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I am working an OTRS ticket on this trying to ensure that proper perimission is obtained. Chrislk02 Chris Kreider 21:21, 25 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Why is there not more info on this teabagger? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Iluvwiki899 (talkcontribs) 20:39, 5 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

How about some basic background on this fellow. A picture. Where he went to school, his religion... something!184.58.254.24 (talk) 01:28, 6 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Dailykos (a liberal site) hates him - http://www.dailykos.com/tag/Phil%20Griffin —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.78.4.109 (talk) 06:06, 6 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I've been doing some research on Phil Griffin and it seems to me that he has said some things that doesn't sound like he's a conservative. Is there any proof or admissions indicating that he's a liberal or some other political ideology? 71.98.160.84 (talk) 15:14, 17 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Generally people who are in the business of making a great deal of money aren't political. They are political in whatever way makes them a bit more money. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:603:4D00:FED0:2CC4:18B1:33D7:41FC (talk) 06:08, 2 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Proposed Overhaul of Article

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As noted above several years ago, this article is not thorough. I have done a rewrite, below, with extensive sourcing. I am experienced writing Wikipedia articles, and abide by the five pillars to the best of my ability. But I am a paid consultant to NBC News. As such I have a conflict of interest, as per WP: COI. Aside from this disclosure, under the policy, the suggested changes below must be reviewed by an independent editor before they can be published.

I'd request someone step in to do this review. I am happy to work with anyone who wants me to do anything else here. BC1278 (talk) 18:58, 15 August 2017 (UTC)BC1278[reply]


Phil Griffin
BornNovember 27, 1956
Alma materVassar
OccupationPresident of MSNBC
WebsiteMSNBC.com

Philip T. "Phil" Griffin (born November 27, 1956[1]) is a television executive and in 2008 became president of MSNBC, a United States cable news channel.[2][3]

Early Life

The youngest of four children, Griffin grew up in Chappaqua, New York[2] and Toledo, Ohio.[3] His father was an executive at Macy's. Griffin's family were Democrats and politically-minded. As a child, his mother took him to rallies for the hungry. His brother was a conscientious objector[3]

In 1979, Griffin graduated with a degree in English from Vassar College.[2] He wrote his thesis on Milton's Paradise Lost.[2]

Early Career

Following graduation, Griffin moved to Atlanta to take a minimum wage job at the fledgling CNN.[2] Griffin was working a camera at CNN when it aired for the first time, on June 1, 1980.[2]

At CNN, he befriended future MSNBC host Keith Olbermann, who worked there as a sportscaster.[2] After several years with CNN, working primarily as a writer-producer-editor in their sports department, Griffin began work at NBC in 1983,[2] working as a relief producer for vacationing producers at the Today (U.S. TV program) show.[3] Six months later Griffin convinced Today show's executive producer to hire him on staff.[3]

In 1987, he became a producer at USA Today: The Television Show. After it was cancelled, he returned to the Today Show.[3] At NBC, Griffin had several jobs, including as a senior broadcast producer for the NBC News with Tom Brokaw. He led the NBC News coverage of the O. J. Simpson trial.[4]

MSNBC

Griffin was with MSNBC from its start in 1996.[2] He has been executive producer for shows such as Hardball with Chris Matthews[5] and The Big Show with Keith Olbermann.[6] He was the head of prime time programming for the network.[5] Griffin approved the launch of many shows, including The Rachel Maddow Show and Morning Joe.[3] He also hired Laurence O'Donnell, Ed Schultz[7] and Chris Hayes (journalist).[8]

In 2005, NBC CEO Jeff Zucker appointed Griffin senior vice president of NBC News and in 2008, president of MSNBC.[3]

In 2013, Griffin said he wanted MSNBC to be more of a lifestyle brand than a political hub.[3] In 2014, Griffin said the network would take steps to widen its demographic to include a more ethnically diverse audience, to increase its coverage outside of Washington D.C. and to appeal to younger viewers, including with online inititaives.[9] Griffin has asserted that MSNBC is an independent voice that does not favor Democrats. He has rejected claims that partisanship is equivalent at MSNBC and Fox News.[6]

In 2016, after MSNBC started covering more hard news during the day, Griffin likened its evening shows to an op-ed page in a newspaper.[10] The network had its highest ever ratings in 2016 and in the first quarter of 2017 averaged 1.46 million views in prime time, beating CNN.[11] Griffin said that he thought the surge in audience was attributable to scoops and new information, rather than partisan leanings.[12]

In May, 2017, Griffin signed a multi-year renewal contract to remain as president of MSNBC in the midst of a ratings surge during and following the 2016 presidential election.[13] In June, 2017, he said that the network was making an effort to include diverse political voices.[14] Earlier in the year, Griffin signed former George W. Bush communications director Nicolle Wallace to host an afternoon program for the network.[15]

Personal

In 1997, Griffin married Kory Kim Apton in a civil ceremony in the U.S. Virgin Islands.[16][17] They have two children, daughter Riley and son Jackson.[18]

He has said his idols are former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, former NBC New anchor Tom Brokaw and television news executive Andrew Lack.[3] He says he never had ambitions to become an on-air reporter.[3]

References

  1. ^ https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KJF2-F1H
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Felix Gillette (2008-10-28). "Original Cable Guy Phil Griffin Tastes Network Revenge". The New York Observer. Retrieved 2012-02-16.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Slyer Than Fox". New Republic. Retrieved 2017-05-28.
  4. ^ "Phil Griffin Gets New Title: President of MSNBC". Observer. 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  5. ^ a b "'Today' Show's Phil Griffin to Oversee MSNBC". Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  6. ^ a b Cogan, Marin (2012-09-11). "The GQ+A: With MSNBC's Phil Griffin". GQ. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  7. ^ Kurtz, Howard (2017-01-30). "Keith Olbermann: How Anger Fueled His Rise and Fall at MSNBC". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  8. ^ "Twenty-Four-Hour Party People". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  9. ^ "MSNBC to widen its scope and make other changes, its president says". Los Angeles Times. 2014-12-29. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  10. ^ "MSNBC's year of standing up straight". POLITICO Media. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  11. ^ "Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie - The 35 Most Powerful People in New York Media". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
  12. ^ Steinberg, Brian (2017-05-30). "MSNBC Chief Sees Hard News Focus, Trump Scandals Driving Ratings Surge". Variety. Retrieved 2017-06-16.
  13. ^ Moraes, Lisa de (2017-05-26). "MSNBC President Phil Griffin Signs New Deal; Whither Goest Lawrence O'Donnell?". Deadline. Retrieved 2017-05-29.
  14. ^ Littleton, Brian Steinberg,Cynthia (2017-06-13). "Cable News Wars: Inside the Unprecedented Battle for Viewers in Trump Era". Variety. Retrieved 2017-07-19.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ Steinberg, Brian (2017-04-28). "MSNBC Sets Nicolle Wallace at 4 P.M. Hour". Variety. Retrieved 2017-07-19.
  16. ^ New York Times: "Kory Apton and Phil Griffin" by Lois Smith Brady February 9, 1997
  17. ^ New York Times: "Erna Neu Apton Obituary" April 9, 2006
  18. ^ Hollywood Reporter: "MSNBC President Phil Griffin on Whom He'd Poach From Fox News and Why Obama Avoids the Network (Q&A)" by Marisa Guthrie October 3, 2012


Category:Living people Category:MSNBC Category:People from Manhattan Category:Vassar College alumni

check Partially implemented Parts of this edit request have been implemented, along with other edits to the article, to improve its conciseness.  Spintendo  ᔦᔭ  17:56, 16 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Review of widespread deletions

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Hi,

This article was a stub and several editors asked for more information. As disclosed above, I am an experienced Wikipedia editor and a paid consultant to NBC News. I wrote a substantial addition to the stub (in the section above), and as per WP: COI policy, asked that an independent editor review the proposed changes. The user DocWatson42 did a review, modified the suggestions according to their judgment, and then published it.

Unfortunately, I did not take down the Request for Edit tag, or mark that it had been answered, and another reviewer came along, Spintendo, deleting almost every or every change, bringing the article back to a stub. No explanation for the deletions were given, other than that the editor was answering the same Request for Edit.

I am therefore opening up this discussion as to whether the changes by DocWatson42 should be restored in part or in full, and why.BC1278 (talk) 18:28, 16 February 2018 (UTC)BC1278[reply]

Greetings and felicitations. I'm one of the other editors, and I support the reversion to the last version by Onel5969. BC1278 was completely transparent and aboveboard in adding to the article, and the deletion of the new material leaves the article the poorer for it. —DocWatson42 (talk) 04:22, 20 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]
arrow Reverted to status quo ante. Please note that these initial edits were made because an editor failed to close the template on an inactive edit request. Closer attention paid to the template's workings by both the editor who proposed the changes, as well as the editor who carried them out, would have prevented this from occurring. Regards, Spintendo      20:15, 22 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Spintendo Thank you. You're right. I didn't check to make sure the request was closed out. I'm sorry for the oversight.BC1278 (talk) 21:16, 22 February 2018 (UTC)BC1278[reply]