NBC has delayed airing a new documentary about Trump’s child-separation policy, described by MSNBC’s Chris Hayes as “absolutely urgent,” until December, despite its importance for public interest. The reason behind the delay appears to be concerns that airing it earlier could hurt Trump’s feelings, thereby making him unlikely to do an MSNBC debate. This decision has been criticized as prioritizing Trump’s sensitivities over informing the public on a significant and painful policy issue.

  • Blackout@fedia.io
    521·
    23 days ago

    Their unequal treatment of Dem and GOP just proves they are no longer a news organization, just a propaganda machine.

    • bostonbananarama@lemmy.world
      121·
      23 days ago

      Their unequal treatment of Dem and GOP just proves they are no longer a news organization, just a propaganda machine.

      It doesn’t prove that at all, and frankly it’s not true. They are part of a for-profit corporation. Their decisions are based on making money for shareholders, and not about journalism or informing the public. So if upsetting Trump, and his supporters, would cost them money, then they will withhold the information. Profit Über alles!

  • solsangraal@lemmy.zipEnglish
    321·
    23 days ago

    as if this documentary would be the thing that turns people around from the millions of trump scandals that should have sunk him a long time ago

    NBC just doesn’t want everyone in the building to get death threats

  • mycodesucks@lemmy.world
    28·
    23 days ago

    Apparently, there is no worse election interference than giving the people accurate portrayals of the beliefs and behaviors of the candidates.

    • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      3·
      22 days ago

      Every day it seems like these media companies might only care about their own profits, and the richest people who own the most shares… That are among the 5% of Americans who get tax breaks with Trump’s upcoming policies.

      I hope someday they all get thrust back into poverty and the world shits on them as they have shit on the world.

  • jordanlund@lemmy.worldM
    235·
    23 days ago

    Headline appears editorialized, there’s nothing in the OG headline or source about Trump’s feelings.

    Please restore the original headline or we’ll have to remove it.

    p.s. My personal opinion is that it has more to do with accusations of election interference.

    • Passerby6497@lemmy.worldEnglish
      10·
      22 days ago

      Choosing not to release information is election interference itself. That’s intentionally keeping voters uninformed about material facts about a candidate.

    • WoahWoah@lemmy.worldOP
      6·
      23 days ago

      I generally agree with your PS, though, I’m not sure I’m thrilled with the idea that independent news organizations should be making decisions based on fears of election interference. Unlike the possible accusations of conflict of interests for government agencies or institutions, the role of the media (ostensibly and historically) has been, and continues to be, to ensure transparency, accountability, and public participation in governance.

      “Interfering” with elections through informational reporting seems to be a primary role of the news. Though, perhaps the fact that’s it’s a documentary changes the calculus. In some sense, this seems to be more fundamentally about the interests of the ownership of MSNBC and fears of retribution if it’s released prior to the election, but I don’t think Trump is going to be particularly discerning in his retribution one way or the other.

  • Nougat@fedia.io
    52·
    23 days ago

    This appears to be overstated. The “offend Donald Trump” comment comes from Oliver Darcy, who left CNN in August 2024 to focus full time on his email newsletter and website, Status, which focuses on news about the media industry.

    This is Oliver Darcy’s take, and no one else’s.

    • WoahWoah@lemmy.worldOP
      81·
      23 days ago

      It’s Oliver Darcy’s reporting based on conversations with multiple individuals at various levels of the corporation. This isn’t something Darcy inferred on their own, they’re reporting out on conversations they’ve had with individuals at the company.

      • Nougat@fedia.io
        21·
        23 days ago

        Multiple?

        Darcy reported that Rebecca Blumenstein, president of editorial for NBC News, opposed airing “Separated” before the election because executives want Trump to agree to another presidential debate hosted by the network.

        However, Stephen Labaton, NBCUniversal head of communications, maintained to Darcy that “the debate had nothing to do with the scheduling of this programming.”

        This story is making the rounds on a number of different outlets, and they all depend wholly on this one guy saying that Blumenstein said something, while Labaton said something different to that same guy. There’s a single person as a source here, the story is overstated.

        Edit: Oh, I see - the headline on the article doesn’t match the title of this post. “…due to worries it will hurt Trump’s feelings” - was that your editorializing, or did they change the headline?

        • WoahWoah@lemmy.worldOP
          1·
          23 days ago

          It’s not exactly difficult to see Darcy’s original article for the full context of the conversations involved—you’ve already pointed out where their reports can be found. In cases like this, it’s not uncommon for the sources to remain unnamed.

          Whether you’re not a fan of the reporter, the way the information was gathered, or how it’s presented, that’s beside the point. Individual journalists routinely compile insights from anonymous sources and publish those findings. I doubt you go around copying and pasting your Lemmy posts complaining about every article based on single-author reports with unnamed sources.

  • Queen HawlSera@lemm.eeEnglish
    1·
    22 days ago

    It’s only appropriate to acknowledge wrong-doing when there’s no way to punish them for it. /s