Whitaker Explains Vision, Ethics of New Role at NBC

Copyright © 2009 National Public Radio®. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.

MICHEL MARTIN, host:

I'm Michel Martin and this Tell Me More from NPR News. In a few minutes, we're going to get funky. Our visit with an artist who is bringing the funk to smooth jazz.

But first, from time to time we like to bring you conversations with newsmakers from a variety of professions. Today, he worked his way up from intern to editor at Newsweek magazine, becoming the first African-American to lead a national news weekly. Last year, he traded that job for one in a new medium, television, when he became the senior vice president of NBC News, the number two position in the news division. But now, Mark Whitaker is returning to the newsroom. He was recently named Washington bureau chief for NBC news. He's with us now. Welcome.

Mr. MARK WHITAKER (Washington Bureau Chief, NBC News): Thanks, Michel.

MARTIN: And I also have to say, condolences, I would think, because, of course, you're succeeding Tim Russert, who died of a heart attack in June. It must be difficult to take a job under those circumstances. Nobody really would.

Mr. WHITAKER: Yes, I know. Obviously, the circumstances are sad. And really, it's the one thing at NBC we never anticipated. We're television, you know. Tim had an unprecedented 12-year contract. So, it's, you know, a very difficult time, but the Washington bureau is absolutely central to our mission at NBC. And Tim would have wanted us to carry on.

MARTIN: You're only a little over a year into your job as a senior vice president at NBC after a long career at Newsweek, as we said. So I don't think anybody would really call you a TV guy, so why do you think you were selected for this post?

Mr. WHITAKER: I think because I - you know, I am a journalist. And that's what I care about. I think what I've been doing mostly in New York over the last year has been working primarily with the "Nightly News with Brian Williams," and some of the other shows on stories, on story ideas, our approach, on ethical issues and so forth. And apart from getting to run my own show, which I'm used to, the thing that appealed to me is that that's really where most of the reporting or a lot of the reporting that goes into all of our programs at NBC originates in Washington.

MARTIN: I was going to ask you that. Why did you want the job?

Mr. WHITAKER: Well, you know, I think two reasons. Great team of people in Washington, the best in the business, people I've admired for years before I joined NBC, and it's just an incredibly exciting time. You look at the political campaign, you look at what's happening with the economy, you look at our place in the world, and all of those stories trace back to Washington.

MARTIN: Well, at Newsweek, their magazine won some big awards for 9/11 coverage, coverage of the Iraq war, Monica Lewinsky's scandal, the 2004 elections. So obviously, you've had your hand on Washington stories for some time. You're taking on this task down here, though, what - you know, two wars, economy in disarray, housing market in crisis, hot political season, as we've talked about. How are you going to approach this? What's your priority in all of that?

Mr. WHITAKER: Well, right now we're - our top priority, obviously, is the election. And we have a fabulous political team - Andrea Mitchell, David Gregory, Chuck Todd - who, you know, I keep telling people, a few months ago, I was telling people he was the rookie of the year at NBC. Now, I call him the MVP, our political director. And you know, I think that between our programs in MSNBC which, you know, we're calling "the place for politics" and absolutely has sort of become the salon where people hang out to talk about this race, we've been doing a terrific job.

MARTIN: It's interesting you said that you think your team is doing a great job. And I don't know whether it's just that there's so much interest in this election or is this - I'm just not remembering that kind of attention to past elections, but it just seems like there's tremendous scrutiny and criticism of the media in this campaign. On the one hand, people say, you know, that the press is treating Obama like a rock star and sort of treating him with kid gloves. On the other hand, some people say, you know, the media is overcompensating and subjecting him to a standard that they don't subject John McCain to. What's the key to getting it right?

Mr. WHITAKER: Well, first of all, I think we live in an era where everybody is a critic and everybody gets to have a microphone on the Web or wherever. And I got used to that at Newsweek, and I think I learned that you have to have a tough hide, and I'm going to bring that tough hide to Washington. Look, you know, I think the key is on your reported pieces to be tough but impartial. And I think in terms of discussion and debate on cable TV, I think the key is to make sure that you have all sides represented.

MARTIN: What about that, though? There are some who argue that all sides are not represented, that the book on MSNBC now is that it has become the anti-Fox, that it's kind of designed itself or it seems to see itself as an alternative to the right-wing tilt of Fox, that it's tilting very left in response to that. Do you think that's true?

Mr. WHITAKER: You know, I don't think we do it that way. I think we think that we're the place where we have a lot of interesting discussion. One of the hottest shows on MSNBC right now is "Morning Joe," which is moderated by Joe Scarborough, who, as you know, is a former Republican congressman and nobody would say is a flaming liberal. And on that show and on "Hardball" and a lot of our shows, we have people from different sides. I mean...

MARTIN: You don't think MS leans left, especially...

Mr. WHITAKER: Well, you know, I think that there's been a lot of focus on "Countdown With Keith Olbermann," and there's no question that Keith has very strong views. But that's one show. I think if you look elsewhere, I think you'll see that the different shows have different personalities, the anchors have different personalities, there's lots of debate from both sides on most of the hours on MSNBC.

MARTIN: Well, some people would argue it the other way. They would say that overall, the mainstream media is center right and that should just be more transparent. People should just stop pretending that they don't have opinions. What do you say to that?

Mr. WHITAKER: Well, I think that the success to "Countdown" has a lot to do with that. And there's no question that Keith on that show has a very clear point of view, and it's on the left side of the spectrum. And I think the fans of that show have responded to it precisely because they think that it's filling a void that they see elsewhere in the landscape. But as I said, you know, that's one show, it has its fans but it's not necessarily - it doesn't stand for all of MSNBC.

MARTIN: Well, there's a third discussion point about cable and mainstream media, in general. Media Matters, which is a liberal watchdog group, just released a report decrying what it calls the quote "abysmal, ethnic and gender disparities on primetime cable news programs." That report says that MSNBC featured the greatest gender imbalance. Seventy percent of the guests are male, 83 percent of the guests are white, Latinos, who are now 15 percent of the population, only two point seven percent of the guests in the month in which they were reporting on these programs. They said that MSNBC had the worst of the three networks on the score of offering up Latino guests. They had said there were only six appearances in the entire month out of 460 guest appearances. What do you make of that? Why is that?

Mr. WHITAKER: First of all, as the new Washington Bureau Chief, I'm not here to speak for MSNBC.

MARTIN: Sure. But you were number two in the news division all year. So...

Mr. WHITAKER: I have - I mean, Phil Griffin runs MSNBC. He was just named the president. I will say, however, that I - one of the things I've done in the last year here in New York has been to be part of the NBC News Diversity Council, which looks at all of those issues. We take them very seriously. We recognize that we have work to do. I think we've made progress in a number of areas but I intend to use my influence in Washington to continue that progress.

MARTIN: But what's going on here? I mean, there are 40 members of the Congressional Black Caucus, there are almost as many members of the Hispanic Caucus. There are, you know, Washington - the Washington Press Corps is about 13 percent minority, a lot of people think it could be better. Some bureaus are very diverse, some not at all. What's going on here?

Mr. WHITAKER: Well, look, you know, I think that the media still has work to do in the way that a lot of industries have work to do. And I think one of the positive things about this campaign and the fact that we have a Democratic nominee who is African-American or, you know, a person of color, that his chief rival was a woman, has raised consciousness about this and made, I think, a lot of media executives at a lot of different organizations sit back and say, wait a second, are we really reflecting in our talent, in our bookings, in our guests and in our experts where the country is right now?

MARTIN: If you're just joining us, you're listening to Tell Me More from NPR News. I'm speaking with Mark Whitaker. He is the newly appointed Washington bureau chief for NBC News. Can we talk about you for a minute?

Mr. WHITAKER: Sure.

MARTIN: What role, do you think, if any, race has played in your life and career?

Mr. WHITAKER: That's an interesting question. You know, I'm mixed race. My dad is black. My mother is white. I grew up in both worlds. I think, as a journalist, that's been a plus in terms of my understanding and I think my feel for issues, both in the black community but also in the white world. But I think my success, such as it is, has been the result, you know, that I've gotten to where I've gotten the way most people do, which is just to sort of go to work and work hard.

MARTIN: You think it's a net plus or a net minus when you put it all together, your race?

Mr. WHITAKER: Well, I think it's a net plus for me, again, as a journalist, just because I think it broadens my field of vision, if you will, in terms of stories and issues, and I think it's been a strength as a manager because I think I've seen potential and strength in people of various backgrounds that perhaps other managers would not have. You know, one of my proudest accomplishments at Newsweek was hiring Fareed Zakaria, who is - became our foreign affairs columnist and editor of Newsweek International.

MARTIN: Who is now competing against you at CNN.

Mr. WHITAKER: Well - well, that's true.

(Soundbite of laughter)

But he was the managing editor of foreign affairs when I hired him as a columnist in the late '90s. And he was developing a bit of a reputation in academic circles and, you know, sort of foreign policy circles, but was not that well known. And I dare say that I think after he became - in the Newsweek he became, you know, we called him our rock star, and Fareed is a brilliant guy, but I'm not sure that somebody else would necessarily have seen his potential in quite the same way at that point in his career. Of course, once Newsweek really put him on the map, everybody has seen his potential and, as you say, including CNN.

(Soundbite of laughter)

Mr. WHITAKER: And look, I wish him well. He's a friend and...

MARTIN: But not too well, at least not when he's competing against...

Mr. WHITAKER: He's on after "Meet the Press" Sundays.

MARTIN: OK.

Mr. WHITAKER: So that's OK.

MARTIN: Just one more question on this. I asked Governor David Paterson this question so I'd like to ask you - who's, of course, the first African-American governor of New York. I asked him whether he felt, as an African-American leader in such a visible position who's responsible for leading a diverse community - unlike a congressman, for example, or woman who might have a sort of small district - whether he feels any additional, sort of, pressure to calibrate his interest in and concern about issues of concern to African-Americans for fear of being seen as biased in perhaps a way that a person of another background might not? Like, you know, Peter Jennings didn't have to hide his interest in Canada. Nobody expected him to not be interested in Canada. It was considered sort of, of course, you know, who is, of course, Canadian born. Do you ever feel that way?

Mr. WHITAKER: Well, my feeling at Newsweek always was, and it's also my feeling at NBC, my first priority is to do the best job I can. So, you know, at Newsweek it was to be the best editor I could be. In Washington it will be the best bureau chief, and that - you know, I don't see that in racial terms. You know, I don't think that Ken Chenault goes to work everyday at American Express and says, you know, how can I help black folks in my job? I think - I think he thinks that way, but I think his first priority is to be the strongest possible CEO for American Express.

Having said that, I think anybody in a job of influence has an area where they can champion causes - well, not necessarily causes if you're a journalist, but issues and stories and coverage and so forth, that is of particular interest. And I have, I think, been a stronger advocate for coverage of issues involving race and what I like to think of as sophisticated coverage and not just knee-jerk coverage, than I think somebody else might have been. One of the things just in the last year, working with Nightly, we did a whole week-long series on black women that I suggested, and that got a tremendous amount of attention and debate.

MARTIN: I think there were something like 12,000 email responses to the series, if I have that right.

Mr. WHITAKER: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So, you know, I'm going to continue to do that, but my first priority is going to be to be the best bureau chief I can. But along the way I certainly hope to be an advocate for smart stories and smart debate about issues involving race, and also to be a champion for hiring and promoting people from diverse backgrounds who really excel.

MARTIN: Speaking of hiring and promoting, I cannot let you go without asking you about "Meet the Press." The other part of Tim Russert's portfolio was "Meet the Press." He was the host of that top-rated Sunday morning public affairs show. I don't know whether it's your decision, but who are we looking for? What kind of person are you looking for?

Mr. WHITAKER: Well, we're lucky in that Tom Brokaw stepped into the breech, at least through the election, which, I think, first of all, I think is a fitting tribute to Tim. And also, frankly, I think it's going to buy us some time to look at all the options. I will be involved in those discussions. I'm going to be the executive to whom the executive producer at "Meet the Press" will report. But obviously, it's a big decision. So Steve Capus, president of NBC News, Jeff Zucker, who runs NBC Universal, will also be very involved.

MARTIN: What kind of person are you looking for?

Mr. WHITAKER: Well, I think it's very tempting to sort of say, well, who could do what Tim did? But Tim did what he did in a way that was so unique that it may be a mistake to just look for somebody who seems like Tim, because nobody's going to do that version of "Meet the Press" as well as Tim did. So, you know, all of that is under discussion now. No decisions have been made.

MARTIN: Well, you know a little bit about a lot of things. I mean, you know a lot about a lot of things. What about you?

Mr. WHITAKER: Oh, no, no, no, no. I'm not interested. I mean, first of all, you know, I do hope and I think whoever the Washington bureau chief is at NBC News, I think in this day and age probably should be on air, and I think I'll be doing that. But, you know, my experience has mostly been in print and I'm not, you know, a professional broadcaster, and there are a lot of incredibly talented broadcasters who are interested in that job. So I may be on the show from time to time, but I'm not going to be the moderator.

MARTIN: Well, I hope you'll be on our air from time to time.

Mr. WHITAKER: I'm happy to come back.

MARTIN: Mark Whitaker is the newly appointed Washington bureau chief for NBC News. He'll also supervise "Meet the Press." He joined us from our New York bureau. Thank you so much for speaking with us and...

Mr. WHITAKER: Thanks, Michel. It was fun.

MARTIN: And good luck to you.

Mr. WHITAKER: Thank you.

Copyright ©2009 National Public Radio®. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.