MSNBC Hosts Accused of Misleading Viewers with Fake Convention Backdrop

## **MSNBC Hosts Accused of Misleading Viewers with Fake Convention Backdrop**

### **Rachel Maddow and other top MSNBC anchors have been using an LED screen to cover the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee from the liberal network's studio in New York City, leading casual viewers to assume they were on the ground in Milwaukee.**

MSNBC Hosts Accused of Misleading Viewers with Fake Convention Backdrop

MSNBC has been accused of misleading viewers by using an LED screen to create the illusion that its top anchors are covering the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee when they are actually broadcasting from a studio in New York City.

The network's use of the LED screen, which has been projecting live footage of the convention floor behind its anchors, has led casual viewers to believe that they are reporting from the event in person. However, Rachel Maddow and other top MSNBC anchors, including Nicolle Wallace, Jen Psaki, Joy Reid, and others, have not been inside the convention hall or even in the same city, according to a report in The New York Times.

MSNBC Hosts Accused of Misleading Viewers with Fake Convention Backdrop

MSNBC did previously announce last week that Maddow and other top political anchors would not travel to Milwaukee for the convention. Instead, the network sent Stephanie Ruhle, who hosts "The 11th Hour," and daytime host Katy Tur, per the Times.

While the New York City-based MSNBC anchors did not tell viewers that they were in Milwaukee during live broadcasting, "they have mentioned their location sparingly throughout many hours of evening coverage," according to the Times report. An MSNBC spokesman told the Times that at "the top of every broadcast, hosts identify themselves as being in New York or at MSNBC headquarters."

MSNBC Hosts Accused of Misleading Viewers with Fake Convention Backdrop

However, critics say the live video feed of a bustling convention behind them sends a different impression to viewers tuning in throughout the night. "News organizations need to be very careful and very transparent about what they represent and how they represent it," former CNN Washington bureau chief Frank Sesno told the Times. "It can feel like a frivolous thing — oh, well, gee, we’re just using the pictures behind them — but there’s something profoundly important here. If news organizations don’t represent where they are clearly, then how is the audience to have faith and confidence in the actual content of the reporting?"

Maddow began the 7 p.m. ET broadcast Monday saying that she and her colleagues were "at MSNBC headquarters. About two hours later, she told a correspondent that ‘we say hi here from MSNBC HQ in New York.’ On Tuesday at 8 p.m., Chris Hayes welcomed viewers by saying, 'Good evening from New York,'" the report stated.

MSNBC Hosts Accused of Misleading Viewers with Fake Convention Backdrop

At one point Monday, a side-by-side box on NBC of Guthrie and Psaki, on the parent network to give analysis, suggested to viewers that both were on-site, but only Guthrie was actually in Wisconsin. The MSNBC spokesperson replied "no" when asked by the Times whether he feels the LED screen could be misleading.

The Times does not attribute the anchors' absence at the convention to financial constraints, but it did note the steep price tag that comes with covering the event live and how several networks cut back on their convention coverage plans compared to 2016. Former President Trump will officially accept the 2024 Republican nomination on Thursday.

MSNBC did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.