MSNBC delays documentary over fears it could 'offend Donald Trump': report

[ShazzieB]

45. I think the headline on this story is misleading.

Raw Story geadljned this story incorrectly, imo. Based on the following excerpts from the article, it sounds to me like it's the bosses at NBC who want to hold this back, not MSNBC.

Journalist Oliver Darcy, a former critic for CNN, revealed Tuesday that the Errol Morris documentary based on Jacob Soboroff's 2020 book "Separated: Inside an American Tragedy," is being held by NBC bosses until Dec. 7 — a move that apparently annoyed the director.

*snip*

Darcy also reported NBC bosses "don’t want to offend Donald Trump, according to the Wrap.

"On Monday’s edition of his Status newsletter, he reported that Rebecca Blumenstein, president of editorial for NBC News, opposed airing 'Separated' before the election because the network still hopes Trump will agree to another presidential debate," the outlet reported.

MSNBC and NBC are separate entities,, both of which are the part of NBCUniversal News Group, owned by Comcast. I'm not clear on the exact relationship between the two or how much control the head honchos at NBC have over MSNBC's programming decisions, but they obviously have some, and it seems clear to me that the objections to airing this documentary are coming from NBC executives, not MSNBC, as the headline implies.

After reading all the replies accusing MSNBC of selling out or some such thing, I felt this was worth pointing out. I believe we need to put the blame where it belongs: with NBC, not MSNBC!

I also don't think we've heard the last word on this controversy. Now that Darcy has gone public with this, the parties involved will no doubt make their own positions clear. I'll be very surprised if there isn't mention of this on some of the MSNBC shows tonight. And who knows, if enough pressure is put on NBC, I wouldn't rule out the possibility of MSNBC being allowed to air the documentary prior to the election.

As Rachel Maddow always says, "Watch this space!"