\u201cI turned off news all together.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust talk to each other more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReport things from both sides.\u201d<\/p>\n
Those are some of the responses NBC News received when it conducted consumer research for a new marketing campaign that promises \u201cFacts. Clarity. Calm.\u201d <\/p>\n
But the comments also led NBC News Group Chairman Cesar Conde to green-light the launch of a new editorial franchise, called \u201cFinding Common Ground,\u201d pairing public figures from opposite ends of the political spectrum to discuss issues where they can find agreement.<\/p>\n
NBC News announced Thursday it will feature the segments across its programs \u201cToday,\u201d \u201cNBC Nightly News With Tom Llamas\u201d and \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d and on its streaming channel NBC News Now. Live events are planned as well, with \u201cToday\u201d co-host Savannah Guthrie moderating a conversation between Gov. Spencer Cox (R-Utah) and Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-Pa.) next week at the Washington National Cathedral.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe audience tells us what they want is less partisanship, less of a focus on extremes and more of a focus on civil, solutions-oriented dialogue,\u201d NBC News President Rebecca Blumenstein said in an interview. \u201cWe\u2019re going to make it a huge focus of our efforts in the coming year.\u201d<\/p>\n
The concept of getting politicians of different stripes to the table for bipartisan discussions is hardly novel. The Fox News program \u201cSpecial Report With Bret Baier\u201d<\/a> has done a similar series of TV interviews and podcasts since 2022, also called \u201cCommon Ground.\u201d <\/p>\n But TV news organizations are clearly being more aggressive in promoting the notion that they are open to all points of view \u2014 a reaction to the divisive political landscape that consumers say is off-putting. (A recent Pew Research study found that 36% of U.S. adults follow the news \u201call or most of the time,\u201d down from 51% in 2016.)<\/p>\n Earlier this year, C-SPAN, the public affairs network<\/a> funded by the cable and satellite industry, launched \u201cCeasefire,\u201d a roundtable show where Republicans and Democrats have respectful discussions. The idea came from C-SPAN Chief Executive Sam Feist, who produced the iconic \u2014 and often maligned \u2014 cable news debate program \u201cCrossfire\u201d during his years at CNN.<\/p>\n After Paramount was acquired by Skydance Media, its new Chief Executive David Ellison hired Bari Weiss<\/a>, co-founder of the digital news platform the Free Press, as CBS News editor in chief. She has been given a mandate to bring in a wider range of viewpoints to the network.<\/p>\n Tom Bettag, a lecturer at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, finds the trend \u201cstrange\u201d as he believes the broadcast networks are already forced to find common ground as they serve local affiliate TV stations in both red and blue states. <\/p>\n \u201cIf you say, \u2018We\u2019re gonna have people talking about common ground,\u2019 I will be shocked if that\u2019s suddenly the new sliced bread that everybody goes rushing to buy,\u201d Bettag said. \u201cBut is there anything wrong with it? No.\u201d<\/p>\n But Guthrie said in an interview that viewers may need to be reminded of NBC\u2019s journalistic values as the media landscape becomes more fragmented and populated with nontraditional news sources.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not suggesting, at least for us, that this is some massive change,\u201d Guthrie said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re doing is underscoring a strength. I think that legacy media needs to remind folks who we are and what we do. It\u2019s important to distinguish yourself and say who you are.\u201d<\/p>\n Bettag added that he understands NBC\u2019s rationale as mainstream news outlets have sustained ongoing attacks and charges of bias from right-wing critics and President Trump over the years.<\/p>\n Kristen Welker, moderator of \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d first used the \u201cFinding Common Ground\u201d format<\/a> on NBC\u2019s Sunday roundtable program, starting with a conversation last year between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.). Both ordained ministers, they talked about their faith and efforts at bipartisanship.<\/p>\n