The Cable Gamer has resisted talking about the new venture of NBC/MSNBC personality Dan Abrams, because, frankly, it was so stupefying that Abrams would even try such a thing that TCG figured she was missing something. How could someone who appears on the air as a newsman also be setting himself up in the p.r. business? I mean, it just boggles the mind that someone would sell himself and Abrams Research like this while still on the air:
The firm's CEO, Dan Abrams, offers businesses a trusted media advisor and attorney who ran one of America's most significant media businesses. His years of experience as a legal reporter and anchor uniquely position him to unite legal and corporate communications strategies.
And so, rather than write anything, I kept quiet. But now it appears that yes, indeed, Abrams plans on being both a newsman and a paid adviser to the class of people that he covers. But there's no conflict of interest, he assures us.
The key point here is that "CEO Dan Abrams" is still an employee of NBC and its corporate offspring, MSNBC! Every time he goes to work, he will inevitably have to ask himself, "Where am I working?" Am I working for NBC/MSNBC, or for my own company?" And surely that will be hard to keep separate--more like impossible.
What's worse, of course, is that Abram not only wants to sell himself, he also wants to sell other journalists--650 of them in his roster of potential hirelings, by his count. Consider his pitch to corporations, on the Abrams Research website:
By targeting the appropriate media professionals in particular fields and locations, we can offer businesses cost-effective insight into how the relevant media will best respond to any strategy, campaign, product, initiative or crisis. These experienced media "insiders" and/or authors can also serve as on-the-ground guides in almost any region of the world or area of expertise, offering valuable perspective on the local media landscape, specific journalists, government officials or even crucial details about local customs. Furthermore, our network includes some of the top investigative journalists who can help research and/or prepare reports for prospective acquisitions or mergers.
Now there's nothing wrong with expertise. And it's even OK if reporters and other media types wish to leave journalism and go to p.r. or other kinds of corporate work. But by definition, you can't be doing both at the same time, or even in the same time frame--as in, negotiating a corporate gig while working as a journalist. You can't be reporting on stories, nosing around for scandal, and then, at the same time, go trolling around for business from the very same people you cover. That's corrupt.
Fortunately, Abrams has been slapped around pretty hard, by Felix Gillette, writing for The New York Observer, by Jessica Pressler in the pages of New York magazine, and even by Hamilton Nolan online in Gawker.
Unfortunately, all this criticism doesn't seem to have stopped Abrams, or his bosses at MSNBC/NBC.
