NEW YORK -- For MSNBC, long the laggard of the cable news world, the early start to the 2008 presidential race meant the chance for another reinvention: fashioning itself as "the place for politics."
Intense campaign coverage in the last year expanded the audience of the third-place cable news network, which has struggled for much of its 11 years to find a cohesive programming strategy. So far this year, 830,000 viewers on average have tuned in during weekday prime time -- 46% more than last year.
But the bigger spotlight on the network has also put a renewed focus on the outspoken nature of MSNBC's hosts, who regularly slide between the roles of straight newscaster and voluble commentator.
Some of their remarks have drawn complaints from the presidential campaign of Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, which claims MSNBC has a pattern of hostile coverage toward her. After correspondent David Shuster said this month that Chelsea Clinton was being "pimped out" to lobby superdelegates, the campaign threatened to pull out of MSNBC's debate tonight in Cleveland. Clinton agreed to participate after the network temporarily suspended Shuster for using "irresponsible" language.
As the 2008 race hurtles toward the general election, MSNBC's role as a political lightning rod appears likely to persist. Even as they acknowledge the risks of a format that mixes news and opinion, network executives said they have no plans to rein in their hosts.
"Our people are not in straitjackets," said Phil Griffin, NBC News' senior vice president in charge of MSNBC. "They speak openly; they're passionate. There's a liveliness and richness to the conversation that you don't see on CNN or Fox. Do we leave ourselves open a little more? Yeah. But I think it's part of our success."
Point of view is nothing new in cable news. But even in a landscape crowded with commentators, the MSNBC hosts stand out: Keith Olbermann excoriates the Bush administration during his show's "Special Comment" segment and occasionally blogs on Daily Kos, a favorite website of the left. At an event celebrating his program's 10th anniversary last fall, Chris Matthews declared that the current administration had "been caught in their criminality."
The latter comment drew winces internally. But for the most part, MSNBC executives are at ease with the dual roles played by the network's personalities. Both Olbermann and Matthews moderated campaign forums last year and anchor major news events.
