Ariana Pekary, a former MSNBC producer, quit her job at the channel. She posted an open resignation letter where she managed to accuse the news network of predicting its editorial process on rating.
She further alleged that its model "blocks diversity of thought and content because the networks have the incentive to amplify fringe voices and events."
The producer of MSNBC's second most-watched program 'The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell' stated:
"I don’t know what I’m going to do next exactly, but I simply couldn’t stay there anymore. My colleagues are brilliant people with good intentions. The problem is the job itself. It forces skilled journalists to make bad decisions daily."
(©: Twitter/Ariana Pekary)
She also penned:
"It’s possible that I’m more sensitive to the editorial process due to my background in public radio, where no decision I ever witnessed was predicated on how a topic or guest would 'rate.' The longer I was at MSNBC, the more I saw such choices — it’s practically baked into the editorial process — and those decisions affect news content every day. Likewise, it’s taboo to discuss how the rating scheme distorts content, or it’s simply taken for granted because everyone in the commercial broadcast news industry is doing the exact same thing."
"But behind closed doors, industry leaders will admit the damage that’s being done."
Meanwhile, she called the networks 'cancer of the nation.' She mentioned:
"This cancer risks our democracy, even in the middle of a presidential election," she writes. "Any discussion about the election usually focuses on Donald Trump, not Joe Biden, a repeat offense from 2016 (Trump smothers out all other coverage). Also important is to ensure citizens can vote by mail this year, but I’ve watched that topic gets ignored or 'killed' numerous times."
"The model blocks diversity of thought and content because the networks have the incentive to amplify fringe voices and events, at the expense of others. All because it pumps up the ratings."
Pekary, in the letter, said that she believes no commercial system is exempt. She wrote that all the system functions the same, and the content seeps into your social media in one or another way. Peeking to her resignation letter, she warned the nation, and its democracy for the network (which she cited as a virus) strikes the national division and risks democracy.
Who Is Ariana Pekary?
Ariana Pekary is an American producer with nearly two decades of career in the field. She started as Assistant to the Ombudsman, production assistant at NPR in Washington in 2002.
She worked for a couple of years at the channel before she made her way to KQED as a freelance producer. For two years, she helped produce features for several programs, including for The California Report, Forum with Michael Krasny, and The Kitchen Sisters.
Later, she worked as a freelance producer at KALW Radio, KGO 810AM, until 2007.
Then, she directed her career as a producer at XM Satellite Radio, where she produced The Bob Edwards Show for six years until 2013. 2013 was the year when she made her breakthrough as she joined MSNBC as a producer of Up Late with Alec Baldwin. She also produced an Emmy-nominated show, 'The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell while at MSNBC.
Throughout her career, she won Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Radio Sigma Delta Chi for a radio documentary. She is also a winner of a Radio Television Digital News Association Award for a radio documentary. Besides, she a nominee for Emmy Awards for a segment she produced for The Last Word.