CBS and Elio’s Cleanly Elude Brian Williams and Sarah Palin Incidents
By Seth Arenstein, PR News…
PR pros hope there are few evenings like last night (Jan. 24). Relying on anonymous sources, CNN’s Oliver Darcy reported that CBS approached erstwhile MSNBC and NBC star Brian Williams with a job offer. Twice Williams was pitched on anchoring “The CBS Evening News.”
Rehabilitated on MSNBC’s “11th Hour,” Williams left that post last month. Officially Williams decided to depart when his contract ended.
Darcy reports the unemployed Williams, 62, is not interested in the CBS anchor’s chair.
CBS Evening News is mired in third place in the network news ratings. That’s one reason why Neeraj Khemlani is the new president of CBS News. Khemlani approached Williams about the anchor’s job, Darcy reports.
Darcy’s reportage focused on the largest part of the story for many, i.e., that the once-disgraced Williams has enough juice now that he can pass twice on what was once, arguably, the most coveted position in TV news. Moreover, Williams’s rejections demonstrate the continuing decline of network news amid the rise of social media and cable news, Darcy posited.
The Communicator’s View
PR pros, though, saw the story differently. Their first question was, What are CBS communicators’ next moves? Generalizing the issue: How should PR pros communicate about sensitive personnel matters?
For instance, how should CBS communicators field questions about current CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell? What’s her future at the broadcast? At CBS?
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