MSNBC’s prime-time coverage of the Republican National Convention has featured a typical TV tableau: anchors at a desk perched high above the convention floor, pontificating as the starred-and-striped political pomp unfolds below.
But Rachel Maddow, Nicolle Wallace, Jen Psaki, Joy Reid and the rest of MSNBC’s A-list anchor team have not been inside the convention hall. They were not even in Milwaukee.
Instead, they were broadcasting from a studio in Midtown Manhattan, as a live feed of the convention floor was projected onto an LED screen behind them.
The arrangement — which several veteran television news producers described as unorthodox — has created something of a trompe l’oeil effect. A casual glance at the screen would suggest that MSNBC’s top anchors were covering the convention in person.
MSNBC announced last week that Ms. Maddow and its other marquee personalities would not travel to Milwaukee. For on-the-ground anchoring, the network sent its 11 p.m. host, Stephanie Ruhle, who arrived on Tuesday, and Katy Tur, a daytime host who focuses on reporting and analysis. (Several journalists from NBC News, the network’s corporate cousin, have also been reporting from Milwaukee.)
The anchors in Manhattan have not claimed to viewers that they are in Milwaukee, though they have mentioned their location sparingly throughout many hours of evening coverage.
On Monday at 7 p.m., Ms. Maddow opened the hour by saying she and her colleagues were “at MSNBC headquarters”; about two hours later, she told a correspondent that “we say hi here from MSNBC HQ in New York.” On Tuesday at 8 p.m., Chris Hayes welcomed viewers by saying, “Good evening from New York.”
“At the top of every broadcast, hosts identify themselves as being in New York or at MSNBC headquarters,” an MSNBC spokesman said on Wednesday.
Asked if the use of a live video feed from the convention floor behind the anchors could leave the misimpression that the anchors were inside the convention hall, the spokesman replied, “No.”
It is common for cable news hosts to broadcast remotely: Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough often film MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” from a home studio, and Fox News stars like Sean Hannity do the same. On election and debate nights, news anchors at many networks frequently oversee coverage from studio headquarters in New York or Washington.
Still, MSNBC’s decision to place its Manhattan-based anchors in front of a live feed of the convention floor created some odd, and arguably misleading, moments.
On Monday night, the NBC News anchor Savannah Guthrie led a 9 p.m. newscast, shown on NBC’s broadcast affiliates, from the network’s skybox inside the Fiserv Forum. At one point, she introduced the MSNBC host Ms. Psaki as an analyst. The women appeared in side-by-side onscreen boxes, each with the convention floor behind them.
It appeared that Ms. Guthrie and Ms. Psaki were both speaking from different vantage points inside the convention hall. In fact, only Ms. Guthrie was there.
Frank Sesno, a former Washington bureau chief for CNN, said in an interview that advances in LED screen technology have allowed broadcasters more flexibility in their visual presentations. But he warned that the use of the realistic video feed could raise some ethical concerns.
“News organizations need to be very careful and very transparent about what they represent and how they represent it,” Mr. Sesno said. “It can feel like a frivolous thing — oh, well, gee, we’re just using the pictures behind them — but there’s something profoundly important here. If news organizations don’t represent where they are clearly, then how is the audience to have faith and confidence in the actual content of the reporting?”
Mr. Sesno added that the audience churn in cable news — with viewers dropping in and out throughout the telecast — meant that the network could have taken additional opportunities to remind viewers where the anchors were seated. “How does someone who joins seven minutes later know where they’re coming from?” he said.
In one incident from 1994, the ABC News anchor Cokie Roberts apologized after she appeared on-air in a winter coat in front of an image of the United States Capitol, making it appear that she was outdoors; in fact, she was standing in a studio.
Covering a political convention — and all the travel, lodging and logistical hurdles it involves — is a pricey proposition for TV news divisions. Several networks cut back their convention coverage plans in 2024 compared with eight years ago, as the industry struggles with declining viewership, budget cuts and corporate consolidation. In 2016, NBC News and MSNBC relocated major political shows like “Meet the Press” and “Morning Joe” to the convention host cities; this time around, those programs originated from their usual sets on the East Coast.
Ms. Guthrie and the “NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt are co-anchoring NBC News’s convention coverage in person from Milwaukee for the rest of the week.
The post Is Maddow in Milwaukee? No, That’s an LED Screen on MSNBC. appeared first on New York Times.
