TMC
06-19-2015, 01:54 AM
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/06/brian-williams-msnbc-too-big-to-fire-119177.html#ixzz3dS37nlip
Actually, Williams (http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/msnbc-rehab-in-the-works-with-ongoing-tilt-toward-news-not-pundits/2015/06/18/5b1e0f28-15d0-11e5-9ddc-e3353542100c_story.html) is too expensive to fire, says Jack Shafer, pointing out that firing him would've resulted in a drawn-out legal dispute over his new $50-million contract. "Even in the case of a victory, NBC News would have faced the embarrassing publicity generated by discovery proceedings," says Shafer. "Hence NBC News' expedient, cynical move. Better to park Williams on a corporate side-street where nobody has to look at him—and to use him as sparingly as possible on regular NBC News programs—than to fight him in court over a measly $50 million." PLUS: NBC is sending the message that MSNBC is NBC News' purgatory (http://time.com/3926988/brian-williams-nbc-fired-new-show/), how Williams' reign stacked up (http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/brian-williamss-reign-at-nbc-is-over-heres-how-it-stacks-up/) to other network anchors, how to rehabilitate Williams' image (http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/06/18/415429953/4-suggestions-on-how-nbc-might-rehabilitate-brian-williams-image), and Williams' departure marks the end of an era of the almighty evening news anchor (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-williams-analysis-20150618-story.html).
Actually, Williams (http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/msnbc-rehab-in-the-works-with-ongoing-tilt-toward-news-not-pundits/2015/06/18/5b1e0f28-15d0-11e5-9ddc-e3353542100c_story.html) is too expensive to fire, says Jack Shafer, pointing out that firing him would've resulted in a drawn-out legal dispute over his new $50-million contract. "Even in the case of a victory, NBC News would have faced the embarrassing publicity generated by discovery proceedings," says Shafer. "Hence NBC News' expedient, cynical move. Better to park Williams on a corporate side-street where nobody has to look at him—and to use him as sparingly as possible on regular NBC News programs—than to fight him in court over a measly $50 million." PLUS: NBC is sending the message that MSNBC is NBC News' purgatory (http://time.com/3926988/brian-williams-nbc-fired-new-show/), how Williams' reign stacked up (http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/brian-williamss-reign-at-nbc-is-over-heres-how-it-stacks-up/) to other network anchors, how to rehabilitate Williams' image (http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/06/18/415429953/4-suggestions-on-how-nbc-might-rehabilitate-brian-williams-image), and Williams' departure marks the end of an era of the almighty evening news anchor (http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-williams-analysis-20150618-story.html).