A funny happened on the way to The O'Reilly Factor. After all his huffing and puffing, Bill O'Reilly finally sat down with White House weasel Scott McClellan last night. And rather than aim all of his diatribe at the poor sucker for being a traitor to the Bush administration, O'Reilly faulted him for appearing on those other, liberal, Bush-hating networks just to sell his book.
Funny, because weren't those networks the ones McClellan promised, in his book proposal, to go after? Well, he kinda did, blaming them for going to easy on the White House in the lead up to the war in Iraq.
But why'd we have to wait for O'Reilly to go after NBC – the employer of David Gregory, which McClellan said he could devote a whole chapter to – in order to get to this level of third-grade debate? CONTINUED »
David Gregory, the NBC News White House correspondent and MSNBC show host, has ample reason to have it in for Scott McClellan: The former White House press secretary regularly misled the press and Gregory, including in this famous example at left, and this awesome confrontation, and followed Bush administration's orders to play rough with 30 Rock's news operations.
But now it's McClellan who's fighting back against Gregory. It his book proposal for What Happened, McClellan promised to take a look at the liberal media, with special attention to Gregory: "I came to know and respect those who were assigned to the White House beat. They are solid professionals, but rarely scrutinized or put under the microscope. I will take a look at notable personalities in the White House Briefing Room, including David Gregory and Helen Thomas. I anticipate an entire chapter about the former."
And with McClellan's manuscript hitting bookstores, and his making the rounds on all the talk shows, including NBC's (and tonight, Bill O'Reilly's), it's time for Gregory to lash back at his foe. CONTINUED »
There's a rumor going around MSNBC that Howard Kurtz's unfriendly article about the network, "MSNBC, Leaning Left And Getting Flak From Both Sides," was a David Gregory-orchestrated hit job against his colleagues.
Kurtz's piece, which followed up earlier items about the (invisible?) controversy brewing now that NBC News and MSNBC are both housed at 30 Rock and sharing resources, slammed the network for the convergence of hard news reporting and opinion.
We're hearing that when the article hit yesterday, Keith Olbermann and his camp began raging over Kurtz's printed criticism about Olbermann manning the anchor chair during primary coverage, a time when, one might suggest, a newsman without obvious bias should be running the show.
Of course, this isn't the first time Olbermann has directed his anger Gregory's way.
But what really sent Olbermann over the edge was this line: "Some top NBC journalists say privately they are troubled by the overlapping identities."
All eyes have been on Gregory as one of those "top NBC journalists" who spoke with Kurtz. And to those who think so, one of the next lines, a pro-Gregory plug, wasn't a surprise: "Andrea Mitchell and David Gregory, both well-regarded NBC correspondents, now anchor hour-long programs on the cable outlet. Gregory replaced Tucker Carlson, leaving former GOP congressman Joe Scarborough as the channel's only conservative host."
And if Olbermann needed more evidence that Gregory helped steer Kurtz's item, it came here: CONTINUED »
David Shuster will definitely continue manning MSNBC's 4pm hour, a NBC source confirms to us, but that doesn't mean he'll quit what he's good at: primetime reporting. He'll continue filing reports for the NBC Nightly News and appearing on-air during MSNBC dayside, pulling double duty with the new role. But don't expect Shuster's hour block to be branded around him; we're told it'll remain the nondescript "MSNBC News Live," a la Andrea Mitchell's 1pm hour.
So why will Shuster be filling in at 4pm? For one, it's likely to save cash. While Shuster may get a small bump in pay for hosting the hour, it also means MSNBC doesn't have to shell out for another anchor's entire salary. (Just another example of 30 Rock filling MSNBC jobs with NBC News talent.) And also: Chris Matthews has been complaining about the lead-in numbers for his 5pm Hardball. CONTINUED »
Today show and Race to the White House producer Noah Oppenheim is leaving NBC News to head to Reveille, the production unit started by NBC's co-chair Ben Silverman that's behind Ugly Betty and The Office. [TVN] Bowing to pressure of conflicts of interest, Silverman sold Reveille this year to Elisabeth Murdoch's Shine, which means his new job will put him closer to Bill O'Reilly than it will to Keith Olbermann. No matter, though: Today show exec producer Jim Bell is "happy that he'll still be part of NBCU's extended family."
While this morning's Page Six item about Keith Olbermann recyles previous Jossip reports, it also makes one thing more clear: News Corp. has many vehicles to push its anti-MSNBC/GE crusade, and Bill O'Reilly's diatribes are just one of them.
Repeating our previous reports about Keith Olbermann's behavior and conflicts with other talent like David Gregory and Dan Abrams, P6 also finds itself on the front lines of O'Reilly's battle against the network — which, it turns out, News Corp. tried to quell at the highest levels, and is now more than content to keep supporting. Just like the real war! CONTINUED »
With all our talk about Chris Matthews losing his job to David Gregory when the 5pm anchor's $2m/year contract is up next year (if Phil Griffin has his way), one might think Matthews' current band of merry crew members might be worried about losing their jobs.
Not the case, says one insider. CONTINUED »
Yesterday TVNewser rebuffed our story about Keith Olbermann and David Gregory's on-air dust-up – where Keith slammed his fist on the table to get David to quit hogging camera time and wrap up his panel discussion – quoting an insider who says, "As usual, Jossip is trying to create conflict where there is none." Adds TVN: "A source who was in the control room Tuesday night tells us Olbermann was actually trying to get the attention of the floor director, so he could get to a commercial break, and be back with live coverage at the top of the hour."
Was that control room source a one Phil Griffin, also known as MSNBC's chief? CONTINUED »
Perhaps before Clinton, Obama, or McCain is crowned president this November, MSNBC's David Gregory will have alienated every other on-air talent at the network.
So far he's already earned the ire of Chris Matthews (MSNBC head Phil Griffin wants to replace the Hardballer with Gregory); Joe Scarborough (he stormed off the set when Gregory was allowed to hog camera time, though he's never liked him much).
And as of last night? Keith Olbermann. CONTINUED »
One thing we missed while cringing at Chris Matthews last night: fella has a new 'do. [HP] Or at least a new hair color. This is interesting because it reminds us of somebody else at MSNBC. Somebody else who Chris Matthews is said not to get along with. CONTINUED »
Some background on Tuesday night's primary coverage dust up between MSNBC's Joe Scarborough and David Gregory: CONTINUED »
We told you MSNBC chief Phil Griffin has made David Gregory his trophy boy. That's why the 6pm anchor was lavished with airtime during yesterday's North Carolina and Indiana primary coverage. Which meant morning boy Joe Scarborough, accustomed to ankling this type of coverage with Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews, grew furious when Gregory hogged the cameras — so much so, Jossip hears, that he stormed off the set and never returned for the rest of the evening's coverage.
Sound familiar? It should. Last month, Scarborough pulled the same stunt while guesting on Gregory's Race to the White House after growing furious with Rachael Maddow.
JOSSIP REPORTS
There's a big reason why MSNBC would like to quiet any knowledge of David Gregory's off-camera behavior and sluggish ratings. David Gregory, you see, is supposed to be the next Chris Matthews.
Oh, did we say next?
We meant he's supposed to replace Chris Matthews.
Promise not to tell? CONTINUED »
Ever since news broke about his brand of courtesy toward waitresses, David Gregory has been clamming up around the D.C. newsroom. But now we're told that his distancing from staff might have more to do with at least 10 consecutive days of dipping ratings, where "he's been losing big chunks of the strong lede-in audience he starts with," says a MSNBC insider. More startling, if the information is to be believed: Race for the White House has been attracting fewer viewers than Tucker Carlson's show did in its last month in the same 6pm slot, even with all the attention paid to the Pennsylvania primary, lending credence to the original theory about MSNBC's buyer's remorse.
Phil Griffin supposedly read the riot act to Gregory and exec producer Noah Oppenheim, with insructions to "get the numbers up … or else." Naturally, MSNBC chief communicator Jeremy Gaines says the info, is "complete and utter bs, just like everything else you post. … Simply not true." Not that the network's recent track record about refuting rumors holds much weight these days.
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