NY Observer > Phil Griffin

Phil Griffin Gets New Title: President of MSNBC

Felix Gillette — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:11:42 -0400

NBC News executives today named Phil Griffin president of MSNBC. Previously, Mr. Griffin had been a senior vice president of NBC News in charge of managing the cable news network. What has changed besides his title? According to the press release, Mr. Griffin will now "take over all day-to-day managment issues at MSNBC."

Last month in a profile in the New Yorker, Keith Olbermann famously said of Mr. Griffin, "Phil thinks he’s my boss.”

No word yet as to whether Mr. Olbermann is impressed by his so-called boss' new title.

When Talent Moves to Cable, Journalism Doesn't Always Follow

Felix Gillette — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:03:34 -0400

A recent episode of 'Race For the White House.'

“MSNBC and NBC are one,” said Phil Griffin. “We’ve said that for over a decade. It actually is true now.”

Mr. Griffin, the senior vice president of NBC News, was speaking on the phone to NYTV on Monday afternoon. He had brought up the unification of the two news operations as a way of explaining the internal politics underpinning the launch of MSNBC’s new prime-time show, Race for the White House, which premiered on March, 17 at 6 p.m., replacing Tucker. read more »

MSNBC Exec: Olbermann's Shift Left 'Isn't a Strategy'

Zachary Roth — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 11:01:57 -0500

The Houston Chronicle reports that, in an interview, Phil Griffin, who oversees MSNBC's primetime lineup, "reject[ed] the notion that MSNBC has used [Keith Olbermann's] show and others as part of a deliberately more contrarian tone toward the Bush administration as an alternative to Fox News Channel."

Mr. Griffin told the paper: "Keith was doing this show before it was popular to beat up on this president or to beat up on this war ... Because of his point of view and the 'Special Comments,' people think this is our strategy. This isn't a strategy. This is Keith."

But two months ago, The Times reported: read more »