channel in January while CNN and MSNBC were 20th and 28th respectively. And that’s nothing to sneeze at…

Following up on this, last night during Dan Abrams Beat the Press segment, Abrams defended Fox and Friends for getting blindsided by Montel…