Rebellion: Mika Brzezinski tries to light Paris news script on fire
posted at 11:56 am on June 27, 2007 by Allahpundit
And is sadly thwarted by an alarmed colleague, thereby depriving us of one of live television’s all-time greatest moments and leaving her to tear it up like a five-year-old instead.
Exit question: What’s more pathetic, a pampered socialite crying in the back of a police car or a talking head trying to strike a blow for journalistic integrity on Joe “Work the Pole” Scarborough’s mornin’ yakfest? Click the image to watch.
Blowback
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Exit answer…Neither they are both pretty damn pathetic…..
doriangrey on June 27, 2007 at 12:00 PM
Exit question: What’s more pathetic, a pampered socialite crying in the back of a police car or a talking head trying to strike a blow for journalistic integrity on Joe “Work the Pole” Scarborough’s mornin’ yakfest?
How about a guy who’s been yearning for an iPhone? I mean really, isn’t it a bit too feminine for a guy? Or, is there a special butch version for guys?
Blake on June 27, 2007 at 12:02 PM
Love her.
SouthernDem on June 27, 2007 at 12:03 PM
I think that question is better left to her doctor.
Number 2 on June 27, 2007 at 12:08 PM
I wish some of the Fox announcers would try that.
I can’t watch Fox anymore without the remote in hand with my thumb on the Paris (Prev chan) button.
The good news is that FoodTv never, never, covers Paris.
TunaTalon on June 27, 2007 at 12:09 PM
That’s integrity!
How many fashion ladies do you think were searching the web yesterday for: DreamCatchers Hair Extensions
sugiero on June 27, 2007 at 12:10 PM
I approve. Somebody should see this as a marketing opportunity – “a no Paris, no Lohan, no Spears” news program. There are more than enough news shows on TV, maybe one of them can do without these stories and gain some viewers in the process.
forest on June 27, 2007 at 12:10 PM
She’s my hero for the day.
Tru2my2 on June 27, 2007 at 12:12 PM
If Paris (France) was burning, it would have gotten less attention than Paris H.
sugiero on June 27, 2007 at 12:13 PM
Klein at CNN basically did that, until Larry King landed Paris’ first post-prison interview. His tune changed pretty quickly after that.
Number 2 on June 27, 2007 at 12:13 PM
Good for her.
sheik_rattle_n_roll on June 27, 2007 at 12:17 PM
Was this really spontaneous? Or, as it seems to me, set up?
Kinda like “I don’t want to talk about Paris, so let’s keep talking about how I don’t want to talk about Paris”…
JetBoy on June 27, 2007 at 12:18 PM
mmmm, smells good.
BadgerHawk on June 27, 2007 at 12:18 PM
Another of their videos is a report of an alleged vision of the Virgin Mary in a watermelon. Once again, Jesus is asking, “Mom, why do you have to go appearing in such strange places?”
Bigfoot on June 27, 2007 at 12:18 PM
I notice that Joe has a rough time dealing with the women. Gallant does not leap to mind when you see Joe pushing this woman around and teasing her.
thegreatbeast on June 27, 2007 at 12:18 PM
That’s just downright delicious!
Grafted on June 27, 2007 at 12:20 PM
Actually Paris is burning, or at least the suburbs are. They have a “youth” problem over there and they go on almost nightly rampages burning cars. I haven’t seen a story of a big outbreak this month but the last I saw there was something like 5,000 cars burned and over 500 Fwence police officers who have been hurt in confrontations with these “youths”
“Youths” is the French word for Muslim immigrants.
LakeRuins on June 27, 2007 at 12:25 PM
Kinda hot. Joe is an imbecile, and she’s no doubt a fringe left socialist herself, but that was great tv.
Jaibones on June 27, 2007 at 12:26 PM
Childish? To me that’s bravery. I’m glad she did that, although it did drag on too long. It was as if she was trying to draw attention to herself and heighten her credibility as a journalist… she should have just said “I’m not covering that story,” told the prompter to go to the next set of words, and go on without the big deal.
But overall, I approve. It’s too bad MSNBC wouldn’t do this more often. Can she be p ut on Olbermann’s show? We’ll “count down” to how long it will take her to rip up some garbage every episode.
mboprey on June 27, 2007 at 12:29 PM
I just thought of a great job for Goober Lindsey Graham once his sorry butt gets voted out of the Senate. He can take Scarborough’s place on MSNBC.
Frank Nitti on June 27, 2007 at 12:33 PM
She should have used a zippo lighter. Bigger flame.
KelliD on June 27, 2007 at 12:33 PM
True, but it will never be mentioned by the MSM over here. Unless, of course, they now see an opportunity to blame it all on Nicholas Sarkozy, that noted “right-wing ideologue”.
(Give me a break. Sarkozy is about as “right-wing” as Joe Biden.)
The moral in this case, as in all other cases regarding the present conflict, is
The new motto of what passes for “journalism” in the main-stream media of the West today.
The founders of Pravda would be so proud of them.
cheers
eon
eon on June 27, 2007 at 12:34 PM
Nor does the History Channel, Discovery Channel, or TLC. Which is the only reason I have cable.
CurtZHP on June 27, 2007 at 12:35 PM
Finally. Something almost worth watching on msnbc.
locomotivebreath1901 on June 27, 2007 at 12:39 PM
Thanks GOD and thank you Mika.
Even Bill O’ opened the (non)Factor last night with the PH story (will not even type her name). After yesterdays cloture vote, that was the best BO had? EVEN AFTER MICHELLE GAVE IT TO HIM for covering PH!!!
GOD Bless you Mika!
On-my-soap-box on June 27, 2007 at 12:40 PM
Hey Mika,
If you don’t like it, why don’t you do something substantive like quit.
They just like acting like they have integrity…
TheBigOldDog on June 27, 2007 at 12:41 PM
Might be the start of MSNBC climbing out of the basement. Stuff like that has the potential to spread.
Krydor on June 27, 2007 at 12:47 PM
Dog,
Are you sayingAre you saying she should have just read the story like all of the rest of the MSM? Even Bill O’ opened his show with this tripe. She did a great thing. Don’t attack her for standing up and saying she wants to do some news.
On-my-soap-box on June 27, 2007 at 12:48 PM
That’s all it takes to stop this nonsense, and if more “journalists” did that, we’d be alot better off. I’m talking to you O’reilly, and epecially Greta. Just say no!
bmac on June 27, 2007 at 12:51 PM
Don’t like Mika, but I applaud this. I actually do have sympathy for journalists who are forced to cover stories they know are garbage. Like when Michelle goes on the Factor and Bill makes her talk about dumb inconsequential stuff that is nevertheless the News o’ the Day. Such as Paris.
Journalists have been openly mocking and complaining about this whole Paris “story” since she was sent back to jail the second time. Mika just took it a step further. I’m sure she’s the hero of the journo’s for today.
aero on June 27, 2007 at 12:51 PM
Oh and dog, will you take it back if she ends up fired or in some remote part of the world covering the mating ritual of the dung beetle?
On-my-soap-box on June 27, 2007 at 12:52 PM
Tragically, sometimes I feel like the only way we’re going to get our priorities on track again is to suffer another domestic terrorist attack. I’m sure I’m not alone.
Go Mika. Small victory for common sense and reason.
Schweggie on June 27, 2007 at 12:52 PM
First, news readers don’t get to decide what is news no matter what the subject. When they do, they should be fired like any insubordinate employee.
Second, if she doesn’t like it, she should do the adult thing and quit.
Third, Mika, and people like her, like to act like they have integrity but really have none. If she had an ounce of it, she would have simply quit.
TheBigOldDog on June 27, 2007 at 12:53 PM
Fourth, she evidently managed to suck in a lot people who confuse theater with substance. An tantrum act with real integrity…
TheBigOldDog on June 27, 2007 at 12:56 PM
Mika deserves a Pulitzer Prize for standing up for real news. And the idiot to her right needs to learn not to be afraid of fire.
corbettw on June 27, 2007 at 12:56 PM
Forced? How? Are they slaves? Are they indentured servants? Or, are they free people with choice and free will.
This response was the reaction her little act was intended to invoke – sympathy for a person who doesn’t have the integrity to simply quit and find another job that doesn’t offend her alleged sensibilities.
TheBigOldDog on June 27, 2007 at 12:59 PM
All 17 people watching were proud.
Nethicus on June 27, 2007 at 12:59 PM
I take nothing back – there’s a big difference between what she did and a real act of integrity. If her job was at risk, or MSNBC was POd by this do you really think they’d feature it on their own website? Please…PT Barnum was right… there’s one born every minute.
TheBigOldDog on June 27, 2007 at 1:02 PM
If this was not a planned publicity stunt, it’s indeed quite possible that she will be fired for insubordination, which is up to MSNBC and perfectly justifiable. I still like what she said and did, but I will not have a problem with whatever consequence NBC chooses, and Mika better not either. She knowingly took that chance and may have to pay the price for her show of integrity. However, she has given MSNBC the only positive image boost they’ve gotten in a very long time–how many people do you think are going to view that video clip today?–so I bet they won’t do anything to her for it. They’ll probably blow it off as morning show antics.
aero on June 27, 2007 at 1:03 PM
17? That’s a little ambitious, isn’t it? :P
Schweggie on June 27, 2007 at 1:03 PM
Dog, with all due respect:
So, if I disagree with my boss I could really show him and quit. That is integrity? It was not that she did not want to do the story. She was right, it is NOT the lead. She was brave to stand up to her producers. Quitting would “prove” nothing and would have made her look more childish. I actually cheered for her. Can you say you ever cheered for anything at MSNBC?
On-my-soap-box on June 27, 2007 at 1:04 PM
Forced? How? Are they slaves? Are they indentured servants? Or, are they free people with choice and free will.Forced?
TheBigOldDog on June 27, 2007 at 12:59 PM
You have no idea how the business works. There are few who have editorial control over what they read. My guess is that she’s only marginally involved in the lineup.
Krydor on June 27, 2007 at 1:04 PM
Maybe this was Mika’s job interview to go along with her resume she has already sent out. C’mon working at PMSNBC which is the lowest rated of the news channels can’t be too great. I mean at some time you have to question your career choices.
LakeRuins on June 27, 2007 at 1:06 PM
So she took no real chance at all now did she? She really wasn’t courageous now was she? Gee, why was the lighter so handy (may be a legit reason, can’t tell from the clip)?
What you saw wasn’t so much an act of integrity but a person acting like they had integrity.
TheBigOldDog on June 27, 2007 at 1:07 PM
How do you know what I know and don’t know? Pretty presumptuous aren’t you?
I know this, she is a free person and can quit at any time. It takes integrity to quit. It takes no integrity to act like you have integrity.
TheBigOldDog on June 27, 2007 at 1:10 PM
Or, maybe, she was just talking about the show prior to going on saying she would burn the story if it was the lead and her fellow “journalists” laughed and said they didn’t believe her so he brought a lighter to call her bluff? Maybe? Just maybe? I would have.
On-my-soap-box on June 27, 2007 at 1:12 PM
Yes. If you are asked to do something day-in and day-out you disagree with, you quit. You don’t through a tantrum, real or staged, and act insubordinate. That’s childish. Quiting takes courage. Trying to have your cake and eat it too, takes no courage.
TheBigOldDog on June 27, 2007 at 1:13 PM
Sounds like you’re describing a staged event to me. An event that was supposed to suck people into thinking this was an act of courage and integrity.
TheBigOldDog on June 27, 2007 at 1:15 PM
Great! Outstanding! HUZZAH! HUZZAH!
Unfortunately it had to happen on a network where no one would see it. Thanks be to Allah for posting it here…I’m sure the MSNBC folks are dancing at the sudden spike in viewership.
Pilgrim on June 27, 2007 at 1:16 PM
I’m not arguing whether or not what she said/did represented “real” integrity or not. I acknowledged it might very well be a planned publicity stunt. I still liked it. Either she alone or she and the producers realized that the Paris “story” is garbage and put on a performance that highlighted the fact that it’s garbage. Good show and accurate message, either way. It’s a subtle slap in the face to all the mindless viewers out there who are slavering for and demanding more Paris crap when there are real stories and actual important events going on in the world. Just like when Allah sarcastically put Bombshell: Paris’s jail menu released! (or something along those lines) earlier today. Doesn’t matter if Allah is demonstrating real “integrity” or not with his sarcasm–he effectively makes a valid and humorous point with it. So did Mika.
aero on June 27, 2007 at 1:17 PM
No I am talking about a frustrated woman who was tired and made a threat to burn it and was challenged. Good for her. You seem to think she has zero integrity. I am sorry for that.
I agree Pilgrim!!!
On-my-soap-box on June 27, 2007 at 1:20 PM
I also love how people act like they hate this story and ones like it. Yet, you see that these are the threads that get the most posts on average, ratings soar through the roof when stations cover it, etc… people just love to act like they are above it all and then go on to watch every minute of the courage an read every post about it…
TheBigOldDog on June 27, 2007 at 1:20 PM
Mika’s kind of hot; of course, many women are hot when they’re angry.
Kensington on June 27, 2007 at 1:23 PM
Speaking for myself, this is actually the first Paris-related story I’ve watched or read since the day she was released from jail the first time, when I had a brief opinion regarding how it impacted the rule of law (of which I am a fan). I have TiVo, so I can skip the Paris stuff whenever I want. ;-)
I’m paying attention to this thread because I’m enjoying the discussion–mostly because of you, BigOldDog. :-)
aero on June 27, 2007 at 1:24 PM
Big Old Dog,
I’m going to play my absolute moral authority card and tell you that I work in television. This is how I know that you don’t know. That little voice in the ear of the anchor is akin to god. You do what the director/producer says. The lineup is set and the reads are timed. Screwing with the timing of a live program is a serious no-no. That time has to come from somewhere.
No one who is simply a news reader has the amount of latitude evidenced here.
Krydor on June 27, 2007 at 1:25 PM
Ditto aeor. I am just sorry Dog summarily dismissed that she has no integrity. I too do not watch the PH junk. Bill O’ opened with it and was gone in 2 seconds. This woman did what we would like to see every new show do.
Mika summed it up perfectly;
Ba-bye.
On-my-soap-box on June 27, 2007 at 1:28 PM
You never even read my posts before you bothered to comment.
TheBigOldDog on June 27, 2007 at 1:29 PM
Burn it baby!
csdeven on June 27, 2007 at 1:29 PM
LOL! That’s what I am here for.
TheBigOldDog on June 27, 2007 at 1:30 PM
So, in your opinion, was this staged or not? Sounds like you’re saying it must have been staged or the timing would have been far more screwed up than it was.
As I said, it doesn’t matter to me either way. Staged or not, it was entertaining to me and made a valid point about the “news.”
aero on June 27, 2007 at 1:33 PM
Cute idea, but amateurish implementation.
Hey, this is TV (sort of, anyway) — You need to plan out this kind of thing ahead of time. I’m sure that even MSNBC has production meetings. A brief announcement along the lines of “Hey everybody: I’m going to light a fire on stage, so please don’t wrestle me to the ground.” would have been appropriate.
As for the act itself, MSNBC has to do SOMETHING to get its ratings out of the cable-access range. Let’s face it: Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann can’t go much crazier.
Scarborough and company screwed up; even if they didn’t have any idea what was going on, they should have just let it pan out. Worst case scenario: she burns the studio down. And even that’s not going a net loss – you know at least some people will start tuning in if they think that kind of action is a possibility.
logis on June 27, 2007 at 1:36 PM
Mika’s kind of hot; of course, many women are hot when they’re angry.
Kensington on June 27, 2007 at 1:23 PM
Kind of hot? She’s smokin. Come on Mika light my fire!
soulsirkus on June 27, 2007 at 1:40 PM
As for the timing argument for the staging theory: don’t morning shows usually have banter time built in?
I’m just sayin’…
Mephistefales on June 27, 2007 at 1:42 PM
Also…
If she can feign that incensed, damn the torpedoes, but still a touch fearful, cat-facing-a-Doberman look that easily, then she should be in movies.
…
…not that kind of movie, you pervs!
Mephistefales on June 27, 2007 at 1:48 PM
“Smokin” is a kind of hot.
Now back off, she’s mine!
Kensington on June 27, 2007 at 1:54 PM
So, in your opinion, was this staged or not? Sounds like you’re saying it must have been staged or the timing would have been far more screwed up than it was.
Not staged, Joe and the other meat puppet spent a great deal of time trying to get the gal to go back to the script. They are playing it as a “wacky live TV moment” on the webpage, but it wasn’t. One thing out of place, and you screw the control room.
You’ll notice that the prompter was set to the Hilton script. When she trashed her hard copy, the control room did not follow and she went to the hard copy for the next story.
Krydor on June 27, 2007 at 1:54 PM
I’m getting ex-wife flashbacks watching that. Ooof! She’s a real &!tch isn’t she? I love the way the guys were dealing with her. Bravo men.
Once you get to the linked page you HAVE to see the police chase end. A car thief get’s struck by a…
Let’s just say it’s poetic justice.
Mojave Mark on June 27, 2007 at 1:58 PM
I swear to God I cannot imagine anyone who watches news in the first place even giving a damn what is going on with Paris, Lohan etc. Are the folks at Fox, CNN, MSNBC etc under the impression that 13 year olds watch them? Is Tiger Beat magazine now producing these news shows?
OrthodoxRobert on June 27, 2007 at 1:59 PM
Good point. They also insisted on showing the Paris video footage that was supposed to accompany what Mika was supposed to be reading. And as someone pointed out earlier, it dragged on too long to have been a scripted performance. It must have dragged on about as long as the Paris story and accompanying banter were supposed to take. She kept saying, “On to the news now,” but they wouldn’t let her move on until I’m guessing the time allotted for the Paris story had run out.
aero on June 27, 2007 at 1:59 PM
Mika Brzezinski is she Zbigniew “Woody Woodpecker” Brzezinski’s daughter? If so, now I know how she got her job.
Hilts on June 27, 2007 at 2:01 PM
No, BigOldDog is right about that part. The news channels are clearly responding to strong market forces. There is a demand for this crap. Many news watchers pretend they don’t care about these stories but obviously do. I doubt many of us hard-news junkies at HotAir fall into that category, but clearly there’s a huge market for junk news. I guess it’s the can’t-look-away-from-a-train-wreck phenomenon, or schadenfreude (enjoying seeing others suffer), or just plain ol’ wanting to feel better about yourself by seeing what a mess someone else is. I don’t know, but it’s annoying as heck to me. Keeps my TiVo skip-button thumb in shape, though!
aero on June 27, 2007 at 2:07 PM
Another kind of news story I skip is the kidnapped blonde (or pregnant) woman story. I watch them once to make sure I haven’t seen the person and to get the gist of what happened, and then I skip them as much as possible after that. The coverage is just relentless! It’s not that I’m not sympathetic or that I think it’s not worthy of airtime to try to help find a missing person. But they just hammer such stories for days, weeks, months–even years–while nothing substantial changes in the case. And in the meantime, a few hundred more people have gone missing with never a peep from the news people. Infuriating.
aero on June 27, 2007 at 2:12 PM
Allah – didn’t I notice an article about Paris Hilton posted here a couple of days ago? I’d be interested to know if you have statistics to compare the number of hits it got with other articles posted the same day.
I didn’t view it, but I’d be interested to know if there really is a demand for that nonsense.
jaime on June 27, 2007 at 2:18 PM
Ooooh! Does it work like the Ron Paul stories? If you type Paris Hilton three times does your hit count increase exponentially as the crazies converge from Google?! Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton!
aero on June 27, 2007 at 2:31 PM
But, how is any of this going to get Allah his long coveted iPhone? And how is an iPhone going to bring out AP’s inner alpha male? (Maybe, all the girls will want him to show them his iPhone? Is that the plan, Allah?)
Blake on June 27, 2007 at 2:43 PM
Kind of hot? She’s smokin. Come on Mika light my fire!
“Smokin” is a kind of hot.
Now back off, she’s mine!
Kensington on June 27, 2007 at 1:54 PM
Sorry Kensington, my bad. I’ll take Anne Coulter then. She would be a cheaper dinner date anyway….
soulsirkus on June 27, 2007 at 2:52 PM
All you haters should get off this chicks case, staged or not, at least she did something to stop this asinine “coverage” of nothing.
bmac on June 27, 2007 at 2:56 PM
Mika was doing a great job of refusing to shill the idiotic Paris out of jail story, and I was right in her corner…
UNTIL…
it turned out that what she wanted to dump PH for, her idea of the TOP news story was:
FLASH: Republican Senator breaks with Bush and joins Democratic chorus to declare defeat in Iraq.
so I guess we see where her priorities REALLY are.
Always Right on June 27, 2007 at 3:17 PM
She’s on MSNBC, of course every story is gonna be slanted, that’s a given, just give her credit for one step in the right direction. If Greta did that, I’d eat my shoe, and call it tasty.
bmac on June 27, 2007 at 3:29 PM
Always Right on June 27, 2007 at 3:17 PM
That strikes me as a lead. It’s bigger hard news than Paris, to be sure. The editorial slant of MSNBC notwithstanding, that should have been first and Paris relegated to the bottom.
Krydor on June 27, 2007 at 3:33 PM
This whole saga adds new meaning to the phrase: “We’ll always have Paris.”
manwithblackhat on June 27, 2007 at 3:59 PM
One celebrity drunk goes to jail on a PV gets all this coverage. She is just one,”when the traffic slowed in front of her” away from killing someone.
She may have “found” Jesus, but will she now “listen” to him.
Zaire67 on June 27, 2007 at 6:02 PM
I laughed so hard I fell off my chair and landed on my Mika Brzezinski!
radjah shelduck on June 27, 2007 at 10:31 PM
Krydor,
Obviously I defer to your professional expertise, but would you agree that there’s a large difference between a standard news broadcast, which is timed to the split-second, and a yak-fest like Morning Joe? As other examples, Today and GMA aren’t anywhere near as tightly bound to the stopwatch as a regular 5PM news program. They don’t have each sentence scripted with no wiggle room. Scarborough’s show includes plenty of free-form commentary, so I don’t wholesale buy the idea that Mika’s action “screwed the control room”.
Yes, the producer wanted her to read the story they prepared as the lead, since her bit is newsreader. They wouldn’t forward the ‘prompter to the next story, and I’m sure he was talking in all the on-air earpieces saying that the video clip would run regardless. Scarborough could only go ahead and introduce it as it played, since it was obvious that Mika wouldn’t. Producers are like that, they don’t take well to insubordination in their little kingdoms.
For TheBigOldDog, maybe mock integrity is still a tiny bit better than no integrity.
Freelancer on June 28, 2007 at 3:19 AM