In recent days, much of the news media's attention has been focused on post-election protests and violence in Iran. But at MSNBC, the crisis has taken on a bit less urgency, at least if viewers are to judge from what the network is airing.
Over the weekend, with its cable rivals devoting generous airtime to demonstrations convulsing Tehran and online viewers transfixed by amateur video of a young woman apparently felled by a sniper's bullet, MSNBC stuck to its usual diet of taped documentaries, including one titled "Sex Slaves in America." A rerun of the prison documentary "Lockup" aired Saturday night. Meanwhile, anchor Shepard Smith was giving viewers of Fox News Channel a special two-hour wrap-up of Iranian developments. CNN likewise devoted substantial blocks of time to covering the crisis live.
On the Web, MSNBC's coverage decision generated some furious reactions. On Twitter, one user called the network "MIA"; another wrote, "MSNBC closed eyes to murder in Iran." And the Huffington Post's Tom D'Antoni blogged that MSNBC "disgraced themselves this weekend by ignoring the biggest story in the world."
Thus came another difficult moment for MSNBC, a news network that has struggled for years to strike the right balance between covering breaking news and exploring more distinctive (and often cheaper) alternatives.
MSNBC has a precedent for giving short shrift to major stories that have erupted on weekends. In November, critics chafed when the network bailed on wall-to-wall coverage of the Mumbai terrorist standoff, which began on a Wednesday and did not end until Saturday. But executives have also proven they are willing to drop their usual plans in certain situations: On the weekend of April 12, when an American skipper was rescued from Somali pirates, MSNBC broke into its regular programming with live coverage.
For its part, the network defended its handling of the Iran crisis, saying it was ready to spring into action if the situation there escalated further.
"We were monitoring the situation closely and decided that we would cover the situation with hourly updates," MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines wrote in an e-mail response to questions. "We had an anchor and crew standing by."
He also dismissed the suggestion that the coverage plans were dictated by financial considerations, although he did not provide specifics.
As for the taped shows, "these programs generate higher viewership for us on weekends" than other types of programming, Gaines added.
