As the turmoil surrounding the dismissal of bloviating Scott Pelley is beginning to die down (finally!), there is an after-shock effect being felt inside the 57th Street Manhattan headquarters. Pelley’s dramatic exit has been the culmination of months of internal roiling at CBS News, and now we hear that many of the staff are getting sick of it.
Given my tendency to light a candle, rather than cursing your darkness, might I suggest something to those perturbed by Pelley’s ouster and other dramatics? Have you tried shutting the hell up about everything?!
Brian Stelter comes out with a report stating he has it on… well, we cannot say “authority,” as he is detailing things provided entirely through anonymous sources. Still, he claims that many inside of CBS News are rather bothered by how they are a constant presence in the news. This is somewhat understandable, as the soap opera roiling inside their offices has been a constant, but there is a detail that those complaining avoid.
Certainly, this stems primarily from the contentious Monday Meeting, where Pelley was peacocking and slamming management in front of co-workers, and became the focus in media circles for a week now. But this followed weeks of other distemper on display, and CBS News has been under the spotlight ever since the arrival of Bari Weiss. So yes, this news cycle focus could be tiring, but it is a self-created maelstrom.
Ever since Weiss was tabbed as the new News Director at the network, there has been a constant stream of leaked memos, shared emails, and other internal communications. Oliver Darcy, in particular, has been on an anti-Weiss crusade the past year, and others at Puck News and Semafor have also benefited from these leaks.
The intent is clear; undermining Weiss is the goal. But to then turn around and act bemused or even fed up with the perpetual headline torrent is to act in oblivious fashion. You are feeding the media monster with your melodrama, so you cannot be outraged when said monster runs amok. Just look at what came out last Monday.
Details of that contentious meeting with Pelley came out almost immediately, notes and transcripts of what was said soon spread across social media, and even a recording of the proceedings was leaked later that afternoon. Now these same conduits find it vexing that their constant feeding of news to news people places them in…the news.
Just look at the lack of self-awareness in that Stelter post above. He spoke with numerous individuals throughout the weekend about how they are always being reported on, and then he turns around and reports on THAT. At some point, an awareness should creep into their emotion-fueled brainpans that they are creating the environment that they carp about.
Word has come out that the employees are tired of being in the news. My humble advice: Maybe stop putting words out, then?
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