Rachel Maddow Admits MSNBC Execs Have Told Her Not To Cover Stuff (Like Cenk Uygur) on The Howard Stern Show

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Today on The Howard Stern show, Rachel Maddow discussed a lot of topics, from Roger Ailes to Donald Trump to impeachment.

But there was one extremely interesting topic that she glossed over. That was the topic of the executives at MSNBC.

In the past, there have been several stories about the executives at MSNBC, Phil Griffin and Andy Lack, not liking the progressive aspect of the network.

In fact, Lack, according to reports, has been unhappy that the current ratings are high because that makes it harder for him to fire hosts like Rachel Maddow.

Here's what the Huffington Post wrote about it:

But from inside, the news about Wallace and Hewitt was seen as just two more steps toward the full execution of the vision of Andy Lack, the NBC News executive who oversees MSNBC. He has made quite clear his plan to move the cable news network away from its bedrock liberalism and toward a more centrist approach personified by Brian Williams -- even including hosts of a conservative bent, as typified by hosts like Megyn Kelly or Greta Van Susteren, who Lack brought over from Fox News.

But Lack, in seeking to make this vision a reality, has an unusual problem for a TV executive: sky-high ratings. Since the election of Trump, MSNBC's liberal primetime programs hosted by Chris Hayes, Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell have surged not just in ratings but in the share of the cable news audience they're capturing.

...

"Hayes, Maddow, O'Donnell aEURo the entire primetime lineup is doing record numbers and Lack can't stand it. It makes him furious," said one senior MSNBC source, echoing the sentiment of many other insiders who spoke to HuffPost only on the condition of anonymity.

So today, when Rachel Maddow answered a question from Howard Stern about MSNBC execs, she was very careful in her answer. Nevertheless, there was a little tidbit in there that was significant.

They'd let me do what I need to...they're both good guys and they're both nice... I told when I got when I got a my first contract with them -- I made an editorial freedom deal...my deal with them is you can't tell me what not to cover or what to cover, or how to cover it...we had -- I had my own show since 2008 -- there's been like two maybe three incidents where like the reflex kicks in and they call me and tell me, please don't cover something or please cover something, and I say okay that's fine I quit, and it's over.

In the end, Rachel Maddow says she wins, and she gets to cover what she wants. Still, the interaction seems questionable.

Former MSNBC hosts like Cenk Uygur have complained about the execs at MSNBC for a long time. After leaving the network, Uygur said that he was told to "tone it down" by MSNBC. According to Uygur, his left-wing, aggressive reporting was too much for MSNBC. There were similar rumors that Phil Donohue and others were let go for similar reasons.

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