Rachel Maddow Decides to Stay at MSNBC

[JoeOtterbein]

Daily Beast

She had been thinking about leaving but reportedly signed a new contract that includes new projects.


Lachlan Cartwright
Editor At Large
Updated Aug. 22, 2021 2:47PM ET Published Aug. 22, 2021 2:22PM ET

Rachel Maddow, who was seriously considering ending her long run at MSNBC, has decided to stay put after all.

Insider broke the news of Maddow’s new multiyear contract, which was confirmed to The Daily Beast by two people familiar with the matter.

Maddow, 48, will continue to host her nightly show, which has MSNBC’s highest ratings, but the new deal also calls for her to pursue new projects with parent company NBC Universal.

“This uniquely positions Rachel and MSNBC to capitalize on the evolving and fast growing media landscape for years to come,” one of the sources told the Beast.

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more at link

[Lovie777]

1. Good to hear ...

I listened to her on the radio.

[vanlassie]

2. ...💃💃💃💃💃💃💃💃❤️

[hlthe2b]

3. Thank heavens.

[Trueblue1968]

15. Thank heavens, God, Thank you Rachel. I love you.

[2naSalit]

4. Cool.

I would have a hard time right now if she departed.

[a kennedy]

5. Whew, now that's one less item to worry about.

and let’s see, that leaves Covid, Afghanistan, voting rights, TFG, Racism, new Jeopardy Host…… Just so happy, and glad Rachel is back. ❤️

[Polly Hennessey]

9. Wait a minute you left out climate change

and and the California recall. 😣

[a kennedy]

46. Right, and thanks.......

[agingdem]

6. I hope the MSNBC powers that be see Rachel as the new

host of Meet The Press...she'd be phenomenal...no more both-sides-do-it or allowing a republican stooge to spew right wing propaganda without major pushback... well researched questions..facts not opinion...Rachel is a force to be reckoned with...

[AwakeAtLast]

7. + 1000!

[rickford66]

8. The GQP would probably not go on.

Knowing they couldn't get away with their s**t.

[agingdem]

13. MTP without a Trumper vomiting lies, innuendo, and the

always popular "some people say" straw-man garbage...a truly watchable "just the facts" MTP..oh the horror

[lunatica]

32. Well they're not going on now either.

They know better. Wise decision.

[calimary]

42. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to see her replace Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press"!

But then again, I would love to see just about anybody replace Chuck Todd on “Meet the Press”!

[agingdem]

43. and as an added bonus put the totally useless Andrea Mitchell

out to pasture...way past her sell-by date...not an agism thing...I'm 73

[Evolve Dammit]

54. "anyone" is right... Scarborough and Mitchell are pretty bad too, but Chuckles is the worst

[agingdem]

57. Scarborough can shove his righteous indignation

he and Mika partied with Trump, knew he was a depraved sociopath...but because they hated Hillary (and Bill) with a red hot passion, they presented that orange dung heap as a viable "will grow into the office" presidential candidate...only when they had the temerity to disagree with their party pal, and Trump's subsequent personal attack on the couple, did Joe and Mika see the light and quickly repackaged themself as never trumpers..listening to Scarborough's hyperbolic attack on Biden because the Afghanistan chaotic exit isn't as smooth as a Southwest Airlines one carry-on Las Vegas weekend is stupidity on parade...

[Evolve Dammit]

63. Agreed. They are two reasons he is the 45th. And his pompous self-righteousness is just annoying.

[A HERETIC I AM]

10. Now if someone can just get her to stop saying the same thing 4 times in a row

I like her, I think she does a great job, but she has that habit of repeating the same point over and over again, as if she is talking to kindergartners.

It's annoying as hell! I very often shout "WE GOT IT, RACHEL!" at the TV, in scant hope she will hear me and move on!

I am betting her audience overwhelmingly skews to the smart end of the spectrum, so we don't need to be talked to as if we are 5 year olds.

[NJCher]

12. hate to tell you this, but

What she's doing, if you listen closely, is transitioning her listeners along.

You hear it another way, but in communications, that is a good thing to do.

Another point is that in television now, they know peoples' attention is stretched, so the good ones do this so that people can follow along, even if they just got a text, or their kid came into the room whining, or the dog needs a skritch.

[agingdem]

16. Rachel's recaps within recaps..

I like it...she's not repeating herself, she's letting us know what's important and what's junk...

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. If you say so

But I don't hear Brian Williams ever doing it, or most of the others on that network or most other news presenters I listen to.

[mac56]

24. Brian Williams... ?!

[A HERETIC I AM]

33. OH! I get it.....

Because he said something once that was an exaggeration or wasn't true, no one should ever listen to anything he says, ever.

Is that about right?

Regardless of your opinion of him, he is a consummate professional when it comes to being a news presenter. He structures sentences in such a way as to be clear and precise in their meaning and as a result, doesn't need to repeat himself four god damned times in order to lead us along.

so..... backatya

[NJCher]

40. where info comes from

I'm just taking information from communication studies that are done in my profession (communications professor) and telling you what they say. They actually measure how much people retain from minute to minute. They measure how much and what people remember. Based on these studies, they can tell a communicator about how often an important point needs to be phrased or re-phrased to bring the listener along.

BTW, these types of studies began decades ago and I worked for a market research firm in the Village in NYC that was employed by the three major networks, CBS, NBC, and ABC. I don't think Fox was even around then, not that I would consider them a major network. I did programming code to measure how much face time each reporter got and then this was correlated with the ratings.

They know when you switch someone off, that is, if lots of other people are doing the same.

------------

oh, and one more thing, and sorry if it sounds sexist, but just because Brian Williams doesn't do it doesn't mean anything. It is well known with the field of communications that women are better, more sensitive communicators. That is why you will often see the woman do the important communication work for a married couple. That certainly doesn't mean men aren't or can't be good communicators, just generally speaking, women are more successful with this type of thing.

[ShazzieB]

52. Thanks for this!

This is fascinating stuff, and I really appreciate this kind of informed perspective on the commentators I watch every night.

[spooky3]

53. Ditto! Nt

[A HERETIC I AM]

66. Fair enough

I defer to your experience and expertise on this subject.

Again, and for those that seem to think I was bashing Ms. Maddow, I do appreciate her work and her thoroughness. I enjoy the way she fleshes out a story and gives perspective.

The fact that she is a Rhodes Scholar and has the educational credentials she has, puts her light years ahead of many of her peers, particularly those she is up against on other networks in her time slot. I get why so many people like her and her ratings prove she does a job worthy of attention.

I just simply wish she would tone down the repetition, that's all.

Cheers.

[The Mouth]

93. Technically, you are completely correct.

I was told to "Tell them what your are going to say, tell them the information, then tell them what you just told them".

Can't stand doing it, can't stand being communicated to in that manner, this is one of the reasons I decided NOT to become a teacher, but you are correct.

[oasis]

34. Yes, the "Brian Williams" who can only dream of achieving the rating

numbers currently held by Rachel.

That "Brian Williams".

[agingdem]

51. I like Brian Williams insomuch as I like

his sarcastic wit, but not for anything substantive like I do Rachel...it took him a while to grasp the idiocy and danger of the GOP...

[oasis]

59. I enjoy Brian's wit. MSNBC made a brilliant move when they

increased his showtime to one hour.

[dmr]

95. Yes, I like Williams, too.

I like his quick thinking, his wealth of knowledge and his humor. I try not to miss his show. He is respectful, and listens to his guests, and can sit down in front of the camera under any circumstances and be able to function with ease. He makes it look easy

I appreciate all of these traits.

[Disaffected]

39. Now there is a

cogent, constructive comment.

BTW, I rather like Brian Williams - I too got tired of RM's repetitious delivery, although I thought her analysis was usually spot on.

[Treefrog]

27. Thank you.

[a kennedy]

50. We love her whole way of getting us up to speed on whatever story she's introducing.....

We don’t think she’s repeating at all. ❤️ ❤️ ❤️

[lastlib]

82. I'm not a school-child.

None of us are. She needs to stop treating us like we are. I am perfectly capable, as are most reasonably intelligent adults, of grasping a concept from one or two statements of it. She is not transitioning us, she's boring us, wasting our time, and insulting us.

[appmanga]

20. There's a very simple explanation why this happens...

...and she covers it up as well as anyone: teleprompters suck.

They sometimes freeze, or the pace of the scroll gets weird, and you can't wait it out with dead air. So, if you're good, you wind up repeating what you just said in a way that sounds you're giving emphasis to a point, while what you're actually doing is waiting for the prompter to get its ass back in gear.

[NJCher]

70. ehhh

I don't think so. If a teleprompter stuck as much as the people here are saying, MSNBC would fix it or they would buy a new one.

This is not a plausible explanation.

[appmanga]

88. This is not a plausible explanation.

I guess a more plausible explanation is the chip in her arm. I going to guess you've never worked with a prompter. This happens a lot during politicians' speeches as well, but it can't be down to a rather crappy piece of old, constantly used technology. Definitely not plausible.

[NJCher]

89. I was being more generic

Be it a teleprompter or a system, a continuous problem like that would not be allowed to continue. If your argument was plausible, one would see much more of this way of dealing with the problem—and we don’t see that.

Why don’t we see this phenomena with Chris Hayes? With Lester Holt? With Norah O’Donnell? I could go on with the names of many others, but I would hope that by now you finally get the point.

I repeat: your argument is not plausible.

[FakeNoose]

78. The fact that she speaks and thinks faster than the teleprompter

... that is one reason.

But there is another ... Rachel was a college professor before she become a media star. Her teaching techniques were "baked in the biscuit" when she began her 2nd career on the MSNBC airwaves.

College (and high school) instructors will mostly agree that repetition is good, it's maybe the best way to get major points across to an occasionally-attentive audience. Say it, repeat it, then say it in a different way, and eventually it sinks in. They get it! Rachel can't help herself, and I find her style captivating. I just wish she wouldn't talk so FAST. That's my only complaint.

Love you Rachel, I'm SO GLAD you decided to stay!

[Layzeebeaver]

91. So fix the teleprompter that seems broken every damned show.

She does a lot of repetition. It's not the teleprompter, it is her style.

I can put up with it and I do like her tenacity. But sometimes it is like nails on a chalkboard.

Hopefully, she inspires the next generation to dig deep when it comes to tele-journalism.

[Tadpole Raisin]

23. Yah she does do that. If you transcribed her it would be more obvious.

She doesn’t always repeat things to that degree but I’ve noticed it too.

But she knows her stuff and points out stories no one is paying attention to and she has a crackerjack staff!

This is wonderful news. Can’t wait to find out what some of these projects are.

[msfiddlestix]

35. You and I would make a chorus. I had done this far too often.

I no longer watch anything on "cable news" (which I streamed on Roku) .

When I had made that decision to act, to finally act, it was during one of her A segments, which she repeated the opening line at least a half dozen times if not more, if not word for word then damn near. Until she finally get to the point.

I do understand what she thinks she's accomplishing, but even my 10 year old granddaughter pulls her hair out with frustration.

(figuratively speaking)

[A HERETIC I AM]

38. I knew two things when I put up that post;

1) There would be a bunch of people who would disagree and praise Ms. Maddow no matter what.

2) I wasn't the only one on this board to have the opinion.

Thanks.

[msfiddlestix]

41. I sort of knew it too and was torn for about a second....

It helps to know others share the same experience, especially when the rest of the herd seems to disagree or just doesn't understand.

So yeah I just had to raise my hand and say "me too"... totally agree with your description.

[misanthrope]

68. Because she has a cult following on this site

It is what it is.

[Raine]

77. Totally agree, so glad to find others

who feel the same.

[ShazzieB]

58. Rachel does what? 🤔

I watch Rachel religiously, and i have honestly never noticed her "saying the same thing 4 times in a row" or "repeating the same point over and over again." I am honestly at a loss here. I simply have not noticed any such thing, and I can't imagine why I wouldn't have.

Perhaps you could give an example, if you're so inclined. Either way, I'm sure I'll notice this in the future, if it's as pervasive as you say. It would take a hell of a lot to make me not love Rachel, though. As far as I'm concerned, she's my favorite news commentator ever, and I am a huge fan. So yeah, not exactly impartial here!

[misanthrope]

67. Same here

I quit watching her show for that reason. I already prefer to get news from print sources basically because I can read faster than I can listen. That is vastly compounded with her delivery style.

[lanlady]

72. I completely agree with you, Heretic

That habit of hers is growing worse, I swear. I listen to the podcast on my way to work and end up shouting “ok, we understand English, put down the damn thesaurus” every couple of minutes.

[A HERETIC I AM]

73. ...

[treestar]

81. She knows we don't have good

Attention spans and are distracted. I find it helpful. I’m glad you don’t have this problem. But she is getting through to more people.

[The Mouth]

92. Agree

This is why I can't stand TV, even when the host is intelligent and I mostly agree with their politics.

I don't need to be told something twice. Tell me three times and I'm gone; I don't care who you are, where your politics lie, or what the subject.

[NJCher]

11. one word

YAY!!!!

[McKim]

14. Glad for the Content but the Sing Song Cadence Distracts

I am glad for the content but the sing song cadence of outrage is driving me nuts. It distracts from what she is saying. Sometimes I just can't stand it and have to turn it off. She needs a speech coach. I prefer a more matter of fact delivery that is dignified. This would give more power to her ideas. It is like women still have to scream to get their voices heard!

[msfiddlestix]

49. I might be misremembering, but I feel like her Bag Man audio series was deliberated quite as one

would expect in how a narration should sound and be delivered. I feel like in that series her narration was steady, serious sounding and a lot less sing songy.

I really really liked Bag Man. I learned things I was aware of that the time of events, mostly in regards to certain details of John Mitchell's corruption.

[Jim__]

17. Good news!

[Paladin]

19. Glad to hear it. Looking forward to her projects. (nt)

[Mr.Bill]

31. Some one-hour specials

on prime-time NBC would be good.

[Baitball Blogger]

21. Thanks Rachel.

[yaesu]

22. though I haven't been watching lately do to too much replaying the flushed turds rally clips

and making like its still news I'm glad comcast decided its wasn't too smart to not keep her on.

[DeeDeeNY]

25. I will forever be thankful to Keith Olbermann for bringing her on

[KT2000]

26. That's great

She does have a heavy load as all of her shows have a lot of research involved. I was hoping they might giver her fewer days on and more vacations. As long as she is happy and keeps going - Yay!!

[Native]

28. Yippee!!!

[BannonsLiver]

29. Thank god

We have people who panic when she takes a vacation.

[NJCher]

71. I know, I know!

I had to laugh at a thread here when she was what, only 3 or 4 days into a week's vacation. The poster was wondering when, when, WHEN was she coming back?

Rachel gets good replacements, but I miss Chris Hayes when he goes on vacay, too. At least one of his replacements is so bad I can't even watch. Switch to CNN at that time.

[Hekate]

30. Cheers!

[CaptainTruth]

37. Was there ever a doubt? Some in the media promoted speculation but I'm not sure how accurate it was.

[Sneederbunk]

44. Always figured it was a negotiation ploy.

Otherwise, we would not have heard about it.

[Raine]

76. Yup, it was a hollow threat to get more money

and or off time.

[sarcasmo]

45. Taking over Chuck Todd's Sunday mess.

[Evolve Dammit]

55. Great news. She has a good time slot and always puts together a fact-packed program. #1.

[Joinfortmill]

56. Thank God.

[Kath2]

60. Excellent!

Love you, Rachel!

[AlexSFCA]

61. Echo Chamber media

Great reporting, entertaining but achieves absolutely nothing. I know, not a popular opinion on DU.

[Celerity]

65. +10000000000000000

[Raine]

75. Exactly. nt

[NJCher]

83. I don't know how you can say this

She took up the cause of the packing house workers in the beginning of Covid. Trump was concerned only about keeping these huge operations going so there would be no meat shortages. Tragically, no one and I mean no one was coming to their aid. Meanwhile, we were seeing the workers dying.


But Rachel did something. She held osha to task. She showed how trump was influencing osha policies and she showed right on air how documents and policies had been changed—corrupted.

She did a series of shows and she wouldn’t shut up about it until practices changed.

This is only one case and I have many others in my memory bank of how her reporting has changed policy, awareness, and perception in her viewing audience.

How ignorant and ungrateful of you to say such nonsense. It is actually embarrassing to see an opinion like this on this board.

[ShazzieB]

62. 💕💐💕💐💕💐💕💐💕💐

Hearts and flowers, because I am SO happy to hear this! I hope it works out well for her, and I can't wait to find out what those new projects are!

[jimlup]

64. MSNBC would be much less without Rachel

just say'n

[mucifer]

69. I remember her back on Air America Radio saying that no one who looked like her could get a news

program on TV. She proved herself wrong But, they do weird makeup stuff to her face.

[48656c6c6f20]

74. Well ok.

That was exciting.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

79. This makes me smile

[Shoonra]

80. Best deal for Rachel .... and for us

Rachel Maddow's program is distinguished by her wealth of research and the video glimpses of other TV news shows, some of them several years old. These resources were available because of her membership in the NBC network. If she had quit NBC, her program would have turned into something similar to Randi Rhodes, her former colleague when she was on Air America radio. Randi Rhodes, is unconnected to a major network, and, for all her high energy and high intelligence, is reduced to commenting, without the audio-visuals, on MSM reports - no interviews, no big news breaks, and nearly no audience. Rachel should learn from her example.

[NJCher]

84. Interesting point

Rachel has resources and makes the most of them.

I’m pretty sure it was nbc who opened their library of news clips to professors. Of course, our school library had to pay for a subscription. My university did and was also among the first to offer professors classroom media setups where we could have the internet on a big screen. This meant we could enter a search term and call up past news coverage. I thought this ability very much enhanced our classes.

One way I used it was to show the news clips to illustrate Capt sullenberger’s leadership style. At the time we were studying the various forms of leadership, such as laissez faire.

I think it could also have been cbs— just not sure. I know it wasn’t abc.

[dchill]

85. I'm for that.

I don't like change, and that's one change I'd really hate.

[Mike Nelson]

86. I think...

... she got the money! I really don't see MSNBC doing well with a new host in Rachel's hour... good thing they ponied up. Also, about the repetition; it's part of her formula. It's in the script... it's highlighting. I don't need it, but there are viewers doing the dishes or reading DU while watching. I really enjoyed her show featuring the Afghan translator "Zak" getting out of the country. That was one of her best shows.

[McKim]

87. She and Ali Velshi Are the Best!

She and Ali Velshi are the best programs on MSNBC!!!!! Refreshing to have news by real adults!!!!

[bucolic_frolic]

90. She's got the resume and the experience

Upward career mobility unquestioned. Would they have allowed a competitor to pick her up? Would a competitor have reigned her in, which is to say, because of the competitors, which competitor would not have reigned her in? She made the right move. So did MSNBC.

[Martin68]

94. Must have got a good raise.