One of President Obama’s top strategists, who worked on his 2008 and his 2012 election campaigns and served as senior White House adviser, has joined NBC News. Deadline.com reports that David Axelrod will be a senior political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC.
“Axelrod began his career as a journalist, serving as a a political writer, columnist and City Hall bureau chief for the Chicago Tribune before stepping into politics in 1984,” the piece reports. “He was recently named director of the University of Chicago’s new Institute of Politics and a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Harris School of Public Policy.”
Axelrod joins a team of NBC and MSNBC political analysts that includes his counterpart from the 2008 presidential election — Steve Schmidt, former campaign strategist for John McCain. Also serving as analysts for the news organization are former RNC Chairman Michael Steele and former Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell.
I could drop over dead. It’s not like NBC is any bastion of balanced inquiring media or journalism, but give me a break David Axlerod? You must be kidding. Will Obama now serve on the Board of Directors of the Parent Company?
Now I know that I will never watch NBC. Thanks!
Whoa! Dial the hysteria down a few notches there, Byron.
As is clearly stated in the story, Axlelrod is joining NBC News as a “senior political analyst”–in other words, a commentator paid to give his opinion–not in a management or even a reporting role. He’ll be one of many at NBC. All of the networks and cable news channels employ squadrons of so-called political analysts, and have since Mr Marconi invented the electron (or something; The Log was never very good at chemistry). Many of the analysts are once and future political candidates (Fox News Channel is something of a settling pond for Republican presidential candidates between elections) or former political operatives (see “Stephanopolous, George; ABC News).
Maybe NBC News is hilariously biased, maybe it’s not (Yes, your sixth sense is right on: The Log is patronizing you tight now). But whatever bias may or may not be evident doesn’t have anything to do with paying David Axelrod to answer a question or two from Brian Williams no and then or bloviate at length on MSNBC.
The real question, as The Log sees it, is how we’re all supposed to tell the difference between David Axelrod, NBC News Political Analyst and David Axelrod, CBS News Correspondent and “Evening News” Weekend Anchor.
Come to think of it, has anybody seen them in the same room at the same time?
Back to work:
The CBS News anchor and reporter is Jim Axelrod, not DAVID Axelrod, Mr. FactCheckAvoidanceLog.
I felt David Axelrod was a most unappealing front man for the Obama campaign, but he’s played the political game for many years and had a significant role in historic victories, so I’ll be interested to hear his commentary — at least initially — on the NBC channels.