Russert successor named by NBC: Mark Whitaker

[featherman]

Mark Whitaker, currently Senior Vice President at NBC News, has been named chief of the network's Washington, D.C. bureau, a spot that has remained vacant since Tim Russert died on June 13.

Last month, the New York Observer's Felix Gillette wrote that insiders were speculating that Whitaker — who formerly held the top job at Newsweek — would succeed Russert as the head of NBC's D.C. bureau:

Over the past year, according to NBC News sources, Mr. Whitaker has become a popular and well-respected presence at 30 Rockefeller Center. Fellow executives are said to value his judgment, and he is often called in to help out with touchy editorial conflicts--a fairly common occurrence these days as executives have wrestled to merge the just-the-facts culture of NBC News with the more freewheeling sensibilities of MSNBC. Along the way, Mr. Whitaker has earned a reputation as a conscientious manager with a deft touch for diplomacy.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/28/mark-whitaker-named-nbc-n_n_115409.html

[JNelson6563]

1. Will he carry corporate water as well as Timmeh?

I guess we'll find out soon enough.

[featherman]

2. Exactly why I posted this in GD-P... this is an important appointment

that may affect NBC's coming coverage. Since there was no one as deep in the tank for McCain as the late Timmy I'm hoping this may be an improvement for our side. Who knows?

As a mixed race (black father, white mother) Harvard grad corporate ladder climber Whitaker may go the contrarian route and bend over backwards so as NOT to show any hint of pro-Obama bias in his division. So it may be all the same as before... tilt McCain.

[otohara]

3. This 2004 Article Gives Me Hope

So What Do You Do, Mark Whitaker?
The Newsweek editor on why newsweeklies are needed now more than ever, what's really going on in Iraq, and how his magazine plans to exploit the cracks in the Bush Administration's media strategy.
By Greg Lindsay – May 25, 2004

Mark Whitaker is on a roll. His magazine, Newsweek, just won its second National Magazine Award for General Excellence in three years. The first, in 2002, was essentially for the magazine's coverage of September 11 and its aftermath, and was probably the sweeter one, as it was a head-to-head victory over archrival Time. This year's was for Newsweek's war reportage, and it was still more evidence that Whitaker made the right decision upon ascending to the editor's chair in 1998 not to follow Walter Isaacson's thinking at Time that the future of the newsweeklies lay in soft news. These days, it seems Newsweek is battling literally everyone for scoops in Iraq, whether it's Seymour Hersh's one-man gang at The New Yorker, the news networks (including Al-Jazeera), and even bloggers on the ground in Baghdad. Whitaker took some time out from his duties to discuss the end of the newsweeklies' identity crisis, the leaks in the Bush Administration threatening to become a flood, and Newsweek's chances for more National Magazine Award success in 2005.

Birthdate: September 7, 1957
Hometown: Norton, Massachusetts
First section of Sunday Times: "In order: The news section, the business section, the Sunday Styles section, sports, and then I end with the Week in Review. And then I do the Sunday puzzle."



http://www.mediabistro.com/articles/cache/a1648.asp

[JNelson6563]

23. I hope too but I also dread

When they get fatter and happier, golfing with big muckety-mucks, seen as a veritable oracle, wanting to please the master...these things lead to corruption of the soul and the selling out of any and all intergrity. Let us hope Whitaker is one of those rare souls who is immune to such. Unlike Russert.

Julie

[depakid]

4. "the just-the-facts culture of NBC News"

:rofl:

In other words, the propaganda will continue unabated, and American audiences can piss off.

[bunnies]

5. Never heard of him...

And I dont like his face. x(

[Colobo]

6. Dude is very ugly. Not that I'm handsome myself, but...

[ellacott]

8. Folks can't help how they look

[truebrit71]

11. Perfect face for radio...

...:evilgrin:

[ellacott]

14. I know he doesn't have Tim's beauty

But he seems to be doing ok with his life.

I wonder how many here think Joe Scarborough is cute, or Tweety.

[bunnies]

17. Russert always reminded me of the Phil Collins puppet...

in "land of confusion"

(middle one)



No... he wasnt beautiful... but this other guy looks like a real dick. Just my first impression.

[ellacott]

19. His looks are the least of my concern

There are so many out there who have already proven themselves to be a dick.

[bunnies]

20. And Mark Whitaker? Is he one of them? nt

[ellacott]

21. I guess it's in the eye of the beholder

[bunnies]

22. I dont know anything about him...

which is why I was asking. When I said "I dont like his face" I was talking about my overall impression. He gives me bad vibes.

[bunnies]

16. Its not even that....

Mr. bunnies is not conventionally 'pretty' either. Its more that I think he looks like an asshole. Ya know?

[AspenRose]

26. That's not true!

:hi:

[depakid]

9. Here's a clue about his nature

Re: Guantanamo allegations:

"In a revealing glimpse into the relations between the corporate media and the government, Newsweek editor Mark Whitaker said the magazine showed the report to Pentagon officials before it was published and made it clear that it would have agreed not to publish the item had they so requested."

http://playahata.com/hatablog/?p=513

[navarth]

13. really

well so much for this guy.

[bunnies]

15. Lovely.

So its going to be even worse than before. This sucks. :grr:

[high density]

12. You probably won't be seeing his face

Though I suppose he could probably show up on MSNBC from time to time during their coverage.

[bunnies]

18. Have you ever met a person and disliked them immediately?

Thats the vibe I get from this guy. He cant be trusted. Thats my baseless assertion. Gotta go with my gut.

[kirby]

24. Executive oversight of Meet The Press...

The question still remains as to who will replace Tim on MTP.

[KoKo]

25. So who is going to be "The Face" on MTP which was Russerts?

:shrug:

[ellacott]

7. I wonder how the rest of the news bureau will work with him

Although I think most are hoping to get the MTP job I'm sure there are some who are so opportunistic that they would have wanted this position also.

I hope he gets along with Keith.

[endarkenment]

10. Great! A new Czar of Corporate Propaganda!

I sure hope he can rise to St. Timmy's standards.

[Beacool]

27. What, Tweety didn't get the gig???

Take that, Mr. tingling leg!!!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[Faygo Kid]

28. He's been named chief of the DC bureau - not host of Meet the Press.

Russert held both positions. That won't happen again in the near future.

This is an administrative appointment.