MSNBC Boss Takes Responsibility for Stupid Hosts (sort of)
MSNBC's Phil Griffin says he takes responsibility for recent gaffes that have led to anchor apologies and exits at the news network.
Which is good for Griffin to do since after all he put the people on the air to begin with.
"These were judgment calls made by some of our people," Griffin tells the Hollywood Reporter. "We quickly took responsibility for them and took action. They were unfortunate, but I'm not going to allow these specific moments of lack of judgment to define us."
Griffin is referring to the three stooges, Alec Baldwin, Martin Bashir and Melissa Harris-Perry.
"We handled them," says Griffin. "We were transparent. That is our philosophy: Be factual, and step up when you make a mistake. And I don't see that among our competition, whether it's getting something wrong on a major story or when there are clear inaccuracies and they're not corrected."
But when it comes to his own stupid quote, Griffin denies saying it.
Griffin was quoted as saying that MSNBC was "not the place" for breaking news." Which is a pretty stupid thing for the head of a 24 hour NEWS network to say.
But, Griffin says "I did not say that," he says. "It was in reference to CNN, that their brand is known for breaking news. And my reference was not that we don't do [breaking news], but we're not known for it in the way that CNN is. I stand by our coverage of any major news story."
As for his latest hire Ronan Farrow and his quote about his dad Woody Allen, claiming that he molested his 7 year old daughter?
Griffin's cool with that.
"He's a very clever guy," says Griffin. "That's a personal issue that he felt necessary to respond to. I'll let it speak for itself."