MSNBC prez on Fox News: "You can't trust a word they say"

MSNBC president Phil Griffin spoke with me earlier this week, a few hours after he was promoted to his new post (see my earlier story). Because of what the techies call a "catastrophic failure" of my hard drive (a strange phrase, since nobody died or even got hurt), I couldn't produce a podcast from our interview. So I'm going old school and writing down the quotes.

I was curious to know how Griffin would react to statements made by Fox News executive John Moody when I interviewed him earlier this week at press tour. (Here's my story from Friday's Kansas City Star.) Moody said that MSNBC's rise was attributable to the "messianic ranting" of its anchors. First, Griffin issued a disclaimer: "You brought this up," he said. "OK," I said. And then he let loose.

First, let me back up to where I read to him Moody's quote about "messianic ranting." As I read those words, Griffin said, "Fantastic! Just fantastic. Fox News has never talked about us in a decade. Ever. That's fantastic."

"Cheap shot aside," I said, "it seems what Fox is saying is that MSNBC has done well during the political season, in fact, we might even qualify that to say you've done well during the Obama juggernaut. But --"

"Look," said Griffin. "I totally respect Fox News and what they did. But it's totally cynical. For them to say that is outrageous. They saw an opportunity years ago to create an ideological channel. And they did. I give them total credit. I tip my hat to them. They scored.  But it was ideological and opportunistic. It was a business plan.

"We didn't do that. We go out and hire the best people that we can and give them freedom. Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann were arguing in point-of-view programs against the war when the war was popular. This wasn't a business decision. .... We're not tied to ideology the way they are. We're still NBC News, best newsgathering organization in the world, we have a couple of point-of-view people, but we have a variety of opinions you don't see elsewhere.

"But we're more fun. We're more interesting. We're smarter. We don't talk down to the audience. So when I hear something like that it does make me mad, because it's outrageous. You brought it up! You've gotta make that--"

"Phil, I have no trouble writing about myself in the first person."

"What they are trying to do is play a game here," Griffin continued. "THEY made the business decision to create an ideological network. We didn't. They were the ones that got in bed with the Bush Administration, so that most of the time, where did the Bush Administration officials come out and make their points? Fox News. We didn't. You brought it up, but it's a great story because you can't trust a word they say.

"I have total respect for them. They went in and found a niche. They said there needs to be a place for conservative radio, a place on television for conservative TV. And they did beautifully."

"But wait," I said. "The beauty of the news-talk format is that if there's no news, there's always talk. You can use talk to get through bad news or slow news days. What Fox is saying is that your channel is more news-driven, and that after the election you don't have the talk to sustain your audience."

"Look, you have to have point-of-view programs in prime time," Griffin said. "But I'm responding to what he said. We're not like that. ... 'Mission Accomplished' -- that was their moment. That was their ideology and they played to it. We're not stuck with that. I don't care if Obama wins or McCain wins, because I know we're in such a strong position we're going to continue to have success with whatever administration goes in there in 2009. I think they care."

If anyone has a right to defend MSNBC in this way, it's Phil Griffin He's been there from the start — promotion day was also the channel's 12th anniversary — and it was his longtime association with Keith Olbermann, starting at CNN, that set MSNBC on its current trajectory. He's been wearing two hats for a while, both running MSNBC and serving as an NBC News executive, but now he's been given marching orders to build the brand and make sure the audience that has coming flocking to MSNBC in the past two years doesn't go away.

"There's a real opportunity for us here at MSNBC," he said. "We've never had it in 12 years here. Revenue, ratings, buzz, you name it — it's all come together, and this (promotion) is saying, let's really push it and succeed." (When I asked Griffin what KO's reaction was to the news of his promotion, he said, "I've known Keith  27 years. He gave me a big hug.)

Finally, Griffin shared one tidbit about programming: He wants NBC's White House correspondent, David Gregory, to keep doing his 6 p.m. roundtable show, "Race to the White House," after Election Day, presumably with a different name for the show.

"I want David to stay there," Griffin said. "The best thing that's happened to MSNBC is you've got NBC News people saying, 'Hey, I want to be on MSNBC.' That is the best things that's happened over the last year."