Inside MS NOW’s Post-Election Plans
A newsroom built from scratch
MS NOW changed its name from MSNBC on Nov. 15, a year after the new brand had not yet existed. The Versant spinoff also had to establish its own newsroom, Washington bureau and digital operation, rather than rely on NBC News for reporting and production.
The organization also covered midterm campaigns and election night, started a membership program, made podcast and programming deals, and worked through a relentless news cycle. Senior executives Scott Matthews, Madeleine Haeringer, Marcus Mabry and Sudeep Reddy discussed what the election revealed and what lies ahead.
Testing the newsroom systems
Matthews said the midterm elections had served as a yardstick for the newsroom, its systems and its hiring. He described the election as a stress test, saying the organization was building while operating, but reported no major or minor problems during the event.
Haeringer said MS NOW had added digital election features that were not in place a year earlier, including an elections landing page, results and polling pages, and live blogging. Matthews recalled that the team had 18 people live on one night, compared with fewer than 18 reporters a year earlier.
Focus on audience and democracy
Mabry said the newsroom’s independence from NBCUniversal helped it cover what he called a historic moment with a focus on authenticity rather than commodity journalism. He also said audience metrics showed that members appreciated the election coverage.
Reddy described watching the work come together as exhilarating and said the organization had a clear focus: covering democracy. Haeringer said staff members contributed enthusiastically to the digital effort, which set a record for the number of people contributing to a live blog.
Key points
- MS NOW’s midterm election coverage tested a newsroom built after its split from NBC News.
- Executives said the election operations worked without major or minor problems.
- The digital team introduced election pages and live blogging tools.
- Executives described covering democracy and serving the audience as central to MS NOW’s work.