MSNBC President Tells Fan That Shuster “Was Not Moral, Ethical Or Professional”

[HipChick]

The only public statement about David Shuster’s suspension from MSNBC was five words from a spokesperson.

But Mediaite has obtained an email from MSNBC President Phil Griffin to an angry fan, explaining in slightly more, and much harsher, detail the reason for Shuster’s indefinite suspension.

Here’s the full email from Griffin, sent last night to a fan:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Griffin, Phil (NBC Universal)
Sent: Wed 4/07/10 11:16 PM

Sorry, but this is a business and I need team players. He was not moral, ethical or professional and that is not fair to the 500 people who work at msnbc.

Thanks for your note,
Phil
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This was meant to be a private correspondence, but it is interesting to see the President of a network so freely respond to someone who was upset about a host’s punishment.

It also sheds some more light on the severity of what MSNBC believes took place – separating Shuster from the “team players” and calling him “not moral, ethical or professional” are serious charges.

Here is part of the email Griffin responded to:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

To: Griffin, Phil (NBC Universal)
Sent: Wed Apr 07 23:04:29 2010
Subject: David Shuster

I am a political junkie who works at home, and I watched MSNBC 24/7 until October 2008 when I
could no longer bear to watch Morning Joe. (Never mind that Joe is a boorish oaf who mentions the 1994 Congressional class every 7 seconds — what I could no longer stomach was the vacant Mika sitting self-consciously beside him, nodding obsequiously. How retrogressive that she now is dressed like June Cleaver.)

Your “suspension” of David Shuster makes it necessary for me to boycott MSNBC, which is slowly but surely going the way of Fox “News”.

I will miss Countdown and parts of Maddow’s show, but I refuse to watch MSNBC ever again. It is a hideous embarrassment and an indictment of your judgment that you have Pat Buchanan on every daytime show and some of your evening programming.

[grasswire]

1. did Phil write that to you?

The mail he sent to me was quite revealing, also.

[HipChick]

2. No..but I am surprised he is directly responding..

[Bumblebee]

3. It means they are getting lots of complaints and are afraid of losing viewers

[Dreamer Tatum]

4. That looks so faked, it's a miracle

No executive would ever send an email like that.

[grasswire]

6. he wrote virtually the same thing to me

He sent me four e-mails. He's very hurt, it seems. He hired Shuster eight years ago.

[Dreamer Tatum]

7. I seriously doubt he sent an email explaining a corporate decision that affects an employee

...that creates a bucketful of liability. I doubt it.

[grasswire]

10. you may doubt it

But I have such emails from him, written over the last 36 hours.

[Cleita]

12. Is it a form letter? n/t

[grasswire]

17. no

Here is a portion of one of the emails:

"However, what he did was morally, ethically and professionally wrong. I run a business that depends on everybody pulling together for a common goal. Trust is at the foundation." He said that David crossed over "enemy lines".

[Cleita]

19. Looking for another job because your contract might not be renewed

is hardly crossing over to enemy lines. Just how totalitarian is the workplace becoming?

[dorkulon]

5. He's probably referring specifically to Shuster's dalliance with CNN but

it does kind of come off like he's condemning Shuster as a human being. I'd be happy is they'd just put someone on in the afternoon who can read the damn prompter at a 12th grade level. Both Ed and Tamryn stumble way too much.

[Dinger]

8. What Happened?

I'm out of the loop. Been extremely busy lately.

[eilen]

9. In view of his contract expiring in December,

Shuster filmed a pilot for CNN to consider then MSNBS suspended him.

[rcrush]

20. Really?

That what this is about? I thought maybe Shuster reported something that got him in trouble or something. Bleh

[ecstatic]

11. lawsuit time. Is it legal to talk about an ex-employee that way?

[tularetom]

13. Fucking team players are the death of any organization

In the minds of the more insecure managers, "team player" is a euphemism for "sycophant", "brownnoser" or "suckass".

Nothing can be more destructive than having a staff comprised solely of people trying to climb the management ladder by kissing the bosses ass.

Sounds to me like "Phil" may have felt a bit threatened by an independent individual like Shuster and needed to get him out of there before the rest of the grunts caught on.

If this is the way they're running MSNBC, then Keith, Ed, and Rachel need to get out of there before they go on the shit list too.

Tweety? Fuck him. He knows which side of the butter his bread is on. I'm sure his tongue is affixed to Phil's ass as we speak.

[Historic NY]

14. Did he go rogue?

[gkhouston]

15. What does MSNBC know about morals, ethics, or professionalism? They put

Joe and Mika on every morning, followed by Chuck Todd. Talk about a crap-fest of talking points. There is no watchable news on in the morning anymore unless something good's happening on CSPAN. CNN and MSNBC is nothing but "news to keep you stupid". I can get more information in ten minutes' worth of browsing LBN.

[UTUSN]

16. Personnel matters are not to be discussed. I'm not doubting the e-mail, but it's WAY out of line.

"MORAL"???????? That goes beyond job performance talk.

SCABBROW long ago make personal remarks against SHUSTER, something about calling-in sick a lot or not being reliable.

That said, knowing nothing of SHUSTER beyond his on-air personality, he's seemed like a decent dude. I knew he had a previous Faux incarnation, but his leaving there is obviously a plus for us here. I had doubts about him back when the KKKarl "indictictment" was supposedly imminent, when he was "reporting" for about two weeks that it was coming down any time now, that his "sources" were very, very inside to the grand jury or prosecuters. When it didn't happen, he revealed that his "sources" were lawyers-who-have-experience-with-clients-testifying-at-grand-juries (or THIS grand jury). In other words, these lawyers did NOT have specific knowledge of what SOLIDLY was happening inside the grand jury or the prosecutors' office, but were actually acting as PUNDITS, giving their educated GUESSES, reading the tea leaves.

Now, all that said, Tweety has done some reprehensible things, like when he sparked a gun incident by hectoring Kathleen WILLEY to reveal the name of who she thought killed her cat, and then Pat BUCHANAN's mentally impaired brother took a weapon to that house, and the person Tweety named (WILLEY didn't name him) was NOT the cat killer. And nothing was known to have been done to Tweety.

[grasswire]

18. thanks for reminding us of that episode.

I gotta admit that I am really surprised how candid Griffin is in his emails to unknown viewers like me. He signs the emails "Phil" and if I had to characterize his tone, I would say this is a very stressed man who feels personally betrayed. He has 600 employees and says several times that he "takes care" of all of them despite the talent making more $.

HR ought to suggest that he clam up, honestly.

[rcrush]

21. "I watched MSNBC 24/7"

Well you shouldn't do that. MSNBC will rot your brain.

[closeupready]

22. Right, and helping the Bush administration sell the Iraq War is ethical.

Uh-huh.