Yikes! Morning Joe Airs Obvious Old News As Breaking So Hosts Can Get a Break

Anyone who tuned into Morning Joe on Thursday morning, shortly after 8 a.m., may have been confused by what they saw unfold on their televisions.

Mika Brzezinski opened the 8 a.m. hour by telling viewers, “We’ve been following the tense scene at UCLA, where police moved in to clear a pro-Palestinian encampments encampment on campus. Scores of officers in riot gear faced off with hundreds of protesters who were barricaded behind wood paneling, shields, and other objects that served as a blockade.”

She then appeared to toss to a reporter on the scene, saying, “Steve Patterson joined us live from the scene as it was happening.”

“As it was happening.”

The package that aired was not live breaking news. As noted by the on-air graphic that read “taped earlier,” the coverage of the unrest at UCLA was taped and actually aired earlier on Thursday morning.

It was yet another example of the challenges faced by the MSNBC morning show, which regularly re-airs the first 30 minutes of their program, starting at 6 a.m., two hours later, so that the hosts and panel can get a break for the full four hours they are on air.

And so it went for the next 15 minutes or so until Brzezinski reset the scene for viewers, saying, “We’re talking with NYPD chief John Chell. We’re looking at live pictures from the West Coast on the UCLA campus. Police are detaining protesters and pulling down the encampment on campus. This is, what, just before 5:00 a.m.? It’s 4 a.m. on the West Coast.”

Except these weren’t “live pictures,” and it was airing — for the second time — at 8:12 a.m. Eventually, the show went on a commercial break, and the ads were framed with a tease for viewers that read “LIVE COVERAGE CONTINUES,” complete with a countdown clock. Except that it didn’t. Viewers were served a segment that previously aired.

This is standard operating procedure for Morning Joe, which airs from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m., Monday through Friday. It’s a lot of television to produce and host, and repackaging thoughtful discussions from previous hours is somewhat understandable. Except, of course, in cases of breaking news. And misleading viewers into thinking that what they are seeing is live — particularly at 8 a.m. in the morning, a vital news hour — is not a standard that befits any cable news program, especially one that revels in its own Beltway influence.

Similar hiccups have occurred in recent months. At 8:04 a.m. on March 6, political wunderkind Steve Kornacki discussed whether Nikki Haley would stay in the race, noting, “That’s on the docket potentially for next week.” Unfortunately for that segment, Haley had already suspended her campaign an hour and a half before it re-aired.

Other cable news programs ripped up their rundown to cover that massive political news live, but Morning Joe did not.

And when the Baltimore Key Bridge collapsed, Fox & Friends and CNN News Central covered the massive story live, but Morning Joe re-aired its 6 a.m. coverage at 8 a.m. with barely a disclaimer.

Look. There is no doubt that hosting four hours of live television is remarkably challenging (though Way to Early host and Morning Joe contributor Jonathan Lemire is typically on the air for a stunning five hours). But the hosts of Morning Joe are remarkably well compensated for their efforts, and, Lord knows, they get plenty of days off.

Is it too much to ask to cover breaking news live? Is it reallly too hard for brass to ask cable news hosts to, you know, host cable news shows when news is breaking at 8 a.m. in the morning, especially when live news is at an absolute premium? That this has gone on suggests once again that talent has outsized power in how the operation is run.

Watch above via MSNBC.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.