Ronan Farrow: Awesome on Twitter, Awful on Television

[flamingdem]

http://variety.com/2014/voices/columns/ronan-farrows-awesome-social-media-resume-isnt-translating-well-to-his-msnbc-gig-1201129676/


Andrew Wallenstein
Editor-in-chief: Digital
@awallenstein

Ronan Farrow has the kind of resume that’s difficult to match. He graduated from college at the tender age of 15; went on to collect degrees from Yale Law School and Oxford U., the latter on a Rhodes scholarship; and worked at the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs and for the Obama administration.

Impressive as all that is, none of those credentials finishes among the top three reasons MSNBC gave him his own show last month. In ascending order, they are: the endless promotional value that comes with his being the progeny of Mia Farrow; his movie-star good looks; and most important of all … he’s awesome on Twitter.

That may sound trivial, but to think otherwise is naive. There are plenty of policy wonks out there with resumes that can fill a phone book, but very few of them boast a built-in audience on the strength of their online personality.

Farrow somehow manages to be a combination of funny, charming or insightful in every single tweet without the usual mistake Twitter stars make: They just plain overdo it.

Which makes it all the more mystifying that MSNBC’s savvy move to bring him to TV has turned out to be such a dud, drawing mostly negative reviews.

It’s an interesting test case in the tricky translation to a different platform of a star best known in social media. The logic behind making such a conversion seems as sound as it is simple: Bringing over someone with a powerful direct connection to 238,000 followers gives a TV show a running start in the ratings. But somewhere on the way to TV, Farrow’s appeal got lost.

?w=670&h=377&crop=1

[itsrobert]

1. eh

He's awkward.

[stopbush]

2. Could it be that mastering the 140-character tweet doesn't mean you're ready to host

an hour-long show five days a week?

Yep, he's not good on the TV machine.

[Jamaal510]

3. It didn't help

that he had a time slot where most people are at work, but even if he had a better one, it still wouldn't help his cause. I watched RF's show about 2-3 times when there was nothing else to watch, and I think that his show is even more of a Snorefest than Chris Hayes is. I never could watch RF all the way through.

[Cha]

4. That's too bad. How's Joy Reid doing..anyone know? :)

[flamingdem]

7. She's great!

Her brain is always on maximum, I enjoyed her coverage of Snowden at the SXSW conference this week

[Cha]

9. Ohhh, I bet that was good. a little reality

peppered on him?

[TexasTowelie]

5. As an older man (upper 40s) it is difficult for me to take him seriously.

MSNBC also is making the same mistake that they made with Chris Hayes when his show began by letting appear without either a necktie or a bow tie. The public expects to see commentators portray some professionalism and Ronan subjects himself to criticism when he appears on set with two buttons undone on his shirt and hasn't shaved that day. Hell, Ronan could even learn some professionalism from Johnny Weir who got it right when he wore a buttoned shirt and accompanying jewelry while commentating during the Olympics.

Ronan may be brilliant, but I tend to think of him as eye-candy for the female audience. Hopefully, he will provide some profound analysis to burnish his progressive credentials. Please enjoy at your own discretion.

[flamingdem]

8. This female prefers / preferred Martin Bashir

so bummed he's gone due to a comment about Palin, geesh

[Cha]

10. I know.. talk about surreal.

[flamingdem]

13. Now he was special, sense of humor

sharp as a tack, wrote several emails to msnbc but Martin didn't have enough of a long term fan base, like Ed, so it was buh-by.

[Cha]

14. HOpe he ends up with a good job

somewhere. or maybe he already has?

[flamingdem]

15. Had to check and he's doing charity work it seems

https://twitter.com/MartinBashir

Agree, he'll find something interesting to do

[Cha]

16. I checked too and didn't find anything.. you have

better resources, thanks.

Coming back slowly.. this is good.

[JI7]

6. i agree, he wasn't even good as a guest when i saw him on Lawrence's show

for TV you really need to have a certain personality and an ability to connect to the audience.

[okaawhatever]

11. Hopefully he'll find his way. He has the various pieces to be a great talent, but they haven't been

put formed into a cohesive whole.

[cherokeeprogressive]

12. And to think that, after THREE days on the air, he's given the

Cronkite Award for Excellence in Exploration and Journalism.

I'm thinking maybe they should compartmentalize the award... starting with those who contribute 140 text characters or less in the furtherance of their profession, and work up from there?

[JI7]

17. he has written for things like foreign policy magazine

so the award wasn't for twitter and being on tv for a few days.

[cherokeeprogressive]

18. Then the award should be named after a PRINT newsperson maybe? Foreign Policy Magazine? Really?

Their circulation would be... "never heard of it"?

The whole fucking WORLD knows who Walter Cronkite was. Cronkite didn't write for magazines whose publication was read by about the same number of people as the fan base of the Milwaukee Brewers. And forget Farrow's role as "advisor", that's NOT what journalism is about.

Joke.

Damn if he doesn't look like Frank though. I'm guessing THAT was what was supposed to be his selling point, given that his bosses are probably old enough to even remember who Frank Sinatra is.

[JI7]

19. not just foreign policy magazine, but the others who got the awards aren't really known names

themselves or have written for things that are very popular. it's only the third year of the award and i believe the previous winners were involved in reporting on travel.

[Samantha]

21. Take a look at these pics

?2


and





perhaps you can see features on both that blend into Ronan Farrow. To me, her coloring and her absolute look of fragility is definitely reflected in his face. But looks like Ronan Farrow has Frank Sinatra's forehead, nose and lip shapes. But amazingly, Sinatra's face shape is somewhat similar to Mia Farrow's...I think he, Ronan Farrow, has his mother's eyes. Just my take.

Obviously, he is a pretty smart young man but he lacks a presence on screen. Perhaps that will develop in time.

I too really liked Martin Bashir and was appalled to see him dismissed.

Sam

[Bette Noir]

20. He was hired to be a wunderkind,

but he's getting old for juvenile roles, and doesn't have the seasoning to be convincing as an adult. I wish him luck, but he may have to scale down his expectations, or find a role that suits him better than that of pundit.

[OKNancy]

22. He's not that bad. I have enjoyed watching his show most of the time.

He's had some good segments. He's only been on air for a very short time.
Sometimes I think because of all his gifts, the intelligence and the looks, that people are hoping for his failure.

Google his name. I've never seen so many reviews of a new show on MSNBC.
Some of them reek with jealousy.

[a kennedy]

23. an "On Air Presence", you either have it or you don't.....

I don't think it can be taught.....might be more comfortable as time goes by, but you either have a presence or you don't. He's good looking, very intelligent but, he don't HAVE IT. JMHO.

[Adrahil]

24. I like him, but the show is almost unwatchable, IMO.

I wind up skipping it almost every day.