Hope On-Air: How MS NOW Can Avoid the Failures of MSNBC
Lose the grim approach to politics, and try this instead
What does it take to influence the public? Some people lay out the facts. Others manipulate emotions. I’ve always wanted to make a difference that gets real results. My time as an anchor on MSNBC taught me a lot about that. I think the network has a chance to do big things in its next chapter, but it’s going to take changes that some of its leaders may not be willing to make.
Saturday, Nov. 15th is day one for the newly renamed MS NOW. The network had to pivot when its former parent company, NBCUniversal, spun off its cable networks. MSNBC and its talent made it clear: only the name would change. The mission stays the same. It’s a mission I supported during my brief time as an anchor there.
Perhaps my biggest achievement was helping expand MSNBC’s live programming into weekend primetime. My show, “The Week with Joshua Johnson”, only lasted one year, sadly. No one ever forced me to be opinionated, though they did remind me that I didn’t have to bite my tongue if I so desired. I shared plenty of views on-air: just not political ones. Still, I don’t regret my approach, and after hearing MS NOW’s strategy I’m prouder of it.
A statement from MS NOW reads in part, “Our mission remains unchanged. You’ll find the same commitment to justice, progress, and the truth. We will continue to cover the day’s news, ask the tough questions, and explain how it all impacts you. Same mission. New name.”
So let me get this straight: you’re newly emancipated. You can do whatever you want, be whoever you want, pursue whatever you want… and you choose the same mission? All you’re updating is the name? Based on that sameness, I fear MS NOW might struggle just as MSNBC did, falling short of making a real difference.
There’s an enormous difference between ability and authority.
My goal in everything I did on-air was to leave viewers feeling prepared, not scared. If my mother turned off my show on MSNBC feeling scared for her baby boy, then I’d messed up. Even if things were scary, I always wanted her to know: it’s gonna be okay. Things are messed up, but fear solves nothing. Eyes up. Deep breath. Onward.
But that was my style: serious, but never grim. I wanted viewers to enjoy my show.
I worked with some brilliant people, and MSNBC’s hosts are as bright and lovely as you’d expect. My night helping cover the 2020 New Hampshire primaries had a lot of laughs in it, even after we’d left the studio and were just shooting the breeze in the lobby of 30 Rock. I think very highly of the people I served alongside, and I wish them success. But on the air that buoyant energy often took a backseat to the grim realities of politics. Enjoyment was rarely MSNBC’s style, but the potential was there.
That’s why MS NOW’s “same mission, new name” ethos is hugely disappointing.
I remember the team building games at my employee orientation. I won a plush minion (interesting symbol to give a new employee!) and a Harry Potter wand. Mine was a replica of the Elder Wand, said to be the most powerful of them all. Something about the contrast between these two prizes always stuck in my mind, but I couldn’t quite figure it out until now.
The wand represented the ability I had. The minion was the authority I lacked. I’m sure MSNBC didn’t mean it that way, but it helps me remember a valuable lesson.
I used to think of journalism as a field of authority, and it once was. Today, however, others have capitalized on public distrust to gain influence. So the legacy press has enormous ability, but it’s losing its authority. Meanwhile, upstarts and fabulists with scant ability have been persuasive enough to rapidly gain authority.
Problematic? Not really. Two can play that game.
Be honest: when was the last time MSNBC gave you hope?
If there’s one thing we know about Fox News and Joe Rogan and Steve Bannon and Nick Fuentes and especially Donald Trump, it’s this: they project total confidence. How they really feel, we don’t know, but their confidence is contagious. Courage and conviction are attractive traits. Of course, they can also be smokescreens — politics has proven that many times. Still, why fight what works?
This isn’t about being gullible. It’s just how humans work. Perceptions of authority play into cognitive biases that can be misleading in the wrong hands… but what about in the right hands? Maybe in your hands? What if you knew what influences people on emotional levels, and how powerful those influences are, and you used that knowledge to flow with our neurobiology rather than fight it? Judging people for making emotional decisions is judging them for being human. And judgment rarely inspires.
Think about the last time you bought a product or paid for a service just because you wanted to support them. Recall the last candidate you voted for who made you feel excited about their potential. Try to remember a teacher or professor who made you feel valued and loved. People can appeal to our basic neurobiology for good or evil. And we often justify our decisions of what to support because of how we feel doing it. Nothing inherently wrong with that.
This year Gallup released a poll on leadership, asking people around the world what they expect and need from their leaders. This applied to any kind of leader in their lives: mostly family members, but certainly managers and politicians, even celebrities. A number of qualities emerged across ages and nations: trust, stability, etc. But #1 on the list, by far, with nothing else even coming close: hope. Celebrities had the strongest correlation with hope as a leadership quality, mentioned by 75% of respondents. What are cable hosts if not celebrities?
The people of MSNBC/MS NOW are brilliant, and they are resolute. Now it’s time they learned to be inspiring. Savvy operators at Fox News sold millions of Americans an ironclad confidence in conservative political thought and built a strong constituency. Why can’t MS NOW do the same?
“A good leader inspires people to have confidence in the leader.
A great leader inspires people to have confidence in themselves.”
— Eleanor Roosevelt
The good news is that the seeds of a heartfelt hope are there. Perhaps the best sign of life was this promo, featuring the words of Dr. Maya Angelou. The ad shows her reciting her poem “Human Family” during the United Nations Development Fund for Women’s Achievement Awards in 1996.
A hopeful message. Uplifting, makes you smile. A big step in the right direction. And let’s be honest: when was the last time MSNBC gave you hope?
Humans make choices with our emotions as much as our logic, if not more so. Political strategists know this, and they’ve used it to get your vote. Marketers get it, too. Ford executive Kumal Galhotra once said, “Car making is 100,000 rational decisions in search of one emotional decision.”
If only I’d seen those tchotchkes on my desk for the life lesson they were: when it comes to persuasive human relationships, authority beats ability. Authority is an emotional, often irrational human connection that gives someone permission to influence you. The trick is, people choose to submit to authority. Ability is needed, but it’s not enough. The debate game that I’m building was intended to help people grow their argumentation skills. Now I’m rethinking that. I believe my best bet is to foster ability AND authority. Making a difference takes both.
My hope for you is to grow in authority: to have people who support you, follow you, and help you do good things for others. Your irrational, emotional, human parts need to be strengthened for that. Fortunately, you already have what it takes.
You’re human. And that is more than enough.
You always make me think!! Thanks. So glad you’re back!
I'm sorry I missed the live presentation of the debate game. I have it open to watch this morning. One of the things I appreciate about you is your openess and reflection, "Now I’m rethinking that. I believe my best bet is to foster ability AND authority. Making a difference takes both." Looking forward to seeing how the game develops. Thank you, Joshua.